'Wikipedia for Porn' launches, should parents worry?
Carnalpedia aims to be the definitive online resource for all things related to sex, including the porn industry. They also claim that innocent eyes will not be able to visit thanks to their Restricted to Adults rating.
I suppose it was just a matter of time before a site like this was created. The sex and porn industry has had an enormous influence on the development of the Internet and remains one of its most popular albeit controversial topics.
Carnalpedia will remind visitors immediately of Wikipedia, the site that has become the web's favourite destination for finding facts on just about every imaginable topic. The layout is identical, as is navigation and organization of content within article pages. It also maintains the wiki convention of being free to access and open to anyone to create and/or edit submissions.
Although the site has only been online for a few weeks, it already contains more than 120,000 articles, including a growing list of adult movie titles, which currently sits at about 76,000.
When asked about why the web needs a Wikipedia for sex, Carnalpedia creator Jeremy Haddock said "The fact that Wikipedia has a certain type of audience leaves a lot of information about sex and the adult industry either blocked or censored."
Haddock notes that all of Carnalpedia's article pages will be labeled with the Restricted To Adults (RTA) tag which will prevent them from being accessed on computers equipped with services like NetNanny which only allow age-appropriate content to be viewed.
The site is trying to avoid being a resource for people who simply want to swap adult material: only "authorized individuals from approved sources" are allowed to upload images, in order to comply with copyright laws.
Link: Carnalpedia (N.B.: probably not suitable for work)
Excitable 
This is what being educated means !
Knowing the difference about what you should be watching,
and not watching !
It is the duty of parents and teachers to make sure that
the children understand these types of things.
These types of media are a part of social history, from
the ancient times, up to today.
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Why should parents be worried about sexual information any less than they should worry about their children living on a planet under severe ecological stress, and plagued by massive depravation and hardship of so many people. Treating sex as a special locus of moral significance only misdirects our attention from things which are far more deserving of address.
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I AM AMAZED AT WIKIPEDIA AND ITS PORN SITE, SHOULD PARENTS BE WORRIED? YES !!! JUST AS MUCH AS WE ALWAYS WERE. IT IS SAD THAT SOCIETY SINKS TO THIS. I REMEMBER WHEN PORN WAS TABOO AND HARD TO ACCESS AS A CURIOUS YOUNGER PERSON. NOW IT IS A FEW KEY STROKES AND INNOCENCE IS TAKEN AWAY. THANKS WIKIPEDIA FOR MAKING IT YET MORE EASILY ACCESSIBLE.
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@ Lynn: Sorry – I should have clarified in the article: Wikipedia has nothing to do with Carnalpedia. They do share the same wiki platform which means both sites look similar and their content is arranged in a similar way.
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if parents are so concerned about their kids accessing this site they should:
a) not allow internet access in thier bedrooms
b) block the site
c) be better parents and do both a and b.
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@ Lynn – this is not the same. Like it or not, sex has been a significant part of human history, including literature. As well, the sex industry employs a lot of people – respectable people including professionals. They make significant changes to a taboo subject. It is worthy of study and intellectual discourse and it is a shame that such a site will likely have their articles vandalized by immature idiots.
Another site, particularly one that makes its name and rating so clear, is not going to make access any easier or more available than any other site (in fact, I would argue that controling the uploading of photos and the multitude of editors will result in inappropriate/non-valuable content being quickly deleted. You have more to worry about from sources that are not open).
In the end, it is about your parenting, not the existence of these bad things. Don't fool yourself: things like sex information, porn and drugs are available at school. I'm in my mid-twenties and I knew how to get stuff in school; as well, teacher friends report that they often hear of things or take things away. Even though I knew where to get a hit or who to get such magazines from, I never did. My mother raised me well and I wasn't interested – because I already knew about this stuff and knew there was more to life.
However, as an adult, as an educated professional who continues taking classes on human behaviour/culture, even I have an interest on these rituals and how people handle (or so clearly avoid) these topics.
Kudos to Jeremy Haddock and staff for being so open about the content and measures. I hope that your editors, and community, are up to the challenge of treating such an important topic with dignity and meeting the high standards for information that your predecessors have set.
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We live in a world shared by adults and children. As such, parents must exercise their responsibility to protect their children, and that includes blocking objectionable websites using the RTA (Restricted To Adults) Label and parental filtering. Otherwise, adults should continue to have unrestricted access to adult websites, including porn. Despite what Lynn says, there is nothing inherently wrong with porn. Unfortunately we live in a North American society that is very much erotophobic and controlled by Christian groups. Let adults have their adult fun, and keep children away.
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As a nurse, I am continually amazed about how little some people know about their bodies, and how they work, particularly where sex is concerned. We live in a society that considers sex a taboo subject for mature conversations, and limits it to dirty jokes around the water cooler or locker room.
If this new site, as Simon Cohen has said, discusses all things sex, then I'm for it. People need a space to learn and get information. I'm not a fan of porn…I'm not a fan of anything that degrades women and reduces them to mere objects to be used and discarded. But I am a fan of educating people about their sexual health.
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I am disgusted that the common comment is to blame it on the parent if the kids are able to access questionable content on the internet. We have done everything recommended, one computer, it sits in the front room where we can see everything on the computer, we even have parental controls on the computer. My kids are so much smarter than I am when it comes to knowing the workings of the computer, they know how to circumnavigate around those controls and, sorry, I guess I am a bad parent, but I do choose to have a life outside the house and my kids are not watched over 24/7. I have found sites in "history" that have been visited that I dont exactly approve of. As for making everything taboo, give me a break, we dont have that chance, they have sex ed in school in grade 4! I still think that is way too young to start learning about the birds and the bees. I am amazed at the things that come out of their mouths. They learn more now than we ever did in school! However, I still dont think that kids need porn. There is a fat line between learning about sexuality and watching people have sex. There is a reason it is 18 and over.
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Please!!!! As a single mother, woman and a christian this site does nothing harmful. Children need to be educated at a very younge age about sex because if they aren't, guess what, they will be educated by someone else. Unfortunatly we live in a era where kids grow up too fast. Realistically look back to when you were a kid, were you not doing the things that you are banning your children from. Don't get me wrong, of course I wish my daughter would grow up and not worry about boys until she's 30 and not have sex till she's married but I don't live in a bubble! As long as this site has the proper blocks and children are being monitored then there shouldn't be any worries. But don't think for a second when your kid is out with their friends that they aren't talking about it or thinking about it, that's where you as a parent need to step up and be the parent your child needs. Nanny blockers and everything are not your childs babysitter, you need to take responsabilty and be a parent!
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@ Rhonda – sorry hon, but parenting IS 24/7. Like it or not; you chose to have children and that is the responsibility you took on. As for not being as educated on the computer as your children? Maybe its time you were so you can't heave blame on web sites for adults. And yes, I am a parent. Boys are adults now but I made it my business to become educated where the computer was concerned. I learned the ins and outs; computer was off limits if no adult was in the home and I learned to use passwords and changed them often. It wasn't that difficult and I felt my children were worth the effort.
As for the site? Kudos to Jeremy – education is the only way to cure ignorance and as mentioned by Sheila, there is still an awful lot of ignorance out there. People unaware of their own bodies and how they function; men and women going through life unaware of the wonders that can be achieved through a little sexual education.
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Wow. Jaclyn you are a christian and you support this?? lol I thought I was the worse christian in universe, guess not… I am gay and rather liberal yet I think that a "wikipedia" for sex is simply just revolting and sick. For a single mother to support such a website is beyond me. Educate them yourself instead of leaving them to be "taught" by the internet. Educate as in promoting abstinence, not "safe sex" since "safe" sex is a lucatrive myth.
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@Anthony: That is the stupidest thing I've ever read. An educational site about sex and sexuality leaves you feeling revolted and sick?? Really? And you say you're gay and liberal? I highly doubt it. As for your claims regarding abstinence versus safe sex, I guess you haven't seen all those studies and reports that said abstinence only programs and teachings don't work and have put your kids in more danger. And yes, Tony, safer sex actually does work. You need to dump your christian values that have failed to properly educate you.
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Why are people making a huge fuss over one website? News flash: this information is already all over the internet somewhere, and no, it's not difficult to find. If your child wants to find this information, they will find it, even without using the internet. My opinion (read that: opinion) is that children do need to be properly educated by their parents about topics relating to human sexuality, with the information discussed being geared towards their ages. Is there an age that is too young for them to stat learning this way? I don't think there is. Start out with something simple like telling young children about how certain areas of their bodies are their own personal space and it is not ok for others to touch them there and working your way up. Furthermore, why is grade 4 to young to learn? Isn't it better that your children learn from a reliable source, rather than the stories and half-truths of their peers? For girls especially, within the next year after hitting grade 4 their bodies can already start to change. Early bloomers are becoming more common, are they not? Shouldn't children learn about what's happening to them as they grow before it happens, so they understand how and why their bodies are changing? And when they're older, assuming that they will never have sex is naive and unrealistic, they're just not going to tell you they're doing it. Don't just tell them not to have sex, discuss reasons why it's a better idea to wait along with things like diseases. Lastly, because they won't listen to you telling them not to (an honest comment from recent personal experience and that of my friends and other peers), drill it into their minds to always, ALWAYS, use protection. Getting knocked up is one thing, but getting a disease can be for the rest of someone's life.
Sex is a fact of life. Without it, you would never have existed.
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I'm with Sarah, sex is a part of life and it's high time for people to just get over it. I'm a sixteen year old teenage girl, who still has yet to be kissed let alone have sex. Having a website that is reliable, and HONEST, is a damn good thing for us if I can express my opinion. It's a lot better than what we learn from our peers, who probably know next to nothing beyond what they see in music videos, read online, or worse, learn the hard way. Sexual education is underrated in our learning, personally I think there should be a class totally devoted to sex ed and it should be mandatory for the entire highschool career! STDS, youthful pregnancies, and god knows what else is destroying our generation, and if we, and I mean everybody, not just adults, have the means to do something, then we damn well should!
Why learn the hard way when it's possible to get the problem early? This site sounds way more reliable than most of the others that can be found easily online. It's as simple as typing the word "sex" into google and watching what pops up. Sure it can either be revolting or intriguing, but if someone was brave enough, and sensible in my opinion, to devote a site to the rational and entirely sincere explanation of sex and all of its components, then cheers to them.
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I'm sorry you think I'm a bad Christian Anthony but I also don't leave the computer to teach my child about sex. *Mabbo is absolutely correct in saying "no sex" teachings is wrong. Granted growing up I was once told "unless your ready to get pregnant or accept the chance of catching and STD or AIDS then don't have sex" I kept that in the back of my mind and went through a 4 year period of abstinence. But if I didn't know what an STD or what AIDS was, would I really care? No matter my values or ethics education can never hurt anyone. The more informed you are, the better choices you make in your life. CHEERS to "Carnalpedia"!
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I see nothing with an easy, free source of information. And I acknowladge that it's impossible to keep kids 100% away from sexuality and explicit images, but I don't think that failing to keep kids from seeing this site is a total disaster. I can't see how a child seeing a few boobs would destroy their sense of right and wrong or make them permiscoius. Although, it's probably not ideal.
As for everybody saying that the generation of children is being destroyed, it's time to take a deep breath and relax. You see people have always thought that children are ruined, irresponsible, going to destroy the world when they grow up, etc. This kind of thinking was even present in ancient times. Fortunatly children have always grown up into reasonable adults who've taken decent care of the world. Baby boomers should be especilly aware of this phenomenon, as they were usually thought of as troublesome hippies in their youth.
People also need to let go of their fears that sex, alchol and other drugs are causing too much damage to youth. I'm 16, and although I've yet to have sex, I've been a casual alchol and marijuana user for about a year. I'm still as responsible, reasonable, and intelligent as I've always been. It's true that most young criminals are sexually active, drink, and use marijuana, but just because you do these three things doesn't mean you have to participate in a destructive, over-indulgant lifestyle.
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Sorry for going off on that slightly off-topic tangent. I don't mean to be obnoxious.
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has anyone ever been on urban dictionary its basically the same as this only worse its got drugs and racist terms and there isnt even a warning about adult content
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I don't know about you guys but I actually checked out the site – sex ed 101 it is not! – its pure porn, the sex health category has only 4 categories – medical supply (condom) , sex vocab (with such technically correct terms as "glory hole"), condom (online stores) and hiv (it's an sti, that's it that's all). I mean, I think the site is cool for adults researching pornos (they have over 78k listed, with descriptions and pictures) and porn stars, but for anyone under 18 (or at least legally emacipated) its just smut. Parents, I hope you have filters on your computers!
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First of all I would like to say that Carnalpedia is not the first site that tries to do this job. Have a look at pornopedia.org
It started on 2005. It dispose of a slpash page that is warning about the existence of adult content. It is also labeled with RTA, ICRA and Safelabeling. It restricts file uploads to avoid illegal content and the user has to be logged in to edit.
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You people are going up in arms over boobs and other explicit body parts being seen by children when I know for a fact that we should be worried about other things. I’m a 14 year old girl, and guess what: I have been to porn sites, I’ve read about it in my mothers books, I read stories written by people with boy on boy / girl on girl action. Totally irrelevant I know but must I also point out that maybe porn is not really as bad as you think? Perhaps you should look out for things more bothersome like self-mutilation or depression, or maybe your children are isolating themselves from you and their friends. Honestly, does having your kid see a little porn bother you more than having your kid commit suicide?
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