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Porn damnit!

T

TheGingerbreadGenius

Member
If we can hold a mature (yadda yadda) conversation about whether we think it's a good or bad thing, what ages people should access it at, whether it's too prevelant on the internet or whatever. Anything like that.

This thread's sorta sparked by me reading the thread in the OS Forum about removing porn from someone's PC. So I'd like to hear some opinions si vous plait.

It'd be very interesting to hear some female points of view on this subject too. Do you enjoy porn, find it repulsive?

If you're in a relationship, do you still view porn, does your partner know?

Personally I'm not a fan of porn. I'm a 15yr old male teenager and I've been there and done that. I quit by force of will but I'll be honest and say that IMO it had got to a vague addiction level. I've got lots of friends who look at it though and it doesn't have an affect on their personality, never did for me either. I just didn't like being sucked into something like that. I'll explain why I don't like the porn industry:

It seems to me that our society is becoming increasingly obsessed by sex. It's used everywhere, marketing and the like. I don't like living in a world where six year old kids can watch near naked women on TV easily? It's rammed down our throats too much. I think that sex is a part of love and needs to be seen and celebrated for that, but we teenagers need to be left to discover it. We need to be allowed to discover the different intimacies of whatever. We shouldn't be seeing some porn star do something and then think 'Should I be doing that during sex?'. Sex education should stay of course and the contraception message needs to be increased but I don't think that people should have all this eroticism surrounding them all the time. It takes the magic etc out of it. It gives sex the wrong image and IMO stuff like the teen porn is very borderline.

Heck, I'm coming to the conclusion that the 'stereotypical' attractive woman image that most teenage males is only held because it's been pushed onto them. If they thought about it enough it wouldn't appear attractive. S'what happened to me. I find it disturbing that this 'ideal' woman touted by a load of porn circles is basically a pre-pubescent girl with huge breasts (lack of pubic hair etc). We should be allowed to make up our own minds from scratch about what we think is attractive.

I just don't like the way sex is used to sell so much, and the way that what used to be the ultimate expression of love has become this warped image of lust etc.

Kids are being pushed to become sexual too young IMO, we ARE growing up too fast in that respect, I don't think it's right in society that I can have 11yr old kids yell at me insulting and disgustingly intimate questions pertaining to my girlfriend and I.

Btw: I know that I'm using the wrong words for some of this when I say things like 'porn is pushed on us' it's obviously 100% on when we view it or not but I do feel like society encourages us to take to it too much.

But still, I don't think it's really that harmful to most people and I'm a huge advocate of free choice so people should do whatever they want. Whether it's looking at porn or not. I just choose not to and dislike the porn industry in general.

Thoughts?
 
Good post, welcome to AnandTech.

I've also 'quit'. I don't find the increasing sexualization of society that awful, really - it's just pronounced in North America because the continent is an anomaly in its interaction of old-school values and worship of the cutting edge. Sex and the pursuit of is a big part of life, always has been. Once things move along a little and sex isn't see as quite so novel to talk about or watch, things will turn out just fine.
 
i look at porn daily.... can't help myself.

however, i don't agree with it... i think it's bad. i think that it gives girls who were abused as kid an unhealthy outlet. it also desensitizes people to the joys, thrills, and feeling of exclusiveness during sex.

hey, i'm a hypocrit on this issue... i know i am. at least i've got the balls to say it rather than try to justify it.
 
Porn has existed for thousands of years, it's just now that it's become digital. I think porn can be a good thing more than a bad thing. It lets you pretend to be with many different people without the risk of STDs or an angry SO.
It's also a psychological product, as there are obviously genres of it that aim towards different mental complexes. (like the whole "inter-racial" thing)

 
Is this what we have to look forward to? A generation of kids who got turned into prudes by being exposed to too much porn too soon?
 
i can't imagine going through puberty with the amount of pr0n available these days.

honestly, i would have wacked myself to death!
 
Originally posted by: meltdown75
i can't imagine going through puberty with the amount of pr0n available these days.

honestly, i would have wacked myself to death!
Click to expand...

I did my fair share of it without any porn. It's not entirely necessary for the process, after all 😛
 
The real problem is that porn follows Sturgeon's Law: 90% of everything is crap. Porn (more correctly, "erotica") in and of itself isn't necessarily a bad thing, but bad porn...
 
Originally posted by: nakedfrog
Originally posted by: meltdown75
i can't imagine going through puberty with the amount of pr0n available these days.

honestly, i would have wacked myself to death!
Click to expand...

I did my fair share of it without any porn. It's not entirely necessary for the process, after all 😛
Click to expand...
indeed - but seriously - can you imagine? video on demand? :shocked:

would have been much crazier than grey-scale images on the C=64, that much i can pretty much guarantee 😀
 
ok, I am surprised that this thread has not been locked yet.

I like porn, some people don't like porn and some people do. some people like to talk about porn others dont.

Oh, and one last thing, IBL
 
Originally posted by: yllus
Good post, welcome to AnandTech.

I've also 'quit'. I don't find the increasing sexualization of society that awful, really - it's just pronounced in North America because the continent is an anomaly in its interaction of old-school values and worship of the cutting edge. Sex and the pursuit of is a big part of life, always has been. Once things move along a little and sex isn't see as quite so novel to talk about or watch, things will turn out just fine.
Click to expand...

i'd have to disagree. when high schools, and even elementary schools, have day cares setup for the children of students, that's a big problem IMO. not only is it a burden of responsibility, but a financial cost on the taxpayers as well.

the schools in the tri-county area of my house have their daycares at 100% capacity:Q
 
To me, porn is fine as long as it doesn't expose itself to those who don't wanna see it (porn popups for example).

I also have a problem with how it is more prevalent now and yet all these religious idiots are freaking out about and playing the whole "mommy that finds kid's porn and punishes/throws it away" for the all of society.

Sorry, but I feel there should be more suicide cults and such. Call me a heartless bastard, but when I hear of mass suicides, I think "that sucks," but also think, "good riddence, at least they're nowhere near as pushy as people who show up at my door and bother me."
 
Very good post. I hope nobody goes and does something stupid to get this locked.

There are so many ways to approach this topic... The one way it shouldn't be approached is the "explotation of women" angle. The women in porn are participating as willingly as the men watching.

I honestly think there's a big difference in character between the men who watch porn and the men who opt not to. I think it's really interesting that the men who do almost invariably consider it natural and have a hard time figuring out any negative aspects to watching it. The men who choose to not watch it, or make efforts not to watch it, seem generally to respect women more.

From a female perspective, I do think porn is self-esteem damaging. Whether the guy is comparing her to a porn star or not, it's almost impossible to shake the nagging thought that he might be and, worse, she might wind up comparing herself to one, always to a disadvantage. There are always better looking people than oneself out there, but porn presents a body type (not to mention an attitude type) that rarely occurs in nature. I think that, for this reason, knowing that a man watches porn can decrease a woman's sexual desire - she is self-conscious because she knows she doesn't match up to a body type ideal. Self-conscious is not the best attitude to have in a sexual encounter.

I think porn during puberty helps rev up the hormonal drive, rather than keep it in control, resulting in teenage guys being ultimately more frustrated and pressured about sex, rather than providing a release valve. But then, that's an experience I really can't speak to.

One thing I think is pretty sad is that porn spoils the mystery, the fun side of intitial sexual experience. (Nods to everyone who wants to interject here that the first sexual experience isn't usually fun or mysterious.) If you have no experience with sex, learning about it can be exciting, interesting, fun. If you have a pre-set expectation, like you would with porn, your initial experiences are likely to be disappointing, since they don't live up to what you have in your mind. And your sex life in general becomes only one set of images/experiences of pleasure (granted, much richer) out of thousands you may have encountered.

I think there really is something to be said for having an exclusive sex life, including the visual aspect. Seems to me that porn removes some of the surprise in the possible variations and imaginative things your own sex life can have, making them less unique and more quickly boring.
 
Fantastic post, very well written!

I don't think there is anything "wrong" with porn in itself but I can see how a porn addiction could be a really bad threat to a relationship and like hotchic said, give young people unrealistic expectations about sex.

Maybe it is because I am a woman but the idea of someone I love wanking it to someone else is really upsetting to me.
 
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