I strongly disagree with pornography...?

Question

I have really strong feelings about porn, and wondered whether anyone has a sufficient argument to say that its a good thing? or do people agree?
pretty much all pornography i have ever seen focuses on male pleasure and penetration, or girl on girl action - but for the pleasure of men , not women. as for hardcore pornography, depicting rape, women being ejaculated on whilst crying, being beaten etc, i think this as pleasure positively encourages violence and sexual crimes against women.
other than that, i just find it upsetting that people watch it for pleasure - it takes everyting sensual about sex out, and leaves only the pushing and shoving, creating a very unrealistic idea of sex and pleaure. any thoughts?

my question is, old school, whether you have any good arguments to defend pornography or whether you agree with my point of view.

and to the quiet man - studies have been done on this for years and found evidence both ways.im not saying porn will make men violent but men with violent tendencies can get a push, boost, idea for their release through porn.

Answer 1

Oh boy...get the feeling I could come across as Pornographer-General here...not my intention, I assure you.
Sexual and sensual pleasure for both sexes are not inherently bad in themselves. I'm assuming we can agree on that much, yes?
That said, we need to see a little context. Men have been taught for thousands of years that to show their emotional sides, and to appreciate sensuality for its own sake, is unmanly. Similarly, women have been told that enjoying sex for its own sake makes them "bad". So we have a polarisation of attitudes - men are taught to focus on the "pushing and shoving", as you correctly put it, and women are taught to find reasons that "justify" the sex they have, by focusing on the context of the accompanying sensuality.

However, that's changing. I know a lot of women who own sex toys, who write erotic stories for their own pleasure, and who even write what they freely admit is "porn without plot" - spinning out their own "pushing and shoving" fantasies for when, essentially, they just want to come, rather than indulging their sensual imagination for an extended period. Women are being increasingly encouraged to appreciate the purely sexual as well as the sensual, and to mix and mingle them just as they want, and need.

Does this excuse pornography? No of course not. But as I said, this development is fairly new. Pornography in its modern sense developed from a male-dominated society of previous generations that didn't even believe women had orgasms, so saw no need to cater to their desires. Hence pornography as it's developed tends to lead with the visual (the most obvious sense, and one which men are "allowed" by other men to indulge), and to focus on satisfying men's sexual needs. Now there is more and more call for "female-friendly" porn - porn for women, which addresses their needs more directly, and which comes on top of the phenomenal trend towards erotic publishing (words very often being able to give much more of the sensuality that many women, who still need that sensuality to feel comfortable with their sexual selves, need).

What am I saying, ultimately? Porn in its traditional sense is geared to satifying male sexual needs, you're right. There is a growing trend towards developing a market that allows women to enjoy porn that satisfies their own needs too, and sensuality is spilling back across into male porn as men become more sensually sophisticated and able to enjoy the more subtle aspects. But ultimately, there needs to be some understanding of HOW men use porn. Traditionally, it's not the be-all and end-all of their arousal. It's a starting point, a spark for fantasy that combines with physical action to produce a desired effect - in short, it's the male equivalent of a sex toy (and as far as I know, hey don't have plots either ( ;o) ).
So what I'm saying is that porn in its traditional sense is not geared for everyone, it's geared for those who need it, in exactly the same way as a Rampant Rabbit is geared towards a key group of users. It's not sensual, it's not any kind of replacement for reality, but it does have a place in the rainbow of what people need and use to get sexual satisfaction.

Now then, as to the extreme stuff you mention...leaving aside the fact that, as researcher Nancy Friday found in her book of women's sexual fantasies "Women on Top", rape and humiliation fantasies are among the favourites of some women, the argument would run something along the lines that if pornography pays women well to portray this kind of scenario, it does not harm them explicitly, and might help men with tendencies towards sexual violence to remain in their rooms, getting their kicks from images, rather than from attempting to turn their dark fantasies into even darker realities with unwilling women in the real world.

However, I would not make that argument, as it seems to me that sex essentially has an element of compulsion in it, and the more you feed a particular type of fantasy, the more likely you are to encourage it to develop further. So no, I would not argue against your position that extreme hardcore porn encourages violence against women. Indeed on that point I would agree with you entirely.

Answer 2

It is true, and known fact, that people with violent tendencies SEEK these sorts of gratification, but the thing is SUPPLY meets DEMAND.
There wouldn't be a market for these products if there wasn't already an audience, that is the way a product works.
Porn is a male industry because the views of female sexuality are still blurred, women can have sex, but to be so brazen is "slag" like, so few women choose to produce adult movies.
As far i knew most countries don't allow "harmful" porn, it is illegal.
I'm not against porn, in some cases i think that people can be "put off" by seeing the situation, rather than doing it.
Also, people don't have to watch porn, if people didn't then it would no longer be sold.
And I'm sure that 99% of men realise that this isn't the sex that women want, porn sells a FANTASY and that is sort of the point, it isn't reality.

Answer 3

I personally do not like the idea of violent/humiliating pornography, but that doesn't mean that it shouldn't exist. Porn is geared towards male pleasure because men are the majority of the consumers. I did a lot of research for my thesis on porn and here is what I found that is positive:

1. The porn industry is booming. It has been estimated to be a multi-billion dollar industry.
2. Porn caters to a basic human need: sexual release.
3. Porn enables people to act out fantasies without having to actually do anything. (This can backfire. If a man enjoys watching rape, for example, it is feasible to argue that after a while, the porn won't excite him and he may go out and rape someone. It is a fact that what we watch has a significant impact on how we think i.e. advertising)
4. The biggest reason is probably free speech, or freedom of expression. It doesn't matter if it's violent or sensual, as long as there are no children involved, it's perfectly legal.

I hope this helps

Answer 4

From a personal perspective I agree with many of your opinions. However, they're just opinions, and we're free to feel how we want to about porn or anything else. That you and I don't much care for it doesn't mean we should prevent others from looking at it if they want to...don't you think?

Males are ver visually-oriented when it comes to sex. Most men can get sexually excited by seeing pictures of sex acts, while most women don't find it as exciting -- that's why porn is what it is in regard to focusing on male pleasure. Most men are also agressive by nature, and the idea of just "taking" a woman has occurred to most at some time or another, so vicariously living out that fantasy with porn depicting rape or other male-dominated acts appeals to some. There has been, however, no definitive link to those materials contributing to or encouraging actual violence against women despite numerous studies trying to show such a link.

Bottom line: if you don't like porn, don't look at it. Simple enough, isn't it? :)

Answer 5

Porn definitely poses a release, repression of sexual needs is very dangerous and Porn can help release this. Frankly, I think Porn is an area so vast it's hard to really say "Porn is wrong". One person's porn is another person's art (soft artsy erotic photography etc.) whilst the other end of the spectrum is child porn or snuff movies, which vast majority of people naturally find totally repulsive-although these are of course largel illegal.

Another problematic aspect is the question of exploitation-who's being exploited, the participants? The viewers? Ultimately porn exploits us all because it's based on a physical need. But then again, Water supplying companies are exploiting us in a similar way because we need that water.

I don't think you can really badmouth or positively appraise porn, it's a vast entity with positives and negatives. It's fair enough to feel offended/against porn but I feel it is ultimately meaningless because porn is as vague a term as mankind-there is a great deal of variety in terms of ethical credibility.

As to your worry about the absence of sensuality and emotion in porn, you're right it's obviously missing, but it is a) with a point (porn isn't ever about that and never will be) and b) is this way in the assumption that the viewer is mature enough to understand that there is sensuality and love to be had in sex. The same can be said for more hardcore forms of pornography that you described that are legal, in that they are supposedly viewed by people sensible enough to know it's not the norm. Yes, not all people are, but this is a fact of life that can't be helped: some people aren't capable of drinking responsible or watching violence on TV without understanding the manner in which it should be taken, but the banning of alcohol and violence on TV would be a complete mess and be an inversion of many Western Govt.'s constitutions.

The main reason why I feel porn has to be accepted is simply because removing things from a society that's had them leads to more problems-i.e. prohibition of alcohol in USA in 20's/30's (whenever it was!) Porn isn't an example of glowing morality, but it fufills certain roles and is undamaging used in the correct way, i.e. like alcohol again, but like alcohol is also very dangerous to some.

Answer 6

I know several women that enjoy what some would call pornography. The difficulty is that the distinction between erotica and pornogrphy is one that varies wildly depending on the individual that looks at it. I don't like the violent stuff at all; in fact it turns my stomach. I also dislike the types that are mechanical or where the people involved don't look like they are enjoying themselves (and that means both the men and the women). But there is stuff out there that I like and use for personal release. In that context, I think it can be a very good thing. Also, it can be fun to share it with a partner as a way of learning more about preferences and fantasies.

Answer 7

you are an idiot. violence towards women has nothing to do with it. pron is for people who don't have a girlfriend and need some sexual pleasure. it does show women getting pleasure as well. hardcore only means they actually show penetration, which is what you see when you're having regular sex with your spouse. it doesn't mean rape or violence, in fact most men never watch that kind of porn. they only watch the kind that they would be watching live if they had a girlfriend

Answer 8

yes i have thoughts, its not a required course! if you don't like it don't watch it! what is there to get upset about? if someone enjoys something and it doesn't have anything to do with your life why are you worried about it? its not like you have to look at porn, then i could understand your being bothered but you don't have to so don't. i think if people want love stories they watch regular movies, if they want just plain old sex they watch porn. i could go for better story lines, and i believe there are some being made which are more geared towards women, that is to say they portray it in a romantic way, but as for the other extreme stuff i just don't watch it. thats me personally, i wouldn't pretend that i have the right to say what others should or shouldn't be excited by though, its none of my business.

Answer 9

YOu have some very strange ideas. XXX porn is aimed at men. Why would an industry aim a product at a market that wouldn't buy it....stupid concept. And don't kid yourself. Porn by any other name is still porn. Women's porn is found in the Harlequin books, called Gothic romances. That is the kind of porn women like. So there is something for everyone...fortunately, most other people are not as judgmental as you are, and not as demanding. I am sure that if you had your way, the world would be a much smaller place, sort of like your brain.

Answer 10

Woman are considered as 'sex toys' and not actual humans that want pleasure too. I believe that sex is so much more fun when you are married and doing it. Sex is actually your souls coming together. When you do it with some weird freak you are not going to be happy after you do it. People who watch porn are the people who don't know what making love is. If you make love to your wife would you want the whole world to watch? It is a private act.

Answer 11

Not only do I agree, but I will go you one further. It encourages the loss of intimacy, the connection between partners. It encourages multiple partners, it debases women usually, and makes them into mere objects without feelings. If they do have feelings it is only about sexual pleasure or fear. The fact that we as a society have made it the number one industry on the Internet is sickening and shows how low we have fallen in this sad world.