With over 100 entries and 48,000 words of content on this blog to date, we’ve been hearing that it can be challenging to navigate. We’ve added new features to the left-hand sidebar of every page to help. These include:
Our Welcome Message
Get an introduction to the issues. Find out about the most important materials and activities.
Status of Northampton Ordinances Regarding Sexually Oriented Businesses
See where the city is in its response to the challenges adult businesses present.
About “Secondary Effects”
The secondary effects of adult businesses include an increased risk of crime, disease, failure of surrounding businesses, reduced property values, hazardous trash and harassment of passersby. These risks are the ones that motivate cities to enact zoning and health regulations on sexually oriented businesses, and the reasons why courts uphold these regulations.
The Vile Porn that Capital Video Sells
We are concerned that some people haven’t grasped how low today’s porn has descended.
Comments from Capital Video and Goldbergs in Response to Citizens’ Concerns
The porn merchant and the property owner have maintained near total silence in the face of media inquiries and citizens’ concerns. Northampton citizens wouldn’t let other large organizations and businesses get away with such an attitude, so why give a pass to a porn purveyor?
Effect of Porn on the Viewer
Porn isn’t just meaningless entertainment that has no effect on those who view it. The effects are measurable and disturbing.
Porn vs. Erotica
We distinguish porn, which is generally harmful, from erotica, which can be harmless or even beneficial. The distinction is not absolute, but we suggest that erotica is that which supports love, and porn is that which destroys love. Ultimately, the difference has to do with the long-term effect on the viewer, as well as the conditions under which the entertainment was made. By educating people as to the potential harms of adult materials, we hope they can look inside themselves to judge the healthiness of their media diet.
Conditions of Porn Workers
Some claim that porn workers are well-compensated and have good lives. This is true only for a tiny handful of porn stars. Most actresses quit the business within a year or two. STDs are endemic to the industry. Some films abuse women until they cry.
Towns Push Back Against Adult Businesses
The regulations being proposed for Northampton are no more than what towns elsewhere in Massachusetts and America enjoy. If anything, the proposed ordinances make even more room for free speech than the law requires.
Primary Sources
See Capital Video’s plans for a 6,222 square foot porn shop at 135 King Street. There are 73 abutters within 300 feet of this property, underscoring how many people will be affected. Maps and photos further demonstrate how inappropriate this location is for a large porn shop.
2 thoughts on “New Sidebar Features Aid Navigation Through Blog”
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I am of two minds on this issue, but am commenting simply on your blog, not blogging myself!
First of all, I wish there was supporting evidence in this blog, or at least direct links to that evidence. Is there really increased crime and disease due to an adult video store? I’m thinking of one near where I live (the store is in Waltham) and the surrounding businesses don’t seem to be affected at all. It makes me wonder if your argument is based on fact, or just emotion.
Secondly, you walk a very slippery slope. The problem is that as you are setting yourself up as arbiters of erotica vs. porn, so can a fundamentalist Christian set themself up as judge of literature as oppoosed to “filth” and take books off the shelves in libraries. Who is to be the social conscience in our society? The one who speaks the loudest? He who is most “righteous?”
I’m wondering if this issue isn’t any different from the archaic fight in Massachussetts over blue laws.
There is no certainty that a porn shop will or will not harm a neighborhood, but the risks (see the “Secondary Effects” sidebar item) are high enough that courts uphold the regulation of adult uses. These risks are documented on our sidebar to the left.
We address the ‘slippery slope’ argument in our Frequently Asked Questions.
We don’t really want to set up one person to judge over another. We want people to judge what is healthy for themselves. To do this, however, they need complete information.