by Jason Joyner | Jul 8, 2011 | Ashton Kutcher, Blog, DNA Foundation, human trafficking, Real Men don't buy girls, Village Voice
Last week I posted about a Village Voice article that attacked Ashton Kutcher – for daring to stand up to men who fuel the sex trafficking industry in the United States. Since then there’s been a lot of back and forth about this article and the Twitter feud it launched.
Initially it seemed the most vocal were people eager to pile onto Ashton. Many people on Twitter thought he got his tail handed to him.
There’s a problem with listening to the people who spout off first.
There have been some great articles standing up to the Village Voice’s so-called “scientifically backed” article. People who were trashing Mr. Kutcher could do it quickly in 140 characters. The authors who spent time writing articles that showed what fools the Village Voice were took time.
Here are two excellent articles, written with a lot more thoughtfulness than what the Village Voice could muster.
An Open Letter from FTS (Free the Slaves) to The Village Voice
Remember that the Village Voice has a financial stake in this “debate,” as they host a website for “adult services,” without always knowing whether the people offering the services are, in fact, adults or doing it voluntarily. It is nice to see that in the financial arena it has already affected them, as American Airlines has pulled advertising from their website. It is good to see some businesses with a conscience.
I still have more thoughts on some of the root problems for slavery and child sexual exploitation. That will be for another post.
—
by Jason Joyner | Jul 8, 2011 | Ashton Kutcher, Blog, DNA Foundation, human trafficking, Real Men don't buy girls, Village Voice
Last week I posted about a Village Voice article that attacked Ashton Kutcher – for daring to stand up to men who fuel the sex trafficking industry in the United States. Since then there’s been a lot of back and forth about this article and the Twitter feud it launched.
Initially it seemed the most vocal were people eager to pile onto Ashton. Many people on Twitter thought he got his tail handed to him.
There’s a problem with listening to the people who spout off first.
There have been some great articles standing up to the Village Voice’s so-called “scientifically backed” article. People who were trashing Mr. Kutcher could do it quickly in 140 characters. The authors who spent time writing articles that showed what fools the Village Voice were took time.
Here are two excellent articles, written with a lot more thoughtfulness than what the Village Voice could muster.
An Open Letter from FTS (Free the Slaves) to The Village Voice
Remember that the Village Voice has a financial stake in this “debate,” as they host a website for “adult services,” without always knowing whether the people offering the services are, in fact, adults or doing it voluntarily. It is nice to see that in the financial arena it has already affected them, as American Airlines has pulled advertising from their website. It is good to see some businesses with a conscience.
I still have more thoughts on some of the root problems for slavery and child sexual exploitation. That will be for another post.
—
by Jason Joyner | Jun 30, 2011 | Ashton Kutcher, Blog, DNA Foundation, human trafficking, Real Men don't buy girls, Village Voice
I’m not Ashton Kutcher’s biggest fan.
Mr. Twitter King has not been someone I’ve really enjoyed in films (alright, he was funny in Cheaper By The Dozen), and I just haven’t paid him much attention.
However, this year my respect grew when he and his wife Demi Moore started the
DNA Foundation to help fight child sex slavery and human trafficking. They started an ad campaign that shows different Hollywood actors doing some goofy things being “manly” with the tag line REAL MEN DON’T BUY GIRLS.
The ads have gotten a little flak for supposedly being off-target. I found them humorous enough and appreciated that the message of men not paying for forced child sexual exploitation was getting out. I am passionate about seeing human trafficking end in our lifetime, and hope more people recognize the scope of this issue.
Unfortunately, the Village Voice took exception to “goofy” Ashton getting serious about this issue. Their problem is supposedly “integrity”. The article claims that the numbers used by the DNA Foundation and other activists of 100,000-300,000 children being “at risk” for sexual exploitation are wildly inflated. Oh, the article gives lip service to the tragedy of any child being exploited, but that statement is very weak compared to the vitriol stirred up through the rest of the article.
The article goes to lengths to paint Ashton as a doofus who is more interested in self-image than the actual issue. It discusses a “celebrity charity advisor” that helped Ashton and Demi craft a message against child sex trafficking. It attacks the studies used to get the above number, and tries to suggest it is wildly over-estimated.
The interesting part is when the article insinuates that faith-based groups working to help end slavery are in it to win big government bucks. The disdain and bias shows clearly when talking about anyone religious participating in this work.
A disclaimer reveals Village Voice’s stake in the situation:
Congress hauled in Craigslist on September 15, 2010. There, feminists, religious zealots, the well-intentioned, law enforcement, and social-service bureaucrats pilloried the online classified business for peddling “100,000 to 300,000” underage prostitutes annually.
It goes on to say that Village Voice has always advertised for adult services, and feels attacked by the “devout” now that Craigslist was taken to the woodshed.
I am shocked how Village Voice can take such an issue and turn it into a First Amendment argument? I have no experience with this magazine, as it seems to be a New York phenomenon.
I am certain that the numbers for child sexual exploitation and trafficking are very difficult to nail down. Even if the study chided in the Voice article is flawed, so is their selective research and analysis. They should be talking to people in the field like
Rachel Lloyd, founder of GEMS. Still, the dismissive way they talk about faith-based advocates reveals a philosophical agenda that doesn’t give any respect to the concern over human lives being so damaged and used.
I’ll have more to say on this topic soon. I’m interested to see where the Village Voice goes now after staking such a horrible position. It drove me to become more of an Ashton Kutcher fan and a follower of his on Twitter. Maybe there’s a little reverse effect going on.
My final thought is a lyric from a song from the 90’s:
“Human rights have made the wrongs okay”
Slavery sucks. People need to see some of the root causes and stand for what’s right.
—
by Jason Joyner | Jun 30, 2011 | Ashton Kutcher, Blog, DNA Foundation, human trafficking, Real Men don't buy girls, Village Voice
I’m not Ashton Kutcher’s biggest fan.
Mr. Twitter King has not been someone I’ve really enjoyed in films (alright, he was funny in Cheaper By The Dozen), and I just haven’t paid him much attention.
However, this year my respect grew when he and his wife Demi Moore started the
DNA Foundation to help fight child sex slavery and human trafficking. They started an ad campaign that shows different Hollywood actors doing some goofy things being “manly” with the tag line REAL MEN DON’T BUY GIRLS.
The ads have gotten a little flak for supposedly being off-target. I found them humorous enough and appreciated that the message of men not paying for forced child sexual exploitation was getting out. I am passionate about seeing human trafficking end in our lifetime, and hope more people recognize the scope of this issue.
Unfortunately, the Village Voice took exception to “goofy” Ashton getting serious about this issue. Their problem is supposedly “integrity”. The article claims that the numbers used by the DNA Foundation and other activists of 100,000-300,000 children being “at risk” for sexual exploitation are wildly inflated. Oh, the article gives lip service to the tragedy of any child being exploited, but that statement is very weak compared to the vitriol stirred up through the rest of the article.
The article goes to lengths to paint Ashton as a doofus who is more interested in self-image than the actual issue. It discusses a “celebrity charity advisor” that helped Ashton and Demi craft a message against child sex trafficking. It attacks the studies used to get the above number, and tries to suggest it is wildly over-estimated.
The interesting part is when the article insinuates that faith-based groups working to help end slavery are in it to win big government bucks. The disdain and bias shows clearly when talking about anyone religious participating in this work.
A disclaimer reveals Village Voice’s stake in the situation:
Congress hauled in Craigslist on September 15, 2010. There, feminists, religious zealots, the well-intentioned, law enforcement, and social-service bureaucrats pilloried the online classified business for peddling “100,000 to 300,000” underage prostitutes annually.
It goes on to say that Village Voice has always advertised for adult services, and feels attacked by the “devout” now that Craigslist was taken to the woodshed.
I am shocked how Village Voice can take such an issue and turn it into a First Amendment argument? I have no experience with this magazine, as it seems to be a New York phenomenon.
I am certain that the numbers for child sexual exploitation and trafficking are very difficult to nail down. Even if the study chided in the Voice article is flawed, so is their selective research and analysis. They should be talking to people in the field like
Rachel Lloyd, founder of GEMS. Still, the dismissive way they talk about faith-based advocates reveals a philosophical agenda that doesn’t give any respect to the concern over human lives being so damaged and used.
I’ll have more to say on this topic soon. I’m interested to see where the Village Voice goes now after staking such a horrible position. It drove me to become more of an Ashton Kutcher fan and a follower of his on Twitter. Maybe there’s a little reverse effect going on.
My final thought is a lyric from a song from the 90’s:
“Human rights have made the wrongs okay”
Slavery sucks. People need to see some of the root causes and stand for what’s right.
—
