Thoughts on pornography...?

I realize that pornography has been around since the beginning of mankind. In fact, it is probably one of the earliest forms of art...Look at the Venus of Willendorf, so ancient, with her exaggerated sexual features, and speculated that it was held fondly by ancient ancestors. Then, the art on walls of Roman baths depicting various sexual positions.

At the same time, I must confess I find pornography degrading to both women...and men!
I would like to hear other opinions!
Patty

(Edited to add trigger icon)

I actually enjoy "soft core" pornography most, which i guess is defined as not as graphic and i find, quite beautiful.
The irony is it's harder to find than thehard core type.

i don't understand about "soft" porn? what is the difference in the two?

i think pornography is degrading to women and men. i've seen some Victorian photographs and such.

i've never watched a porn movie....i had Yahoo years ago and a friend and i kept getting porn in our e.mails. Yahoo was big in porn, i found out then.....

there is a lot of controversy over the distinction between 'pornography' and 'art'. one of the distinctions that makes the most sense to me (at first glance anyway) is based on the intentions of the 'artist' and the intentions of the 'viewer'.

if the work is made with the intention of producing a sexual response in viewers (to be used as a masterbation aid, for example) or if someone views it with the intention of getting a sexual response from it (using it as a masterbation aid, for example) then i guess i'd call it porn.

i don't like pornography because i think it is degrading to the people involved in it. i know that some people say they freely choose to be involved in it - but then look at the rates of sexual and physical abuse in the people who choose to be involved.

i also don't like pornography because i think it encourages people to view others as objects.

i think when someone says soft porn to me its like watching a movie that they have tender sex in...it has alittle more displayed obiviously than any normal movie but its an actual movie with a man and woman making love(thats the kind i like)...not banging each other....

as for porn ...its the raunchy pictures of like men whipping women ....or women kissing (more than kissing alot of the time) women...that is degrading to me....see especially for porn seen by men ..they have big egos ....so its plays into that...the pictures of men always show their penises like so large (we know it cant possibly be real!!!) and women with like DDD breasts ....its ridiculous....and nasty...it turned something beautiful into something disgusting...its probably the thing that turned minds into thinking sex was gross ....

MY HUSBAND KNOWS I HATE PORN AND TRIES HIDING IT. EVERY TIME I FIND IT I THROW IT STRAIGHT IN THE BIN. HE DOESN'T NEED PORN HE HAS ME - THAT'S HOW I LOOK AT IT.

JINNY WOUND UP

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fayerody said:
i don't understand about "soft" porn? what is the difference in the two?

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SOFT PORN is like........

1.) An intimate romance movie where the men & women are naked, but they are madly in love with a lot of caring & affection being shown between them during the sex scenes.

2.) Still Images of Naked People....... like you might see in older tasteful art - that which what Playboy claims to be.

...basically - naked sexual stirring with out the smut and sexual sickness being displayed.

I cant believe what I am reading, porn makes malesters and rapists, and child pedafiels. NO it doesnt, porn does not make people doe things, people make their own decisions. I am an gay, intraverted, video game player who doesnt leave my house. Saying that porn gives people the idea to rape, is like me saying I killed my neighbor because I play Mortal Kombat. The evil in this world is not directly related to a woman lying flat on her back getting paid to have sex with 5 guys. Evil comes from evil people and I am sorry but two people having sex for money is not evil, but its not art either.

i don't think that the people who make and view porn are evil. but then i don't believe in evil. certain actions can be classified as helpful / harmful to oneself and others, however.

i don't think that it is inevitable that viewing violence will cause a person to violently offend.
but i do think that it is possible that viewing violence could make it more likely that a person will violently offend.
i don't think that violent offences would stop completely if society stopped condoning violent tv, sports, pictures, video games etc
i do think that violent offences would reduce in number if society stopped condoning violent tv, sports, pictures, video games etc.

i appreciate that not all porn is violent but i do think that a lot of porn has violent themes of domination and submission. police officers and teachers and stepfathers and the like... abuse of power seems to be a common theme.

it is possible that someone who responds sexually to the naked form (and who doesn't find violence sexually stimulating) can train themselves (either intentionally or unintentionally) to sexually respond to violence by repeatedly pairing the naked form and sexual response together with violent themes. i think that a lot of porn functions to do this...

but not all porn is violent to be sure.

it concerns me greatly that the majority of women who pose in porn were sexually abused as kids. while some women say that it was their free choice to participate and that they get a sense of control out of it (they are being paid this time after all) one might be led to wonder just how free that choice is and whether their posing is a form of repetition compulsion.

i don't know whether this question has been asked but i wonder whether the majority of men who pose in porn were also sexually abused as kids. whether they are attempting to assert their masculinity in a caricatured fashion because they felt like it had been so completely undermined in the past... another form of repetition compulsion or possibly identification with the agressor / abuser.

i feel sad that people make such things...
and i feel sad that there is such a market for it...

i think it reveals something of the sickness of society that it is as condoned as it is.

i feel very sad indeed.

A funny story on pornography.....

I was married about 20 years ago for a brief period (1.5 years). My ex-husband apparently had some issues because he never had sex with me, but would constantly rent pornography. I would just go to bed and leave him to his movies.

One night I decided to watch what he put in. The movie was called Bat Dude and Throbbin and the movie opens with Throbbin laying in bed sleeping - Bat Dude flys in the window and,.....well you know.

Well - the ex didn't know he rented a gay movie! It was hysterical - he hit stop so fast. I said no way buddy turn that back on - you rented it, now we are going to watch part of it. We watched a few seconds and then I had him turn it off.

I told him "you like porno so much, now you have to go back and return the movie - so they are all going to know what you like".

It was rather funny just to see the look on his face. We were divorced shortly after

Tranquility

This struck a chord with me.........

I think just because porn has been around for centuries doesn't make it right or acceptable-- look at slavery-- it's been around just as long......(not that you were implying that seeker1950)

It's abuse towards women and I think it's degrading to both genders. It devalues women and it reveals the evil in men, their arrogance to control, objectify and use another human for their selfish pleasure. I feel any man that partakes in it is contributing to the abuse and objectifying of women. Women that partake in it are showing the low self-worth they were brought up with- or mimicking the abuse they experienced when young and frail.(IMO)

In my view and experience-- the end result-- is a NO win situation.

It's hard for me to believe that many humans still partake in such degrading media(was hoping our intelligence would surpass such shallow ways), especially those that claim to be "spiritual"..... but that's a whole other problem.....

I'd like to know if so many people think it's so acceptable-- how would they feel if mens private part was on TV for all to see and magazines to lust over and their daughters "got off" on looking at it all. And became "addicted" to seeing it over and over and sought out places while married to see other men's parts so they could "get off" and have their pleasure. I bet men wouldn't like that-- if they were not on the receiving end of that pleasure...... porn use is for the arrogant, self-absorbed abusive human.(IMO)

It makes me angry and sad to be in a society that turns a blind eye to such degradation and abuse.

***on a side note*** I'm not a prude though, I do believe in sharing many various sexual expressions with a loving partner!! *****

mandy

Actually mandy there are strip clubs for women to go to where men dance, Chippendales etc. and some of the bacherlorette parties get quite wild from what i hear. And lets not forgett the magazines out there for women with men in them.

I find the statement"reveals the evil in men" to be quite telling. Do you really think that men are more evil than women? I have met quite a few arrogant women in my lifetime also.

I find all this men bashing and attributing all of the worst of human nature to just men to get quite tedious.

IM sorry you have gotten hurt by men now or int he past but to attribute those characteristics to all men or most men is a gross generalization.

Pornography is not my thing, but i worked in a store that sold it (a long time ago). You would be surprised at the cross section of society who seem to enjoy it. You would also laugh at the secret ways people tried to buy it!

I think it reveals the "evil" equally in women and men...

Heyjoe,

How many women rape men compared to men raping women -- due to watching porn? Tell me which is more evil?

How many men murder and are in jail compared to women? How many pedophile women are there compared to pedophile men?

I don't believe that men in general ARE evil-- I just believe that some abuse the power in which the culture has given them-- NOT all-- but some!

I do believe that porn is evil and that men partaking in it are acting evil! That's my opinion!

I never said women are without faults-- I'm just replying to the original poster's question-- "thoughts on porn"..... and since 85% of porn is geared towards men and their "pleasure", my reply is such that it takes that into account.

It's statistics. I challenge you to find as many sites of porn for women's pleasure and strip clubs as there are for men. We(women) don't, as a whole-- objectify other humans as much as men do.... that's statistics.

I hold certain- deserving types of men, in high esteem and I am NOT trying to bash a whole gender! I'm sorry if my words made you feel defensive-- I admit I'm not very good at expressing myself in the way I mean to.

mandy

I dont feel defensive at all. I feel that when people impose their religious or personal beliefs on others that that is a dangerous road to go down. Having been the victim of religious fanaticism a few times and having seen others victimized, i dont believe that that is the road that the United States should be going down. Actually statements like men partaking in porn are evil scare me more than the guy sitting in his livingroom watching it.

Joe
I'm not imposing my belief on anyone--I'm just posting.... you don't have to read if you don't want to..... just like I don't like porn- so I don't view.

Funny you should mention "religion"--- I am so against religion!(not meaning to offend those that believe) I belong to my own belief of "human respect and value". I believe that all humans deserve to be treated with respect-- the way one would treat their aging mother/father or grandmother/grandfather-- With kindness, compassion and empathy.

I don't believe in bashing anyone...... or using a stranger for ones own selfish desires.
It's all a sad situation as far as I can see-- and just like porn-- this conversation is a NO win situation.

I don't believe in live and let degrade........

mandy

Let me replace the word evil I used with what I mean by it...wasn't referring to how religion views things as evil...

"I think it reveals the ability of women and men equally to be morally bad or wrong causing great harm"

Granted not everyone believes this subject is morally wrong...It is my opinion (my moral beliefs)...

Joe brought up an interesting point about women going to clubs like Chippendales. I have always suspected that women don't REALLY enjoy this kind of thing, but do it to compete with men who go to the clubs for men.
Yes, I have seen how women behave in these clubs with male strippers/dancers, etc., and they do get raunchy and I'm embarrassed for them. They seem to be
"enjoying" themselves, don't they?! I must be missing some element that would make this fun...I'd never enjoy it!
Patty

i know im going to get blasted for this so after i post im heading to the root celler, but being 50 years old i have noticed that women have in the last few decades been determined to acquire the worst habits of men, such as being crass, being overly aggressive, smoking cigars and im really gonna get it for this...tattoos.