The Caleb Report

July-August 2010 Life Decisions International vol. xix no. 4

THE (LITERAL) VALUE OF VIRGINITY

Selling Yourself To The Highest Bidder
In September 2008, a 22-year-old graduate of Sacramento State College, Natalie Dylan, announced on The Howard Stern Show (Sirius XM Radio Inc.) her plan to auction off her virginity through the website of Moonlight Bunny Ranch prostitution facility located in Nevada. Dylan said the proceeds would go to pay for graduate school, where, oddly, she planned to get a degree in marriage and family therapy. While Dylans sister had worked at the Bunny Ranch two years prior, Dylan insisted her sibling had nothing to do with her decision. My sister definitely didnt pressure me into doing this, she said in an interview. I feel empowered because I am being pro-choice with my body. Dylan said Dylan she retained the right to reject the winner of the auction and pick another bidder. At the time of the interview she claimed that several bids had exceeded $1 million. Dylan said the actual losing of her virginity would be at the ranch, which would get 50 percent of the winning bid. Some 18 months ago, an Australian filmmaker began recruiting young men and women who would be willing to auction off their virginity online. He planned to film the process as a documentary. His project got attention after he placed several Virgins Wanted posters on the campus of Monash University, in Melbourne, Australia:
ViRGINS WANTED --------------------------------------------------------------------------$20,000 [AUD] is on offer for one female virgin and one male virgin who are cast into a new feature documentary films. Plus, 90% of the funds to burgeon generates from the sale of their virginity. Chosen applicants are required to sell their virginity online. The feature-length documentary proposes to document a Man and Woman who take the ambitious journey toward the sale of their virginity. Unsuccessful applicants who are not the two chosen versions are not entitled to any proceeds generated by or from the film. A maximum of one male virgin and one female virgin will be selected only. Auditions begin 21st March 2009. All willing applicants contact: Thomas Productions to arrange an audition time.

William

Please read the TERMS and CONDITIONS before applying to audition

As noted in the poster, Justin Sisely pledged to give some $20,000 to the one man and one woman selected to star in the documentary. (The Terms and Conditions included a section saying the one-time payment would be made if and at such time the film made $40,000.) In addition, the pair would get 90 percent of the take from the auctions. Monash Universitys Media and Communications Manager, Tim Mitchell, told the Herald Sun that the university had contacted police after a staff member complained about the posters put up in the union building. We have contacted those responsible for them and told them the posters were not appropriate, he said. We dont want them on the campus again. But Sisely had also placed hundreds of posters in the city centre. Sisely received death threats for advertising auditions by using a portrait of Mary, the mother of Jesus, with the words VIRGIN WANTED: A Documentary made for the 20th Century But many people were incensed only by the advertisement and not by the sexual exploitation or other negative aspects of the project itself. (Around the same time, one issue of the Mexican virgin recruitment poster version of Playboy showed a photograph of a model dressed to resemble Mary. It, too, led to a negative public reaction.) The website (fameandfortune.com.au) promoting the project described it as an observational documentary that follows one man and one woman as they seek to auction their first sexual experience. Our camera follows the principle cast of Ben Smith and Veronica Peach as they shed their virginity to a complete stranger in front of a worldwide audience. Applicants were required to be at least 16

years old. (Ben Smith and Veronica Peach were to be the pseudonyms given to the selected pair.) Describing himself as an artist who was simply exploring the idea of virginity as a commodity, Sisely told the Herald Sun that the project was to be a one-time thing; its not like theyre continually going to be a prostitute. While Sisely wanted people to Sisely believe the project was little born out of an intellectual and moral curiosity, its website made a different point. Throughout the film it is our objective to create a discourse that questions the repressive religious, political and social mechanisms that limit the ways that we can understand and act upon our individual sexual natures. Okay, so it is either not an intellectual exercise or it is also an attempt to reshape societal values. In an effort to rebuff increasing criticism, Sisely said his subjects would not be required to go through with the deflowering. But the project website made it clear that the winning male and female virgins would sell their first sexual experiences to the highest bidder and be filmed having sex with those strangers. In an interview with the BBC, Sisely was asked if he was exploiting the young women and men vying to auction their virginity. Everybody gets exploited, he responded. All work is exploitation, more or less. Working for wages, working for a boss, working in a cubicle, are all forms of exploitation. (How lame can an answer get?) Sisely said that given the economic crisis young people would welcome the financial benefits. Potentially, theres a truckload of money to have, he said. Sisely chose a 21-year-old waitress from Sydney to be Veronica. She signed up to earn money and to change perceptions about sex. Technically Im selling my virginity for money. Technically that would be classified as prostitution, but its not going to be a regular thing, so in my head I can Veronica Veronica justify that Im not going to be a prostitute, she said. Veronica also said she had been unable to find a man to love and make love with so she wondered why she was hanging on to her virginity. A 20-year-old was selected to participate in the project as Ben Smith. He had applied as a way of meeting someone. After the initial pick backed out of the project, Sisely selected a replacement who said he was sick of waiting for the right girl and would consider any offers. Not surprisingly, the second choice had a change of heart and a third candidate, who said he was willing to have sex with a male or female bidder, took the Ben Smith role.
July-August 2010

Money is a good incentive but Im really more excited about the journey Im about to go on, he said. Problem. Sisely received a letter from Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) threatening prosecution for inciting prostitution if he proceeded with the film. CAVs Haifa Majdali said the Ben Ben Ben 1, Ben 2 Prostitution Control Act defines prostitution as the provision of sexual services in return for payment or reward. And therefore it was (our) view that selling ones virginity falls within the definition of prostitution, and that to do sowithout holding an appropriate license may constitute an offense, she said. In response, Siselys company, Thomas Williams Productions, began looking for another place to film. He settled on Nevada and flew to Las Vegas with his two participants. Kevin Andrews is a member of the Australian Parliament and serves on LDIs Board of Advisors. He said the vast majority of Australians were disgusted by Siselys project. This takes the crass banality of Big Brother to new depths. It treats people as objects to be bought and sold, rather than the possessors of inherent dignity. Worse, it sends a message that people can be traded and used. Andrews, a leading member of Australias Liberal Party, said Sisely fled to the United States out of fear of prosecution, but the filmmakers troubles may not be over. The Las Vegas Sun reported that taking women across state lines for the purpose of prostitution could put Sisely in violation of federal law. While one is allowed to sell her body in certain parts of Nevadaif she passes a health check, gets a license, and works for a properly registered brothelpersuading someone to cross a state line for the purpose of prostitution is explicitly prohibited by the White Slave Act of 1910, which is also known as the Mann Act. Siselys project could earn him a decade in prison for each person he brought to Nevada for the auction. The project is currently on hold. Sadly, virginity auctions are taking place all the time all over the world. Just last year, a Romanian attending school in Germany, 18-year old Alina Percea, sought to sell her virginity online. I hoped Id meet a nice man, like in the film Pretty Woman, she said. Bidding began to wane after a former teacher raised doubts that Percea was a virgin, but the auction recovered after she produced a doctors report confirming she had never had sex. Percea said the winner of the auction must provide a full medical certificate to prove he is free from all STDs. And what about the potential for pregnancy? If I have sex without a condom I will take the morning after pill afterwards, as I do not want to become pregnant.
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A 45-year-old Italian businessman won the auction with a bid of nearly $14,000. Percea went through with the deal, even though she expected to make as much as $70,000, which she said would be used for her education. Percea said $14,000 is not Percea much money, even in Romania, but it would help. I hoped Id be able to have an apartment in town. But now I will live with my parents while I go to university, she said. Percea surely did not count on one thing. German tax authorities are investigating her transaction and are consider whether to impose the 50 percent tax rate applied to prostitution profits. As a student in Germany she is subject to the countrys laws. Prostitution is legal in Germany but heavily taxed. As one tax expert told the Daily Mail, Even if she was taxed as a purveyor of erotic moments, or whatever she wants to call what she did, she would have to pay tax on it. Prostitution is merely a means for the bureaucrats to pin her down for a claim. She would have been better off keeping quiet about this strange transaction. Percea may also be charged the 19 percent Value Added Tax because she made a lot of money over a brief period of time. This would bring her total take down to approximately $5,200. In Hungary a television show helped a 17year-old girl sell her virginity, reported The Austrian Times. The virginity auction began in August 2010. Miss Spring, the alias used for the woman who is at the center of the controversy, said she is putting up her virginity for sale out of neces- Miss Spring Spring sity. She wants to pay off the mortgage for her familys house. I do not feel like her pimp, said program presenter Mate Kocka, who organized the auction. Yes, I know, soliciting yourself is a crime in Hungary. But its classified as a mild breach of the law and its punishment is[less than $500]. Miss Spring knows that too and I suppose shell pay for it from the sale price, he added. Initially, the auction for Miss Spring was on boycott target eBay. She ended the auction after receiving a marriage proposal from a British man who was willing to pay nearly $160,000. The woman said she has never had a boyfriend and does not need a husband. She just wants a man who would help her and her family. Two men wanted to marry me take care of me and my family, Miss Spring said. But for me this was supposed to be a one off thing. Getting married and living with someone is a challenge I am not sure I am yet ready for.
July-August 2010

However, I would really like the opportunity to go to Britain or Ireland. So who knows? In a truly disturbing turn of events, Miss Spring, now 18-years-old, said she was attacked by four men who threatened to rape her. They dragged me into an alley, she told The Austrian Times. They said they were going to rape me, they cut off my hair, but they ran off when somebody came by. They said they were going to take what they wanted for free. I was terrified. I have cancelled the auction; I dont know what to do now. The woman has also received several death threats. While Planned Parenthood has not spoken publicly about such auctions, we suspect the personal choice mantra would be used.
RELIGIOUS OBJECTIONS NOT SUFFICIENT

Germany has made sex education in schools compulsory starting at the age of eight. Opting-out on religious or cultural grounds is not allowed. Writers of an advice column team for Bravo newspaper field hundreds of questions daily. Many come from teenagers and regard sexual issues. Marthe-Anna Kniep, who is responsible for the column, believes that talking to young people about sex does not condone sexual activity, but prepares them for sexual life and protects them. I know that some parents underestimate the sexual activities of their daughters and sons. So it is also a good thing that they get basic information at school, she said. Surveys show that most parents in Germany approve of this approach. Here in Central Europe definitely the kids have a lot of burning questions, and so the school is welladvised to answer them and parents of course are also in the picture, but I think its a very good thing that the schools conduct sex education here, said a father whose son begins his sexual education classes next year. While most parents have accepted the curriculum, others have spoken out against it. Mandatory attendance at such classes, regardless of religious beliefs, has sparked controversy among some parents and those in the religious community. Show parents, educate parents how to execute their responsibilities while they are educating their children, said one parent. My view is to educate parents. They can make the difference, I understand parents who want to decide on their own when they give their children all the information about sexuality and the development and the body, responded Kniep. But I know about 25 percent of boys and girls, even in Germany, cannot talk about these topics.
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Two parents filed suit against the government arguing that such curriculum infringes upon their religious beliefs and their rights as parents. The court disagreed.
THE PRAYER PROJECT

With several generations of teenagers receiving sexually explicit messages, news out of Europe regarding such matters is not exactly a surprise. Yet even we were stunned by some recent reports. In Switzerland condoms are now being manufactured specifically for boys between the ages of 12 and 14. The main difference with the new condoms is the diameter. Makers believe the smaller design will prevent slipping of condoms. Manufacture of the new condom line was spearheaded by the Swiss AIDS Federation after research commissioned by the Federal Commission on Children and Youth showed an increase in the number of sexually active children under age 14. The study, which included interviews with 1,480 people aged 10 to 20, also concluded that children have rather poor knowledge regarding means of birth control and prevention of HIV/AIDS. The result that shocked us concerned young boys who display apparently risky behavior, said Nancy Bodmer who headed the research conducted at the Centre for Development and Personality what Is this whats next? Psychology at Basel University. They have more of a tendency not to protect themselves. They do not have a very developed sexual knowledge. They do not understand the consequences of what they are doing and leave the young girls to take care of the consequences. The results of this study suggest that early prevention makes sense. Birth control groups and the Swiss AIDS Federation campaigned to have the condoms produced. Lamprecht AG, a leading condom producer in Switzerland is now marketing the new product. Nysse Norballe, Lamprechts international sales manager, said the company hopes to eventually sell the condoms outside Switzerland. She wants to make selling the product in the United Kingdom a top priority because it has the highest teen pregnancy rate in Europe. (In 1999, the British government pledged to cut the teenage pregnancy rate in half by 2009, but recently released data from The Office for National Statistics shows there has been no significant change.) The new condoms, called Hotshot, are distributed through Swiss schools (at taxpayer expense) with information about AIDS. They have also been made available for sale, with a box of six condoms costing around $7. Incidentally, the age of consent in Switzerland is 16, although if the age difference is not more than three years there is no punishment. Leniency is also exercised if the
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Please join us in daily prayer for the people who are active in the Pro-Abortion Movement and those who have not been strong in their claimed pro-life convictions:
July: Mavis Elizabeth Nicholson Leno, the radically pro-abortion wife of Jay Leno; August: Elena Kagan,

President Barack Hussein Obama IIs nominee to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court; September: Arizona Right to Life Political Action Committee members who voted to back Senator John McCain even though his challenger is an unambiguously strong pro-lifer (see Special Reports, Spring 2010); October: U.S. Senator John Sidney McCain III, R-Ariz., who has been a weak supporter of the Pro-Life Movement (see Special Reports, Spring 2010); November: U.S. Senator Ronald Lee Wyden, DOre., who has been a leading and vicious foe of pregnancy help centers (see The Caleb Report, May-June 2005, Attack On Pregnancy Help Centers Continues: Planned Parenthood Relies On Personal Accounts, and Special Reports, August 2000); and December: the new and reelected members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
CONDOM LINE TARGETS KIDS

There are many magazines designed for young teenagers that are sold in North America, including Teen, Teen Beat, Seventeen, Cosmo Girl, 16, Bop, Sassy, Faze, Right On!, and Word Up!. The Caleb Report has criticized many publishers of such magazines for their explicit content (see The Caleb Report [Latest Assault on Youth, January-February 2002, Teen Magazine Polls on Sex, November-December 2003, and Grocery Chain Yanks Teen Magazine, September-October 2005]). German youth read such publications as Popcorn. In the United Kingdom, Its Hot is aimed at readers between the ages of nine and 13. It is no secret that Europeans are far more liberal when it comes to matters relating to sexuality. Teen magazines are riddled with content of a sexually explicit nature. Storyboards follow the adventures of teenagers who are routinely jumping into bed. And European magazines have been including such content for decades. In fact, in the 1980s, the magazine Jackie featured a story about three teenagerstwo boys and one girl. It was called Pass the Partner.
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older person is not more than 20 or believed the younger person was at least 16 years old.
QUOTABLE QUOTE

it is just a matter of time before someone places a child inside the door and the baby will become a welcome addition to their family.
LAWMAKER URGES BRANDING FOR HIV

We are losing a winnable fight precisely because we arent creating enough of an uproar over baby-killing. Our timidity sends a signal to society that abortion is not worth fighting overbecause we arent fight over it [T]he pro-life movement is cowering in the face of this evil and most of our people have become appeasers who say, pleadingly, to the Culture of Death, We promise we wont bother you and we pray you wont bother us. If we dont start bothering lots of powerful people, but doing it intelligentlywe dont have a hope of pulling this out.
- Gregg Cunningham, The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform

A suggestion meant to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS in Swaziland has sparked public outrage. It also threatens to cost the lawmaker who made the suggestion his job. I have a solution to the virus, Timothy Myeni, a member of the Swaziland Parliament, told his colleagues. The solution will come from a law that will make it compulsory to test for HIV. Once you test positive, you should be branded on the buttocks, he said. Before having sex with anyone, people will then check the buttocks of their partners before proceeding Response to the suggestion was negative. We do not need legislators who think like him because some of the people who voted for him could be [HIV] positive, said Siphiwe Hlophe, director of Swaziland Positive Living. South African columnist Lucky Mazibuko called Myeni an uncultured and insensitive lunatic. Although the reaction to Myenis proposal shocked Swaziland and most of Southern Africa, his idea is not the first of its kind. Nearly a year ago, Dr. Eliot Tofa, a lecturer at the University of Swaziland, suggested that people infected with HIV be marked on the buttocks or thighs. He argued that since Swazilands prevention efforts thus far have failed, people need to be coerced to disclose their statuses. Getting a reaction similar to that facing Myeni, Tofa was called upon to withdraw his statement and apologize. He refused, saying, I have done nothing wrong. Myeni has not been so courageous. I am very sorry for saying HIV positive people should be branded. I did not know it would turn out like this, he said. I have seen that the suggestion was very offensive and many think I was discriminating, so I withdraw my statement. But to some, the withdrawn statement is insufficient. The Times of Swaziland quoted Hlophe as saying she does not like half-withdrawals. She threatened that her group may gather signatures on a petition and stage a protest march aimed at removing Myeni from office unless he also withdraws his call for mandatory HIV testing. Myeni is the leader of a popular gospel group and there have been calls to boycott the groups music. Hlophe is prepared to go a step further if Myeni does not make a full and acceptable apology. Members of her group have decided to dress in t-shirts inscribed HIV positive and then
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CZECH REPUBLIC SEEKS A SOLUTION

Simple metal doors can be seen all around the Czech Republic on the sides of hospitals and governmental buildings. This is not exactly big news, but the doors are intended to lead the way to a better life for many children. The metal containers behind the doors are BabyBoxes. If a mother wants to leave her child, all she to do is pull on the door handle and put him or her inside. An infant can survive in such a box for several hours, but usually is picked up within minutes by those on the other side. The first BabyBox was placed in a private hospital in Prague. It is still the most frequently used site with nearly 15 children left there over the past five years. As soon as the baby is placed inside, the door locks on the outside, and an alarm is set off, a hospital doctor said. I remember running to the box for the first time to see the baby inside and showing it to the doctor to be examined. It felt special. I think it is an amazing invention. The BabyBox was invented by Ludvik Hess, a writer and horse breeder, who said special places to leave children existed even in ancient times. But the initial reaction to the BabyBox was not good, especially by some clergymen and medical professionals. Hess said the government was wary and did not provide funding, despite the fact that the BabyBox is high-tech, with 300 electronic parts. He said the concern was that it would encourage people to get rid of their children. The perception has changed. Bretislav Svoboda has been dating for two years. The pair can have children of their own, but told Russia Today they would also like to adopt a BabyBox child. I come from a big familythree brothers, 30 cousins, so I like children, he said. They do not know where or when, but
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go to all of Myenis concerts in Swaziland to ensure that he will be disturbed during his performances. Swaziland has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS in the world. Neither Hlophe nor Mazibuko proposed an alternate response to the growing health crisis.
AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) Maggie Awards recognize exceptional contributions by the media and arts and entertainment industries that enhance the publics understanding of reproductive rights and health care issues, including contraception, sex education, teen pregnancy, abortion, and international family planning. In other words, Maggie Awards are given to those in the media that do PPFAs bidding. The 2010 Maggie Awards, honoring work done in 2009, were presented to winners in the media categories at PPFAs Organizing and Policy Summit in July 2010. The winners covered issues ranging from highly questionable adoption practices by so-called crisis pregnancy centers to female genital mutilation among immigrants in the U.S., the debate over health insurance coverage for abortion as part of health care reform, and the use of racially charged rhetoric by opponents of legal abortion. Winning a 2010 Maggie were: womens magazine: Glamour for The Serious Health Decision Women Arent Talking About; film: Precious (from the novel Push by Sapphire) news magazine: The Nation for Shotgun Adoption; online reporting: Lynn Harris, Salon.com, for Our Daughters Should Not Be Cut; television news reporting: The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, for coverage of the health care reform debate, the murder of abortionist George Tiller and the anti-abortion movement; special mention: RH Reality Check, for its coverage of the murder of Tiller, health care reform and the Stupak Amendment, as well as the targeting of AfricanAmerican women by the Pro-Life Movement; and commentary: Cynthia Tucker, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, for Is Abortion a Racist Plot? Of Course Not and Ga. Senates New Concern for Black Children Im very honored and very grateful to receive a Maggie Award and thank you for supporting and awarding aggressive reporting on this subject, said Maddow. But I must say I hope to never again have to report on another Dr. Tiller story again [where] people who have decided that if they cant impose their opinions about women and womens health and pregnancy through politics that theyll impose them instead by force.
July-August 2010

As a former Maggie Award winner [1989 and 1992], Im delighted to honor my colleagues who share a commitment to making sure that womens storiesespecially stories about their reproductive healthget told, said Lynn Sherr, formerly of ABC Sherr News, who hosted the event. These journalists tackle issues that many people would rather not addressfrom the suspicious practices of the anti-abortion movements crisis pregnancy centers to female genital mutilation in the U.S.and through these powerful stories, they educate their audiences and our leaders on issues of critical importance. (Did she use the word journalists? They may be reporters, but they are certainly not journalists.) Its easy to fall into the trap of just reporting the he said she said debate when it comes to reproductive health issues, said PPFA President Cecile Richards. But these journalists delved deep into the issues and provided their audiences with a better understanding of how reproductive health plays out in politics, communities and the lives of individuals. For that, were grateful.
IN YOUR OWN WORDSSORT OF

An LDI Partner left a message on our voicemail system requesting that we return her call with some information about her Partnership. We returned the call, but she was rather disturbed by our timing. Before leaving the voicemail, the Partner had received our last mailing, which included The Caleb Report for May-June 2010 and the Spring 2010 edition of Special Reports (Shootout In The Grand Canyon State: Endorsement Raises Questions About Standards And Faithfulness). She was surprised and somewhat irritated that Special Reports was 16 pagesand all on one subject. It seems our return call came when the Partner was almostbut not quitefinished reading the long report. Now she was a bit unhappy about being interrupted. She told us of her initial reaction to the material, but once she started reading she could not put it down. It covered a lot of territory and there was nothing extraneous in there, she said. It was an insight I would not have had. I couldnt have done it and am greatly appreciative. And we are appreciative of the kind words. Thank you!
The Caleb Report, an official periodical of Life Decisions International (LDI), is published six times per year. Opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of every LDI Partner or members of its Board of Directors/Advisors or staff. This publication may be copied so long as the appropriate citation(s) are included. It may be quoted so long as proper acknowledgement(s) are provided. Write: P.O. Box 439, Front Royal, VA 22630-0009 (USA). Phone: (540) 631-0380. At least 60 past issues of The Caleb Report are available on LDIs website (www.fightpp.org).
2010 Life Decisions International

The Caleb Report

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