The Icing on the Cake

For my final blog I hit the jackpot! I found a whole page dedicated to an advice column, er, a sex therapy advice column. This column is probably very helpful to many people who read it and realize they too are going through the same thing. I found it interesting just to read about these people having affairs and being cheated on. This is definitely something you don’t find in American newspapers though it would probably be a big hit if they would include something like this! I enjoyed reading it and think it should be included in our papers. Obviously the Brits enjoy it because it had a whole page dedicated to these letters. 

And the Home Wrecker is...

I read an article about a lawyer who murdered his wife when she was trying to leave him after finding out he was having an affair. This is not unusual, these stories are printed all the time. The thing that got me was that they printed the name and occupation of the woman the lawyer was cheating with.  These details are usually never printed in an American newspaper. I’m not sure why exactly, maybe for privacy reasons, maybe for safety reasons, but names are usually not revealed. This is not so in UK papers. I guess they think that everyone should be revealed when a man kills his wife over an affair. I think that’s only fair. Everyone should know that you are the home wrecker that drove this man to kill his wife.

Two-Sec Hef

It is pretty safe to say that most everyone in the world knows who Hugh Hefner is or has at least heard his name mentioned along with his magazine ‘Playboy’. It is also pretty well known that he has had hundreds of girlfriends and enough sex for a lifetime. Though, what people did not know has now been revealed by Hefner’s ex-fiancé, Crystal Harris. Harris told Howard Stern in an interview that she only had sex with Hefner once during their relationship and that it lasted “two seconds”.  This type of information is nothing new for Stern’s radio show but I can hardly see how this is newsworthy enough for a newspaper, though it was printed in the Sun. Something like this would never be printed in an American paper, one because Hefner would probably sue them over it, two, because it is about someone’s sexual relationship, which is not appropriate to be printed in a newspaper. Obviously sex is not a taboo subject for the Brits. 

Happy Ending?

While reading the Wharf I found a section titled ‘Adult Massage’ and under it was a section for ‘Hostess and Escorts’. I could not believe that these advertisements were in a newspaper! You never see these things advertised anywhere except the internet in the US! Some of them even include websites that you can visit, which I did to see what was there. I could not believe my eyes. All of the massages included what we in America call a happy ending. Now, I know that many people use these services but my concern is for children that may come across these advertisements and decided to look up the website. They could learn way too much too early or even be scarred for life by some of the things they read and see on these sites. I don’t think these types of advertisements should be allowed in a newspaper. They are better off on the internet, though children could still find them, it is a little less likely unless they search for them on Google. 

Advertisements

The only gentleman’s club I’ve ever seen in America was on a billboard while driving down the interstate. These are not advertisements that go on television, in magazines, and especially not in newspapers. I was shocked to find an advertisement for the Spearmint Rhino Gentleman’s Club while flipping through the London Evening Standard. The advertisement featured a girl with very large boobs wearing small strings that were meant to cover her private parts. Though there were no inappropriate parts showing in the ad, I was still very shocked to see this ad in the newspaper. It even had a five pounds entry coupon. Again, you would never see this in an American paper. 

A Casualty of Riots

A gruesome picture of a man who looks as if he has a balloon blown up on the inside of his face stared at me as I turned the page of The Metro. Blood covered his shirt and his eyes were swollen shut. Just looking at the picture made me hurt. This is not something you would find in a US paper. There’s too much blood on the man’s shirt for it to be printed. Pictures like this are too disturbing for American people to see, or so believes the people who have the final say over what goes in the newspaper. I personally think there should be more pictures like this in the US papers so people can see what is really happening around the world. We are so sheltered here, we like to pretend that these types of things don’t really happen because we don’t see them unless we search for them on the internet. I think there should be more of them thrown in our faces like they are in the UK papers, so maybe then, we won’t be so blind to what is really happening. 

Looking for some fun?

One of the things that I found in the London Evening Standard that I thought was funny was all of the advertisements for adult chat lines. You see these types of things in the backs of American magazines but not in an American newspaper. There were at least 6 different chat lines for “older ladies” and “college girls” to call. Some of them even included pictures of girls that were supposed to be sexy but just looked nasty to me. And of course, their boobs were hanging out everywhere. 

Inappropriate Artwork

An article in the London Evening Standard was paying tribute to an artist who had passed away the week before. Lucian Freud was a realist painter who also painted portraits. In the picture that went with the article you see a woman holding a painting of a woman that is 8 months pregnant, and completely naked. I understand that this is art, and to some people a naked, pregnant woman is absolutely beautiful. I don’t think it is very appropriate for the newspaper though. I’m sure Freud painted many other paintings of people with clothes on that could have been displayed for this article. It seems to me that they just wanted a reason to put a naked woman in the paper.

Mini Romance Novel

In the London Evening Standard there is a section called ‘Fashion, Style and Sex’. I wasn’t sure how sex fit in with the other two categories so I read more. The only full length article in the section was about burlesque dancers. As I got further into the article, it reveals that one of the dancers has been neglecting her ménage a trois with a married couple to spend more one-on-one time with the stage manager. She goes out on stage to do her number then comes back and tells the other girls how bad she feels because the stage manager’s girlfriend was out in the audience cheering her on with no idea that she is sleeping with her boyfriend. So as I’m finishing up this article I wonder why I am reading a miniature romance novel in a newspaper. Interesting, yes I guess it is, but why is it in a newspaper? Especially with topics about ménage a trois, and the stage manager “going south” on the dancer. This is not very appropriate for a newspaper but then again, a lot of the stuff printed in UK papers is at least somewhat inappropriate.

Vile and Depraved

Monster, beast, vile, dangerous, depraved, predatory pedophile, fiend… All words used to describe 21-year-old Paul Wilson who had just been ordered to serve a minimum of 15 years in prison. He was convicted of over 40 sex crimes involving children as young as 18 months. I don’t think it is right for the writers of this article to be the ones to classify this man as these things. I agree that he is what they say he is but they are not giving the readers a fair opportunity to make up their own minds about the person. Why is it okay for the writers to include their opinion in an article that is supposed to be written in fact?

Attention Grabber

While flipping through the Irish Daily Mail I found an advertisement for a Cancer Center. The main part that caught my eye was the part that read “Save Our Boobs and Balls”.  This was definitely an attention grabber. I almost choked on my gum when I read it. There are no limits these people won’t go to. Some of these advertisements are tasteless, all just to get the attention of the reader. I think they should have some respect, but maybe this is completely acceptable in Ireland. Apparently it is, or it wouldn’t be printed in the daily paper. 

Private Life… Uncensored

Soft Porn Star… Bitchiness… A Drunken Catfight… Sex Toys… Kama Sutra Room… Viagra… Sexual Prowess. These are all words used in an article about 79-year-old Alexander Thynn, the 7^th Marquess of Bath, and his 74 wives. Apparently, at a luncheon one day, three of his wifelets engaged in a fist fight all started by one wifelet who is an alcoholic. The article was very well written and interesting, but how in the world is this considered newsworthy?? It should be expected for anyone with 74 wives to have tons of drama between them, especially if one of them (or more) is an alcoholic. Some of the “news” in these papers is not news at all, it’s more like trash-writing to me. 

Consensual but Brutal Sex

In America, rape victims and attempted rape victims are left unnamed in the stories published about the incidents in the paper. The same is not true for those in the UK. In The Telegraph, not only were names mentioned, pictures were also included in the article. The article talks about a mother and daughter who were both hit on by Dominique Strauss-Kahn. The daughter filed attempted rape charges, the mother admitted to “consensual but brutal” sex with him and that he had seduced her with the “obscenity of a brutish soldier”. When he was confronted by his second wife, he said, “I don’t know what came over me. I had sex with the mother – but I blew a fuse when I saw the daughter.” The daughter claims Strauss-Kahn lunged at her like a “rutting chimpanzee”. These details would never be included in a news story printed in a newspaper or online, these details would only be known if you were friends of the “victims” or if you attended the court hearings, one of which never happened because no charges were filed. Details of one’s affair should not be considered news, no matter who they involve. Not to mention that brutal sex should not be talked about in a newspaper simply because of younger children that may be reading. It will lead to questions about what brutal sex is, and older children may attempt to have brutal sex simply because they read about it in the paper. 

The Drunk Postman

DRUNK POSTMAN KEPT 31,000 PARCELS was the headline I could not help but notice and pulled my attention away from everything else on the page. I just had to read this story. I was very shocked that the writer of this story was able to include the word drunk in his headline. Not because it is a bad word or anything, but because you wouldn’t see that in an American paper. The headline would have read “Postman kept 31,000 Parcels” and in the story they would have called him intoxicated instead of drunk. It was definitely a good headline to grab the readers’ attention, I saw it and had to read it immediately. 

Bomb Blows in Oslo

A right-wing extremist killed 86 kids after blowing up a government building in Oslo, and the death toll is expected to rise to up to 98 when more bodies are found. Anders Behring Breivik is the man responsible for the deaths, killing many at close range after telling the children that they would be saved if they came to him. The account of the attacks that I read came from The Telegraph and included a somewhat disturbing photo of a man covered in blood. He was a victim of the massive car bomb that went off in Oslo shortly before Breivik drove to the island of Utoya to continue his rampage. I believe that American newspapers would have avoided publishing the photo because of the blood running down the mans face and body. Instead, I believe they would have printed pictures of just the building and the destruction. To me it seems that The Telegraph printed the picture to get the point across, to let the people know that there were real victims involved in this massive car bomb and here is one of them, all bloody and injured. To me the picture really hits home and I believe that American newspapers shouldn’t be so scared to publish something like this.

Simon Cow-ell

An interview with Simon Cowell revealed that he has had a threesome, and that he does not like to use condoms when having sex. I found this article on the Sun’s website and could not believe what I was reading. I know that some people would be very interested to know that Cowell has had a threesome, but who cares, wait, whose business is it to know that he does not like to use condoms?!? I understand if you are one that is about to engage in sexual intercourse with Cowell that you may want to know that he does not use condoms, but to print this as news? These UK journalists are crazy. This is not news, this should be classified as too much information!

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/3801959/Simon-Cowell-My-3-in-a-bed-secret.html