Gawker: pedophilia

Christ, What?

Hamilton Nolan — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:08:27 EDT

Usually you think of cultural standards becoming more relaxed over time. Like, we tolerate media allusions to kinky sex better today than we would 30 years ago. But was there really ever a time when pedophilia was an acceptable advertising technique? Apparently yes, in 1970's cosmetics!:

Remarkable.

[Dear Jane Sample via Adfreak]

Creepy Former American Idol Contestant Brought Up On Child Sex Charges

Richard Lawson — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:58:00 EDT

Meet Colin Leahy. He was once an American Idol contestant! He was featured during season three's Parade of Misery, saying on the show that he was just like Clay Aiken because "I'm also a camp counselor." Well, salute your shorts and fast forward a few years and Counselor Colin has been arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child after he, um, sent sexually provocative text messages to a twelve year old boy and propositioned a ten year old lad for sexy time. And! He had been volunteering at a Brooklyn elementary school! Oh dear. It's just like that Scott Bairstow fiasco. [NYM]

Erik Möller, No. 2 at Wikipedia, a defender of pedophilia

Owen Thomas — Mon, 05 May 2008 16:40:00 EDT

Erik Möller is the deputy director at Wikipedia's nonprofit parent, the Wikimedia Foundation. As such, he oversees tech and editorial operations at the world's most comprehensive history of obscure British contemporary art movements. And as an editor on the site, he takes special interest in subjects such as "child abuse," "child sexuality," and "pedophilia." Wikipedians supposedly prize a "neutral point of view." But Möller's point of view on those subjects hardly seems neutral. Most would find it extreme. Möller once wrote: "What is my position on pedophilia, then? It's really simple. If the child doesn't want it, is neutral or ambiguous, it's inappropriate."

One wonders if trustees of the Sloan Foundation, which recently donated millions to Wikipedia after Möller pitched them, share his views on pedophilia. BoyLinks finds his pro-pedophilia arguments agreeable, as does Martijn, a Dutch counterpart to the North American Man-Boy Love Association.

Möller himself appears to be growing aware of the need to whitewash his history. He recently removed a vile image of child pornography from his Humanist.de website. But evidence remains in Google's cache.

The notion of a person with such views shaping Wikipedia's articles on "child sexuality" is unsettling enough. What critics of Möller should find equally disturbing is what, exactly Möller hopes to accomplish in his official role at Wikipedia. He has long made no secret that, like founder Jimmy Wales, he, too, wants to profit from the work of Wikipedia's many volunteer editors. Since January, he's been drawing a paycheck from the Wikimedia Foundation. But I doubt his financial goals end there. If Wikipedia starts selling advertising, or otherwise profiting from its users' work, will Möller argue that the site's users were asking for it?

(Photo by Leonard Witt)

How Vanity Fair "Groomed" Miley Cyrus

Hamilton Nolan — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 10:58:35 EDT

There's a technique called "grooming" that pedophiles use on their victims (yes, we just learned about it today, thank you). One definition says "Grooming behavior is intended to make the victim or potential victim or victim's guardians feel comfortable with the molester and even interested in interacting with him." And here's a characteristic of a regressed child molester: "They place pseudo-adult status on their victims and then view them as they would their peers." Now take a look at the following behind-the-scenes pictures from Vanity Fair's controversial new Miley Cyrus photo shoot by 58-year-old lesbian photographer Annie Leibovitz and ask yourself if any of that rings a bell. We're not accusing these stylists of being pedophiles, we're just saying... ugh:

[pics via Vanity Fair]

Mother Of Tween Model Castigated By U.S. Media, Janice Dickinson

abalk — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 12:45:57 EDT

Maddison Gabriel, the (just) 13-year-old Australian model who caused her fellow citizen-convicts to wonder how young is too young, is now making waves on these shores. And Maddison's mom is now being insulted most rudely; she's being compared to Britney Spears' mom.

She listened to US critics compare to her to the likes of troubled pop star Britney Spears' mother Lynne, who propelled her daughter to early stardom as a Mouseketeer on US children's television show The Mickey Mouse Club. She was also stunned by comments on internet sites calling for her to be jailed because she had allowed her daughter to model at age 12; Maddison turned 13 on Sunday.

Even noted authority Janice Dickinson, the world's first supermodel, objects! "I'm the world's first supermodel and it's young. It's way too young," she told Matt Lauer. Maddison's mom is appalled.

Mrs. Gabriel said she was trying to protect Maddison from the backlash and had chosen not to show her the American Today show segment, which is able to seen on the show's website on the internet. "It's hard because she uses the internet like any 13-year-old girl does ... at first she was excited to see her name come up on (web search engine) Google and had a giggle, but I don't want her to see what the sites are saying now. At the moment she doesn't know about it."

Uh, yeah, that's gonna last!

US television savages child model's mum [Goldcoast]

She Didn't Look A Day Under 14

abalk — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 16:10:46 EDT

Dude, check out this chick! Pretty hot, right? Well, guess what? You're a fucking pervert! This is 12-year-old Maddison Gabriel, an Australian model who has caused something of a controversy in her native country after being chosen as the official ambassador of Gold Coast Fashion Week in Australia. Britain's Daily Mail and John Howard, the Prime Minister of Convict Island, are fulminating, but young Maddison (uh, WTF Australia?) is unbowed. "I believe that I can fit into women's clothes. I can model women's clothes, so I should be able to do it," she says. And who are we to disagree? We just hope she's shaved down under. Or, you know, hasn't started growing hair there yet.

Fury as 12-year-old 'model' fronts world fashion show [Daily Mail (U.K)]