Darn, I was determined to stay on topic and realize that that post went way off. But I'll connect it back.

I think porn can be a safe way to explore one's fantasies. Some fantasies (S&M for example) are going to be frightening to some people, but I think it's safe to explore them so long as you differentiate between what you want as a fantasy (i.e. rape, humiliation) and what you want in real life (hopefully a healthy adult sexual relationship). And porn is simply an open acknowledgment of some of these fantasies and that can be frightening.

But there are limits of course. Anyone who is looking for true non-consensual behavior (i.e. wanting to molest children) is sick and should be kept away from society. I don't think porn made them that way. I think porn exists because they are already that way. And I think anyone involved in non-consensual porn should be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible.

But the majority of porn is either adults having sex or adults engaged in portraying sexual fantasies (tying each other up or what-have-you). And as I said, I'm not particularly offended by this type of porn. I think there are some positive effects (what I mentioned about learning to accept your own sexuality), but I also think it's a good case that porn stars could have become what they are through abusive pasts. So it's not clear-cut, but I'll take the stand that legal porn should not be outlawed and that it does not have the power to turn someone into a rapist or anything that they are not already. (Ultimately I'm a firm believer that people are responsible for their own behavior and cannot blame what they're read or seen for what they've done.)

Sidony