ThatMaskedMan

Not applicable
2002-06-04 18:23:18 (UTC)

June 4, 2002

It's one o'clock...in the afternoon! It's a revolution
in the making!

So I got a haircut. Actually, I got quite a few of them
cut (I HAD to say it!). I like my style today: faded blue
jeans, suspenders hanging off the jeans (blue with a red
stripe down the center. They're fairly nice), white Dave
Matthews Band t-shirt, red-and-white checkered short-
sleeves (collared) shirt...and my hair manageable enough
again to gel it up. Someone take a picture of me. =)

Funny that I mention pictures; it goes right with what I
want to talk about. While waiting for a haircut, I picked
up the June 2002 issue of Yahoo! Magazine. Inside was an
article about teens who, in return for strangers sending
them items off their "Wish List" (some deal at Amazon.com),
they send risqué photos of themselves. They're called "cam
girls", and a whole Internet following has spawned from
it. It's nothing particularly new; as a matter of fact the
whole idea started in Japan, with businessmen finding girls
online and paying them for an "escort service." Of course,
the whole thing is a matter of perspective. Are these
girls smart because they can use sex to their advantage, or
are they just becoming victim to a depraved society?

I like what Mark Frauenfelder, the writer, wrote:
"The cam girls phenomenon could not have happened before
this moment in history. It's the result of a combination
of specific ingredients: inexpensive yet powerful
technology to send and receive video images over the New; a
culture that places higher value on fame than on the skills
and talent that make people famous; teen celebrities who
happily flaunt their bodies on the covers of national
magazines; and the timeless rite of passage that is a
teenage girl's search for identity and blossoming awareness
of her own sexual power."

The scenario matches perfectly with the "I deserve
everything because I exist" mentality that I find so
prevalent in the minds of those I meet. There are all
these people nowadays whose parents simply give them
everything they want (and this is regardless of
socioeconomic status) and the kids take it for granted in
the worst way. Individualism has been confused with
selfishness, and that, combined with consumerism, has given
rise to the youth not merely wanting instant gratification,
but expecting it. It's not enough to receive a present and
be content with using it, there is a demand for a constant
influx of possessions.

And the shift has gone from the rags-to-riches stories of
the early twentieth century to the manipulation of sex and
the shrewd minds that control its sale. No wonder, then,
that the top two subjects of spam mail are pyramid schemes
and sexual enhancers (of whatever variety). The fact of
the matter is that these girls are still getting what they
want, and it's coming to them easily. Think of the dot-com
companies. In a wild, bull market they rose the rocket to
financial stardom, making millions of dollars on a non-
product and spending it on...consumer goods. Then the bear
market settled in, the bubble popped, and many of these
owners find themselves horrendously in debt, with all their
quick-earned riches vanishing.

The Internet was a short-lived novelty; sex is
transcendent. There is no diminishing novelty because,
when and if the subject gets boring, you can always have
different people, different scenarios, and tweak
everything. So are these people smart businesswomen, or
cheap sell-outs? In other words, which do you choose:
money or morality?

Personally, I think the innovator of the manipulation of
sex is the true genius. Many credit Marilyn Monroe, others
credit Madonna. I'll give credit to both, although I'm
sure there have been other, similarly confident women in
history. Now that it has become popularized, however, the
creativity is lost. Those who follow in the wake of these
women are unimaginative and oblivious to the idea that it
is the creativity that sells the most. Marilyn, Madonna,
and all the rest had to work against a strong, conservative
current to reach their respective pinnacles, and Marilyn
had her strong acting, Madonna her strong musicmaking
abilities. The truth is that those who pioneered the field
are that much more respectable because they had talents
that required refining and experimentation. Then the
corporations got a hold of the formula. Then the masses
saw the formula, too, and began to cash in on a piece of
the glory.

If you can't be creative, then you are wasting time and
space. By copying someone else's formula, all you've
become is a robot, an easily-programmed machine like the
millions of others that exist on this planet. But if you
have a talent, and talents that you develop and utilize to
their fullest potential, then you are making a difference.
Even if you have to follow in someone else's footsteps for
a while, if you can find the breakthrough and open the next
door, then there is truly life in you. There is a soul
behind those eyes now, and it is the pure fire that you
breathe from your mind that burns its signature in history.

Enough of that; let's change gears. Now how do I, a
member of the opposite sex, combat the sexual cunning of
girls? By being decidedly non-sexual. This requires a
hell of a lot of self-control, but it levels the playing
field significantly. I guess a lot of guys delude
themselves into thinking that, as long as they shower a
girl with presents, they have control over her. The
reality is that she controls them, where the spigot of the
outlet of presents lies in sex. That's why I'm not sexual
around those who exhibit a strong sexual presence. I want
to make sure there is something holding us together before
I give in and let myself go. I want to make sure I'm not
being used, because I know I will hate myself then. It's
also why I don't like getting high or drunk: control over
myself is the most important axiom of all. Establish
independence first, then build your dependencies. The
United States of America delcared independence first, built
their fledgling government, and then entered into world
politics. Of course, we've really fucked up a lot along
the way, but I'm keeping this diary as apolitical as
possible.

2:30 PM...time to go visit Michelle. =P

-Ricardo-




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