PORN

[greiner3]

This topic has been in the forefront of the news lately. The big news that I've read and seen on this board is Mr. Chomsky's interview where he came down on the side against it. The Religious Right has always been against it, but not for the same reason. They go with what they say is in the Bible, something about don't do adultery.

What is porn? I recall Supreme Court's Stewart's response to his interpretation to the explanation of porn, "I know it when I see it." The definition in Wiki; porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction. WTF is wrong with this?

Well, when I was growing up, the pictures in National Geographic would get a 'rise' out of me. In my early teen years, Victoria Secret catalogs did me well. I 'discovered' the 'girlie' mags a few years later and am now in my 50s and still enjoy naked women, alone or in any number of sexual poses/acts. Does this make me bad? NO! Does this make me a supporter of the sex trade and/or the selling of women? NO!

The Religious Right has used the concept of nudity as a weapon for so many years. Religion uses sex as a way to control people (what other human force is as powerful?). They believe that all nudity, whether it be pictures, video, 'up close and personal' and even the written word where the reader supplies their own concept of nudity is a sin.

What are the consequences of eliminating porn? We'll go back to pre-1960s when Playboy was such a big thing. Where the showing of a woman's bra at the movies would have earned it a condemned rating from the Catholic Church. Pornography would go underground. Go back even further and you have women of the 19th century who dared not show any part of her body. They wore so many layers of clothing that they had showed NO sign they were women other than longer hair than the men. the women of Victorian England, if they showed an ankle, were considered to be naked.

I enjoy looking at naked women. I enjoy looking at the human sexual act. If prostitution were legal in the US then these men and women would be free to make any sort of video on human sexuality without anyone calling them out for sex slaves and/or underage girls.

America is so obsessed with sex, but in the bad way. Conservatives HAVE sex but they think anything other than the Missionary position for and only for procreation is an affront to their god.

Come out of the dark ages my fellow DU'ers. Let porn, in whatever form you deem it to be, have a place in our culture. There will always be people exploited but if we legalize victim-less crimes, prostitution, etc... then porn will lose it's stigmatization and become what it really is; a healthy libido enhancer.

[LAGC]

1. Be prepared for the Feminist onslaught in 3... 2... 1...

[liberalmuse]

3. Sad.

I wasn't offended by the OP, but I was surprised to see the term "Feminist onslaught"? Really? On a liberal message board?

[Zalatix]

5. I don't think the word 'feminism' means exactly what you think it does

Some feminists like porn. Bettie Friedan(sp?) was part of that faction. There were feminists that fought alongside Edwin Meese, though, but they're not all of feminism, nor did their misguided battle represent the true nature of feminism.

[ZombieHorde]

8. Pick up your knuckles. They're getting dirty. nt

[Egalitarian Thug]

15. I wish we could rec replies. n/t

[LadyHawkAZ]

2. ...

[zappaman]

6. Move over

[liberal N proud]

4. Porn tends to be derogatory toward women, but I know women who like porn

Some as much as men.

Porn has it's place but I would like to see something to protect women, those involved in the industry and those it causes pain to otherwise.

[greiner3]

9. I've noticed men are much more visual than women;

But as you mention, this is only a 'truthie.' I've also read such books as 'The Story of O' and Henry Miller erotic stories.

[FreeState]

22. None of the porn I watch is derogatory to women - and I've watched a LOT n/t

[Devil_Fish]

26. I dated a woman who liked to watch gay (male) porn.

No derogation of women there......

[bluestateguy]

7. Some people just enjoy controlling other adults sexuality

Big government conservatives and big government leftists, no matter. That is what they seek to do.

Any behavior involving adults is always better off remaining legal, safe, taxed and reasonably regulated.

[Egalitarian Thug]

10. As with every prohibition, the prohibition itself propels its popularity beyond

what it would otherwise have, and brings organized crime in to profit from it.

The most sexually repressed societies are always the most perverse.

[RKP5637]

13. +1, n/t

[Justice wanted]

11. You are absolutely right. As a female I remember seeing the Teen Bops mags and getting "Aroused"

with all the cute boys inside.


I believe there is a place in our society for sex/porn. Yes there is a sub-culture to porn that is harmful and demeaning to women. BUT if you look at ALL society aspects you can find aspects that are harmful to women--Hell look at what the freaking the GOP is doing to woman right now and contraception.


Fact is this society is PRUDISH when it comes to sex and we are taught it is something to with the lights out. Maybe if we truly respected the act we wouldn't sell it in brown wrappers WE wouldn't have half the "Political problems" we do this election with the WAR on Women.


Now I do not choice my words half hazard ly (Though my spelling may be desired and my thoughts get ahead of my words.) and I know woman will jump down my throat as well Screaming it demeans and demoralizes women and that it encourages rape.

I speak these words now as a former rape victim...porn does not encourage rape as some may lead you to believe. A LOT of Rape happens because it is the "Power Trip" and "Control" the rapist desires. YES there are rapist who do get aroused by the whole act of "raping" BUT in case after case I read about a lot of the rapists did it to Control and dominate the victim. THAT is the sexual arousal for them.

What we need to do is separate the act of rape from the idea that it goes hand and hand with porn.

AND before anyone yells and flames me just do me one favor be honest with yourself WHO hasn't watch a Porn movie or looked at a porn magazine or EVEN watch a movie with your partner/spouse. Let's face it-Porn is that million dollar business. IF this industry wasn't popular it wouldn't continue.

We need to take the ideal of a "Puritan society" and shove it up our collective a$$--pardon the French. I mean if you look carefully at birth records for the 1600s in america. THERE are a lot of Babies born with a small marriage population.

I remember seeing a historian who spoke on the topic SHE explained that the puritan society knew sex was happening out of WED lock it was NOT marrying after the child came that they frowned upon.

(Flame Away--as some seem to enjoy doing.)

[RKP5637]

14. +1, n/t

[FreakinDJ]

12. Love seeing a really beautiful woman naked

is there some thing wrong with that

not much into watching some other guy with her as that doesn't really fit into my plans

[RC]

16. I've dated several women who owned

Let It All Hang Out, Watch How The Pieces Fit Together, porn movies.
The only time I was ever in a sex shop was with a female friend of mine, who wanted me to help her with ideas, when she was shopping for a birthday present for another one of her women friends.
That does not sound like women being exploited by sex to me.

And on a related subject, whenever I read about someone objecting to porn, what always pops into my head is, "Define Porn". Is it the Sports Illustrated, Swim Suit issue? A Ridgid Tool calendar? I even heard one person object to a head shot of Madonna on a cable guide as pornography.

[eridani]

19. Actually it's pretty easy

Sexual imagery that I like is erotica. Sexual imagery that you like is porn. Sexual imagery that they like is perverted disgusting filth.

[LadyHawkAZ]

21. Dingdingding we have a WINNER! n/t

[Mopar151]

23. Crazy thing is, it proves out!

How evil is the inside of Fred Phelps head? Keating's, Anita Bryant, Andrea Dworkin? A lot of the anti's are so bent up inside, that the only things that get them off are truly f'n sick.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

17. Well, first of all, thank you for being honest about the subject.

Reminds me of the olden days on DU where we actually had discussions of this sort of thing.

I guess my first reaction is that you are over 10 years younger than me but you found National Geographic "interesting.

Human sexuality is indeed a strange and powerful urge. I am constantly amazed at the prominent and powerful people who ruin their lives by getting "caught" expressing their sexuality.

I guess I was fortunate. I knew I liked the fairer sex when I was in second grade and was reprimanded by my teacher for looking up girls dresses. Nature? Nurture? Who gives a rats ass, I liked girls. My mother I guess, was an enlightened soul and by fourteen, I had Playboy Centerfolds as my wall paper (on my walls, we didn't have computers yet!) I always found it amusing, and kind of sad when I would go to a friends home and he would pull a Nat Geo mag out from under his mattress to show "secret" pictures of Nekkid females.

Lucky me, I came of age during the "sexual revolution" and in addition to marrying a model who explained to me way back when that the pictures I saw were, well, I don't know what the existing version of photo shop was back then but the point was that those women didn't actually exist except in a very few cases. I also had the pleasure of living in a town on the coast of California called Bolinas which was famous for, among other things, the fact that Jefferson Airplane lived there and they had a great nude beach that I spent most weekends on.

In my 61 years on this earth, with much opportunity, I have seen exactly two women who looked like the stuff we see in Macy's ads. Two! Women simply don't look like that.

Do I still like looking at nekkid women? Hell yes! Do I enjoy looking at photo shopped Barbie dolls? Not really.
I guess I'm Lucky. I like real women.

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

18. craigslist has given me my visuals...

Hope it doesn't get shut down.

[bluedigger]

25. Just for shits & giggles I checked my local cl just now.

Saturday night: w4m "Nothing found for that search ( All words must match )."

[LetTimmySmoke]

20. Porn is what the Internet is for.

[Dilldoe]

29. Porn was the side bennie of the internet

being an old dude and having access to the original internet before it was the internet, DARPA Net, the main thing we used it for was scanning pics of naked women and sending them to your pals on the other side of the country.

Pissing away tax dollars for our fun and amusement!

[bluedigger]

24. You got porn news? What channel?

Seriously, though, I haven't seen a thing about porn in the news lately- I guess I've been distracted by the impending class, gender, and race wars.

Just do what you need to do and be good to each other.

[Devil_Fish]

27. This thread is useless with out pics

[WCGreen]

28. the smartest man I know came over to my house to day to visit and chat about

everything under the sun.

We cirlced around and would swoop down now and then and pick up a nugget to discuss.

One such morsal was Porn.

We talked about how it should be more legalized and also more monitored because of the violence and exploitation of those so engaged. But we also agreed that it is degrading for both participants.

And so we came to the same conclussion that the greiner3 layed out in his original post.