Every week, we seem to write about a campus “Sex Week” event that features porn stars glamorizing the adult film industry.

A recent post was particularly troubling to me. One businesswoman is rebranding pornography, and her events near college campuses encourage young people to share their intimate tapes on her website.

In a talk Wednesday night advertised by the University of Missouri and well-attended by college students, a “crowd-sourced porn” entrepreneur recruited college students to join the online movement, telling them it’s an easy way to make a few bucks and pay down student loans. That businesswoman, Cindy Gallop, explained to those at her talk – held in a theater a block and a half away from the campus and filled with plenty of college-aged students – that instead of watching hardcore porn, they should join her “Make Love Not Porn” movement. The online operation uses normal people, not porn stars, asking them to film themselves having sex, then post it online to earn extra cash. People pay $5 to watch the video, and profits are split between Gallop and the sex partners.

It seems Gallop’s business has been quite profitable, too: At seven months old the site has over 75,000 members and have taken in tens of thousands of dollars in revenue.

Two aspects of this story enrage me:

1) As one Missouri student noted, our schools now seem to be sanctioning the degradation of our sons and daughters, instead of inspiring them to do real scholarship.

2) The students are not being given the full information regarding the total impact of their porn antics.

One reason that so many of our young are staying home after graduation is that they haven’t been forced to do the hard work necessary to elevate themselves and mature. Which is is easier and more “pro-growth”: To lie back and be captured on video being pleasured by mechanical devices, or to haul dishes, clean toilets, then study for an organic chemistry test?

Obviously, there is more pride, personal satisfaction, wealth and “empowerment” in working hard for the chemistry degree.

Those in the porn industry saying they have pride in what they do is the lie they tell themselves in order to get to the next shoot.

It has been a long time since I viewed a work of pornography, but I expect it remains unchanged. Two (or more) people engaging in animalistic behavior with no real affection, spirit, love or tenderness. Its like filming dogs in heat, but with higher production values.

There is no beauty or worth in any of it. It takes no great intelligence to do a sex film for profit either, only a willingness to be duped.

And, I suspect few of these students are proud enough to tell their parents or siblings about their new careers. As a mother myself, I would also like to think the parents of these young entrepreneurs would not appreciate the extracurricular program.

The real soul of sex is in the admiration, regard, and passion two people have for each other — something no camera can capture. Added to the “hook-up” culture, the “Make Love Not Porn” movement creates a toxic environment that corrodes the potential for healthy, fulfilling relationships.

Finally, porn’s inherent objectification of both sexes, but especially women, has not changed. And I thought progressive feminists were against this sort of thing! A study of the impact of the internet on the commercial sex industry hits an important point:

The men that posted on the USA Sex Guide seem to view sex trafficking or sexual slavery as something separate from the broader commercial sex industry, when in fact it’s an integral part. Many users seem unconcerned about any potential “red flags” regarding minors, instead concentrating on the girls’ youth as a turn-on. These notions make it extremely difficult to protect the girls because they are seen as a transient commodity instead of someone’s daughter.

Our sons and daughters need to be told that there are no porn stars, only porn victims.

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