Ian Watkins arrest - a mirror to society?

'Update on the Ian Watkins (lead singer in the band Lostprophets) charges: 

"...alleged to have conspired with a woman to rape a one-year-old girl. He also stands accused of two incidents of conspiring to engage in sexual touching with two young children; possessing, making and distributing indecent images; and possessing “extreme” animal pornography." '

This is absolutely sickening news. I think originally when people heard about the charges they assumed that because he is in a band that maybe 14/15 year olds were involved (and possibly he didn't know their age). But the reality is far more horrific.

What is going on? There are so many cases of celebrities being exposed (or more correctly being accused) of paedophilia at the moment. Do famous people live lives of such excess that they need more and more extreme activities to find thrills? Are taboos the only things left to satisfy them?

Is the media to blame?

Does pornography have a role to play in the ever increasing spectrum of sexual activities and the promotion of extreme sex acts? In such a competitive industry to get noticed producers, performers and distributors need to find niches or more extreme ways of getting their name known. Plus prolonged exposure to anything removes or lessens the taboo. If people are repeatedly seeing certain acts over time it becomes less of a unique preference and more of a commonplace occurrence.

Is the media to blame for the open sexualisation of music, film and TV? These days sex is everywhere, at every time of any given day. Listen to five songs on the radio and sex will surely be eluded to. Near naked people are plastered over billboards and magazines. Music videos, TV programmes and films often have soft core porn in them and the timeslots in which they are shown and the ratings they receive reduce over time.
Or is it simply that we live in a day and age where policing and investigation are more advanced and crime is less easier to hide?

A mirror to society?

I think it is emblematic of society and how depraved it is becoming. Depraved is perhaps too strong a word for what I mean so let me explain myself. As more and more subjects and behaviors become acceptable, it is becoming more and more difficult to find anything taboo. Gone are the days where peoples sexual proclivities were private and you were considered perverse if you engaged in a little bit of light S & M.

Although liberation of sexuality is a good thing it seems almost like the doors were bust open wide and now anything and everything is discussed or able to be viewed online. We live in a day and age where nearly all people of a certain generation know what '2 Girls 1 Cup' means.

Of course this does not mean that the majority of people engage in perverse acts. But the fact we now openly reference the more extreme end of sexual behaviours in conversation shows how lackadaisical our attitudes are becoming to these taboo acts. 

I read an interesting article once speaking about how women now in their 40's and 50's when they were teenagers oral sex was something of a fringe activity. It was not an act everyone engaged in. It was a personal choice. Now women in their 20's and 30's see it as a norm and a regular part of sex. I think to my generation it would seem odd if people didn't partake in oral sex. It is now de rigueur. Of course for my generation there are now sex acts that are becoming more popular and less of a choice but are still not seen as a given. In reality the next generation will probably find these acts prevalent.

It is not wrong to live in a more liberal society and in fact speaking more openly about sex has many positive effects. But our attitude must be in accordance. Respect and consent are of the utmost importance. If your partner does not wish to engage in any act they should be respected and not pressured into it.

I feel this is the key issue. It is not the broadening scope of sexual acts that is a problem but our attitudes towards them. The adage 'different strokes for different folks' is apt. Everyone has their own turn ons and everyone is different. But it is the way that the sexual bartering system is escalating but our attitudes are not becoming more liberal. It feels like instead of sexual liberation being a positive thing it is a negative due to how people engage in these acts and relate with their partners.

I would not consider myself a prude but I do find the abject sexuality that is paraded around abrasive to society. As a single woman I very rarely meet a man who would like to get to know me. Instead they would rather have sex first and then maybe find out what you are like after. This shows the shift in sexual attitudes, and I am not sure it is a positive thing. The more blase we become the shorter the scale between what is acceptable and what is not becomes.

Celebrities live their lives on a different level. Everything is big, more accessible and more extreme. It seems sex is something that also falls into this category. And if you live your life on the higher end of the scale the boundaries get pushed higher and higher.

Have we gone too far down the road to make a real difference in liberating sexuality in a positive way? Or has the sexual sensationalism that is at the forefront of our society become so excessive that depravity rules?