I had tried to point out that generally most human societies have a degraded approach to human sexuality;
I think that's a matter of opinion. And an opinion that you haven't supported with any facts or specifics.
"Most societies" is a big generalization.
And I believe that men and women exploit one another, simply from different positions most of the time.
Do you mean you believe men and women exploit one another equally?
I think it's kind of crazy and misanthropic to think that all/most men and all/most women are out to exploit one another most of the time.
And I think that, especially on a global scale, it would be silly to not recognize that women and girls are exploited (sold, tricked and stolen into slavery, denied educations, raped, abused, etc) at a far higher rate than men and boys.
There are a wealth of reputable sources - starting with the United Nations - that confirm that fact.
It's not a matter of opinion.
It's not a matter of "feminist doctrine."
It's a fact just as solid as the fact that black people were/are exploited more than white people in the United States.
When talk of empathy for the women comes up, I think of my own early experiences. Seeing women deliberately seek out being as sexy as possible--well I knew both; I knew girls in high school who seemed happy enough to dress conservatively, avoid dating unless they discovered a really good relationship as much as I knew girls who loved hooking up and party culture. The strong impression that this gives is that it is their choice. We may honestly think we are choosing a sinful life based on what makes sense.
When we talk of empathy, you engage in an exercise of not-empathy.
You don't know what those girls were thinking. You haven't said if you knew the home-life stories of the girls who you
think "loved hooking up and party culture."
You've just assumed that you know their motivations.
Also, just because a girl in high school has a choice between being conservatively dressed or not, hitting the party scene or not, etc, it does not follow that women in porn had as much free choice.
What I attempted to say in an earlier post is that a lot of this is simply presented as being normal. The impression feminists give is that every woman who flirts, has promiscuous sex, or poses nude for magazines or the internet has done so sobbing and with trauma on the inside.
That's actually very dependent on which feminist you talk to.
There are actually quite a few feminists - liberal/progressive feminists - who are pro-porn and would agree with you that women freely choose porn.
I think those feminists are wrong, personally.
I can't help but notice how you keep minimizing the porn with your choice of words. Flirting? When did anyone say that a woman who flirts is a victim? We also haven't been talking about women who "have promiscuous sex."
It may be my mistake but I also thought we were mostly talking about videos, not nudey mags.
It's like you don't want to acknowledge that a lot of porn - the stuff guys are watching these days - consists actual sex acts.
It's prostitution. People are getting paid to have sex and then have people watch it.
So you look back and think--what the hell? Was I imagining their enthusiastic consent? Somehow I doubt that.
We're talking about the women in pornography. Not women you have slept with in the past.
Women in pornography are paid to
PRETEND like they are enthusiastic and enjoying.
Saying pornography is a sin doesn't mean it has to automatically be adultery or traumatizing horror or anything else to freak out about.
It doesn't have anything to do with labeling it a sin. It's traumatizing because it traumatizes people. It is degrading. People selling themselves, performing sexual acts and watching people perform sexual acts.
It's harmful to people - to everyone involved - regardless of whether we call it sin or not.
