"No pornography!" say liberal atheists.

[Reeniee]

Porn has WAYYYY more cons then positives. Not that I can think of any positives really. As the article stated it skews your mind on what sex is when you actually have it. Some are disappointing that sex isn't like some hour long video where a billions things are going on and are all perfect.

One thing I noticed is its an addiction that requires net content and new ideas to stay good. Example lets say you start out looking at playboy magazine. Next you look at soft porn in videos. Again you need something new and exciting so you look at hardcore porn. And now you need more new. So you get into normal fetishes like lets say roleplaying. Well as always you need new, so you get into bondage.

Then you move into actual people being sadomasochist stuff. Then maybe you move on to snuff porn stuff or animal stuff or even kids. I hear of it happening WAY to often. Porn is like a drug that you must feed constantly. And like any addiction its hard to break free of it or to get it out of your mind once free. Images and videos you can't forget. And as stated sex becomes something that is unrealistic.

I think its a terrible thing.

Is there any evidence that this is true? I agree with KitKatMatt that it just doesn't seem likely. The food example she gives is a good one. That is another area of "pleasures of the flesh" and you don't see this kind of escalation there.

Also: Right up until snuff and animals and kids, which I'm sure we all agree are wrong, and you say "Maybe move onto" which I think is probably extremely rare, is there actually anything wrong with the things you list?

"Actual people being sadomasochist" If people are consenting and making informed choices is this actually a problem? If some people enjoy that it doesn't mean that it's for everyone, but why should we judge the people that enjoy being in that sort of relationship, or viewing/fantasizing about it?

 

[Lovely Jar]

how to fast forward a vcr

That tells us how long its been since you watched porn. VCR?

Porn is perverse. There's something really wrong with watching other people have sex. Voyeurism and perversion. Great combo.
I like when the prostitutes in porn say they want to cross over into legitimate acting.


The industry itself is a cesspool of STD's. Regardless of the argument that the prostitutes are tested regularly.
This aticle is a great surprise.

 

[KitKatMatt]

"Actual people being sadomasochist" If people are consenting and making informed choices is this actually a problem? If some people enjoy that it doesn't mean that it's for everyone, but why should we judge the people that enjoy being in that sort of relationship, or viewing/fantasizing about it?

The more I think about it, I'm also thinking the idea of "moving on" to be a sadomasochist implies that they start losing their ability to empathize possibly, so they see nothing wrong with kids/snuff/other extreme examples? Which I've never seen and I don't believe happens, but I think that's what is being implied possibly.

xfreakazoidx, if you'd like to clear up what you meant by that I'd appreciate it

 

[Ana the Ist]

The anti-pornography camp used to be a place for right-wing, religious fanatics. But it is increasingly being secularized as those formally "pro-sexual liberation" and "anti-religious" folks realize that Internet pornography is an incredibly ugly beast.

The following article highlights it:

Will quitting porn improve your life?

And this website.

For those that don't want to read the article, here are some important quotes from the article. These quotes come from people across the religious and political spectrum:

"It really messes up your mind for what sex is actually supposed to be. It sets the hopes too high for normal men and women to be able to perform at that level. I believe that’s causing a lot of relationship problems among my peers."

"Every walk through a public place feels like I’m 14 years old again, searching for beauty, but not in an objectified way. My mind is more free for things that give me joy."

"I want society to value sex as something meaningful"

"Before [stopping look at porn], whenever I’d see a woman, the first thing I would look for is what have they got hanging on back there, or how big are their breasts. Lately, I’ve been catching myself looking at their eyes.”

"[ I ] was raised by parents who told [me] masturbation was healthy and viewing pornography was a valid form of sexual expression."


These quotes are not solely from "porn addicts" either, just people that watched porn casually. I swore off porn about 3 years ago, not because I was an addict (it wasn't hard to stop doing it), but just because I didn't want to have those images in my mind anymore and I wanted to improve my self-control in all aspects of my life (including diet, exercise, procrastination, etc) so that I could live a more productive and valuable life.

"It sets the hopes too high for normal men and women to be able to perform at that level. "

"Why can't our first time be a 4-way with your two sexy cheerleader friends in your parent's hot tub with a monkey trained to use a camera?"

 

[Cearbhall]

As a youth growing up, British Tv was highly censored and there was no hard core porn or violence on tv etc.There used to be a campaigner called Mary Whiteshouse who used to campaign against all porn violence etc on tv.At the time she used to really annoy me '' LET ME WATCH WHAT I WANT '' I now bow to her wisdom R.I.P Mary i wish thee where more like you now the internet is full of porn,violence, obscenity which most kids can access....swearing and vulgarity is deemed cool .....every film has to have the female star getting there kit off and you cant watch a film without a string of four letter words streaming out...theres an old saying where talent dies obscenity begins ( i actually just made that up lol ) God help us

Oh, I know that name (Whitehouse, btw). She's the one who tried to get Doctor Who banned. Fail.

 

[Belk]

Trust neither a teetotaler nor an alcoholic for advice on wine.

 

[variant]

I think people should stop watching bad pornography.

The general quality leaves something to be desired because people don't generally demand better.

 

[andy b]

show me a man with a computer and ill show you a man who has watched porn...im not proud of it ,but its wrong ...expoiltation of people for money or drug addication or wanting to be famous is just plain wrong ...im beginning to sound like me dad

 

[quatona]

show me a man with a computer and ill show you a man who has watched porn...im not proud of it ,but its wrong ...expoiltation of people for money or drug addication or wanting to be famous is just plain wrong ...im beginning to sound like me dad

Your dad wasn´t able to present better arguments, either?
Your dad wasn´t able to give arguments against the comsumption of porn that wouldn´t be equally valid as arguments against the consumption of any sort of movie (or the consumption of hamburgers, for that matter), as well?

 

[andy b]

Your dad wasn´t able to present better arguments, either?
Your dad wasn´t able to give arguments against the comsumption of porn that wouldn´t be equally valid as arguments against the consumption of any sort of movie (or the consumption of hamburgers, for that matter), as well?

listen brother if you think porns okay that for you and your conscience...as for trying to compare porn to watching lord of the rings well brother you really need to assess where your at ( lord of the rings is gag )

 

[Hetta]

I hate the fact that my thoughts on porn coincide with a lot of right wing Conservatives views on porn.

I think the industry is horrible. More than one woman has gotten out and has talked about how truly horrendous their experience was. There were women who had been physically torn and damaged, and had caught diseases. Many had been treated horribly.

Other thoughts are that it is of course hugely skewed in favor of men, and it worries me that young boys watching porn might go into their sexual experience actually expecting a woman to do even half of the stuff. I hope that our boys haven't seen too much porn - I'm sure they have seen some when they have been online. I don't think it does women any favors and I feel sorry for the women who take part in it. It always looks horrendously painful, and those "oohs" and "aahs" just are, like, wow - what a joke. Do guys really think a woman is getting off on that stuff? That's not how the majority of women reach [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse]. Sorry.

I also don't think it's aesthetically pleasing, but that's probably just me.

 

[Hetta]

The more I think about it, I'm also thinking the idea of "moving on" to be a sadomasochist implies that they start losing their ability to empathize possibly, so they see nothing wrong with kids/snuff/other extreme examples? Which I've never seen and I don't believe happens, but I think that's what is being implied possibly.

I don't know about people viewing porn moving on to snuff, but there is plenty of research that point to the desensitization of people when they are exposed to sex and violence.

I'm just feeling too lazy to go and look for that right now. But I will.

 

[Strathos]

I try to avoid porn, but I am generally in favor of freedom of speech and expression, so unless it is something that involves harm/lawbreaking (CP, snuff, etc.) people should be allowed to produce/distribute/consume it. Of course it has to be kept out of the hands of minors as much as possible.

 

[andy b]

I hate the fact that my thoughts on porn coincide with a lot of right wing Conservatives views on porn.

I think the industry is horrible. More than one woman has gotten out and has talked about how truly horrendous their experience was. There were women who had been physically torn and damaged, and had caught diseases. Many had been treated horribly.

Other thoughts are that it is of course hugely skewed in favor of men, and it worries me that young boys watching porn might go into their sexual experience actually expecting a woman to do even half of the stuff. I hope that our boys haven't seen too much porn - I'm sure they have seen some when they have been online. I don't think it does women any favors and I feel sorry for the women who take part in it. It always looks horrendously painful, and those "oohs" and "aahs" just are, like, wow - what a joke. Do guys really think a woman is getting off on that stuff? That's not how the majority of women reach [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse]. Sorry.

I also don't think it's aesthetically pleasing, but that's probably just me.

 

[quatona]

listen brother if you think porns okay that for you and your conscience...as for trying to compare porn to watching lord of the rings well brother you really need to assess where your at ( lord of the rings is gag )

I didn´t give my opinion on porn. I gave my opinion on your argument as you presented it, and how this argument - as you presented it - is equally applicable to the consumption of any other form of acting (i.e. most every actor does his job for the money, many actors want to be famous, many actors are using illegal substances). If consuming products that must be assumed to have such motives behind them constitute "exploitation" of the actors, any movie is "exploitation".
Again: I am just addressing the argument as you presented it. Maybe you accidentally or intentionally omitted those very arguments that allow for singling out porn - but I am not a mind reader. In this case you are welcome to add the missing logical steps.

 

[andy b]

I didn´t give my opinion on porn. I gave my opinion on your argument as you presented it, and how this argument - as you presented it - is equally applicable to the consumption of any other form of acting (i.e. most every actor does his job for the money, many actors want to be famous, many actors are using illegal substances). If consuming products that must be assumed to have such motives behind them constitute "exploitation" of the actors, any movie is "exploitation".
Again: I am just addressing the argument as you presented it. Maybe you accidentally or intentionally omitted those very arguments that allow for singling out porn - but I am not a mind reader. In this case you are welcome to add the missing logical steps.

I keep it simple because i am simple ( literary) theres an old Indian saying which could be applied to most posts on this forum white man speak much say little ( there is no racial connection before anyone pipes up its just a saying and i am white )

 

[QueSeraSera]

I think its worse as far as exploitation because our sexuality ties deeper into our psyche.

I didn´t give my opinion on porn. I gave my opinion on your argument as you presented it, and how this argument - as you presented it - is equally applicable to the consumption of any other form of acting (i.e. most every actor does his job for the money, many actors want to be famous, many actors are using illegal substances). If consuming products that must be assumed to have such motives behind them constitute "exploitation" of the actors, any movie is "exploitation".

Of course but would you rather your mother be exploited as a b-movies actress with her clothes on because she needs the money or being filmed actually having sex with people for men to touch to ?

If they are equal you should feel exactly the same way about both .

 

[quatona]

I think the industry is horrible. More than one woman has gotten out and has talked about how truly horrendous their experience was. There were women who had been physically torn and damaged, and had caught diseases. Many had been treated horribly.

I am completely willing to take their words for it. However, the same could be said about coal-mining and other industries.
I just find it curious how said "conservatives" never spoke up how heating your house was immoral (but rather justified the "exploitation" of the by capitalist mantras), but when it comes to porn they suddenly discover their sensitivity for "exploitation".
Tbh, I don´t believe for one second that this is the real reason they are speaking up against it. Even if the actors were treated with the utmost respect, even if the industry would take intensive care for diseases not being spread - they´d still speak up against it.
So these are fake arguments (and, first of all, they are held against the customers instead of the industry - an approach totally uncommon for those very "conservatives" who typically justify every sort of exploitation by appeals to supply/demand and personal responsibility) - and all I´d ask for is for them to actually give their true reasons.

Other thoughts are that it is of course hugely skewed in favor of men, and it worries me that young boys watching porn might go into their sexual experience actually expecting a woman to do even half of the stuff.

Agreed - but then, it worries me that young persons might go into their lives expecting life to be anywhere similar to what the media suggest as being "normal", anyway.

I hope that our boys haven't seen too much porn - I'm sure they have seen some when they have been online. I don't think it does women any favors and I feel sorry for the women who take part in it. It always looks horrendously painful, and those "oohs" and "aahs" just are, like, wow - what a joke. Do guys really think a woman is getting off on that stuff? That's not how the majority of women reach [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse]. Sorry.

Also agreed. However, the more general question is (and I feel unable to answer it): To which extent are (young) persons able to tell fiction from reality? (Can they tell the difference between the news and the drama that´s broadcasted immediately after it? Can they tell the difference between a video game and reality? Can they tell the difference between the man-woman relationship as depicted in "Titanic" and man-woman relationship in reality? - The question "Can they tell the difference between porn movies and reality?" is just another question of that kind. I´m not sure that we can answer it simply "no" when the jury is still out on the other questions, or when those other questions aren´t even asked.)

I also don't think it's aesthetically pleasing, but that's probably just me.

Personally, I wouldn´t dare to judge the aesthetic pleasure of an entire genre categorically.

 

[quatona]

I keep it simple because i am simple ( literary) theres an old Indian saying which could be applied to most posts on this forum white man speak much say little ( there is no racial connection before anyone pipes up its just a saying and i am white )

Well, you are entitled to your simplicity. It´s not a problem per se. It just becomes a problem when you make attempts at rational arguments (when I am presented an argument I tend to be under the impression that I am meant to take it seriously and that it´s meant to make me think about it).

 

[KitKatMatt]

How is porn exploitation if the people are willingly involved?

If I post a naughty picture of myself online, am I exploiting myself? Can I sue myself for exploitation?