Members jcn37203 Posted June 10, 2005 Members Share Posted June 10, 2005 Seriously, porn is a huge part of society. The amount of porn items sold is mind-boggling, and that's just on the record stuff, not even counting Ebay sales. So, a few questions. 1. Is it actually harmful to adolesents? I'm talking 12, 13 year olds. Puberty age people, not small children. I can personally attest to the fact that I was an online free porn fan at the age of 13. How has porn harmed me? The claim that it effects moral development seems dubious to me. I can tell you that much of the same images I was interested in at 13 seem sad or disgusting to me today, which is contrary to the belief that they encourage people to enjoy deviant behavior later in life. 2. Porn addiction - is this a real problem? If so, what are the effects of it? 3. If porn is so evil, then how do we explain other modern cultures where porn is not a big deal at all, and nudity and sex are just every day aspects of life. Rumor has it many college initiation ceremonies in countries like Sweden involve co-ed nudity that would drive American college boys to the brink of bruising masterbation. Who really is healthier? 4. Do people actually believe Parental Controls are effective? Are they effective? I doubt it personally, but I've never used them. So enlighten me if I am wrong, please. My personal bias is probably obvious in the way I posed the questions. This is because half of my childhood was spent in Europe, where I saw sexuality and nudity displayed in public on a regular basis. I'm no priest or anything, but I don't think I turned out too bad, morally speaking. but I am interested in real, respectful, level-headed and spirited debate from those who disagree. I am not interested in insulting or belittling anyone. I just want to hear how other people feel about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MrSage Posted June 10, 2005 Members Share Posted June 10, 2005 Originally posted by jcn37203 but I am interested in real, respectful, level-headed and spirited debate from those who disagree. Then you're in the wrong place... The intarweb isn't the place for respectful debate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hookstrapped Posted June 10, 2005 Members Share Posted June 10, 2005 Originally posted by jcn37203 I'm no priest or anything, but I don't think I turned out too bad, morally speaking. LOL! Good one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jcn37203 Posted June 10, 2005 Author Members Share Posted June 10, 2005 Originally posted by MrSage Then you're in the wrong place...The intarweb isn't the place for respectful debate! It's been happening here for the past couple of days. I'm hoping it becomes a trend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jonny guitar Posted June 10, 2005 Members Share Posted June 10, 2005 Porn bores me to no end now. When I was kid it was exhilariting to see a nude pic and the mystique of the female body. When the internet started out I checked out the porn because it was there but I couldn't be less interested now. You can only see a chick getting {censored}ed so many times before it becomes kinda old. I think kids are kinda getting ripped off of the adventrure of the pursuit of the nude picture....that is what drove me for my teenage years and now it is just everywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jcn37203 Posted June 10, 2005 Author Members Share Posted June 10, 2005 Originally posted by jonny guitar Porn bores me to no end now. When I was kid it was exhilariting to see a nude pic and the mystique of the female body. When the internet started out I checked out the porn because it was there but I couldn't be less interested now. You can only see a chick getting {censored}ed so many times before it becomes kinda old. I think kids are kinda getting ripped off of the adventrure of the pursuit of the nude picture....that is what drove me for my teenage years and now it is just everywhere. I agree. I think the net is going to basically force a loosening of opinions about sexual imagery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rosewater Posted June 10, 2005 Members Share Posted June 10, 2005 The way i see it, porn is just a way to relieve sexual tension. As long you dont become too attached to porn, and just use it to shoot one off, i see nothing wrong with it. If it begins to affect your normal life, then you have a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brian Marshall Posted June 10, 2005 Members Share Posted June 10, 2005 I think what many people see as the decay of moral standards is really people becoming more honest and open about them selves. 30 years ago if you wanted to watch porn you had to go to a dirty theater with sticky floors. Then in the 80's you could just pop it in your VCR, and watch it with your wife (if she was willing) I think once this started, and porn became an addition to peoples sex lives at home the path was set for it to become acceptable... I mean pornstars do cameos in movies and tv shows now... just wait a few years and youll start to see real crossovers... {censored} my mom probably knows who jenna jameson is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Thelonius Posted June 10, 2005 Members Share Posted June 10, 2005 Originally posted by jcn37203 1. Is it actually harmful to adolesents? I'm talking 12, 13 year olds. Puberty age people, not small children. I can personally attest to the fact that I was an online free porn fan at the age of 13. How has porn harmed me? The claim that it effects moral development seems dubious to me. I can tell you that much of the same images I was interested in at 13 seem sad or disgusting to me today, which is contrary to the belief that they encourage people to enjoy deviant behavior later in life. 2. Porn addiction - is this a real problem? If so, what are the effects of it? 3. If porn is so evil, then how do we explain other modern cultures where porn is not a big deal at all, and nudity and sex are just every day aspects of life. Rumor has it many college initiation ceremonies in countries like Sweden involve co-ed nudity that would drive American college boys to the brink of bruising masterbation. Who really is healthier? 4. Do people actually believe Parental Controls are effective? Are they effective? I doubt it personally, but I've never used them. So enlighten me if I am wrong, please. My personal bias is probably obvious in the way I posed the questions. This is because half of my childhood was spent in Europe, where I saw sexuality and nudity displayed in public on a regular basis. I'm no priest or anything, but I don't think I turned out too bad, morally speaking. but I am interested in real, respectful, level-headed and spirited debate from those who disagree. I am not interested in insulting or belittling anyone. I just want to hear how other people feel about it. 1. I'm not sure. You make me feel like an old man though. We were smuggling VHS tapes at that age. How old are you again? Online with porn at 13? Something's not adding up. I'm not sure if it's harmed me or not. If I'd never watched porns I may not want blowjobs but I doubt it. 2. Probably. I love porn. I suppose it could be an addiction. Depends on how much I'm getting laid too. I watch porn too much. Jerry Falwell would probably say I'm addicted. But I'll take that over gambline or smack. 3. Foreigners make the best porn. 4. Parental controls are not effective because parents turn to technology to babysit the kids and kids are 90% of the time more tech savvy than their parents. Your kids are screwed though. My favorite kinds of porn: amateur type stuff. Grungy looking girls. Not ugly, but ones that look like they haven't bathed in a day or two. The kinds in amateur porn. Old 70's porn and some early 80s. The only problem of course is the people were all the same. I just think that porn looks better. The "I don't get it category" Bondage, S&M fetish stuff. I like seeing bizarre things like chicks with champagne bottle necks and candles out of the other side and all that. But more for the same reason you go see the bearded lady at a carnival. I'm not judging anyone here if they're into the S&M porn, I'm just saying that it's not for me personally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Thelonius Posted June 10, 2005 Members Share Posted June 10, 2005 Originally posted by jonny guitar Porn bores me to no end now. You can only see a chick getting {censored}ed so many times before it becomes kinda old. That has not been the case for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brian Marshall Posted June 10, 2005 Members Share Posted June 10, 2005 oh, just wanted to add... if you look back at the 1950s and earlier here in america (cant speak for other places) peoples knowlege of sex in general was skewed. you were taught that masturbation was a sin, and were taught to feel guilty about those kind of feelings. That said, i wish i was 13 in 2000 instead of 1987 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jonny guitar Posted June 10, 2005 Members Share Posted June 10, 2005 Originally posted by Brian Marshall I mean pornstars do cameos in movies and tv shows now... just wait a few years and youll start to see real crossovers... Ron Jeremy as the bad guy in a Spiderman 7- Attack of the Fat Furry Freak and his Flaccid Flapping {censored}stick:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gappie Posted June 10, 2005 Members Share Posted June 10, 2005 imho this: sexuality and nudity has nothing to do with porngraphy.i think porn disturbs our sexual development. i think nudity and sexuality are beuatiful. the best thing i can say about porn is that it is boring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ck3 Posted June 10, 2005 Members Share Posted June 10, 2005 I would only see a potential danger in kids attempting more extreme sex acts without properly educating themselves first ... and there can be detrimental effects upon the intmiacy in a relationship as well, especially if pornography addiction becomes an issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jcn37203 Posted June 10, 2005 Author Members Share Posted June 10, 2005 Originally posted by Thelonius 1. I'm not sure. You make me feel like an old man though. We were smuggling VHS tapes at that age. How old are you again? Online with porn at 13? Something's not adding up. I'm not sure if it's harmed me or not. If I'd never watched porns I may not want blowjobs but I doubt it. I'll be 28 next month.I convinced my parents to sign me up for AOL when it first came online. This was before parents discovered porn even existed online. It was like a bohemian orgy on ecstacy in those days. Just a porn harvest the size of Jupiter. I actually accidentally signed up for one dude's porn distribution list, and started getting a hundred pics emailed to me a day. It was like I opened the porn floodgates or something. In those days, because of modem baudrates, 10 seconds of decent video was an all-night download session. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bobby yarrow Posted June 10, 2005 Members Share Posted June 10, 2005 Originally posted by Thelonius Foreigners make the best porn. It's true, especially for the connoisseur. French porn, tho limited paradoxically by the fact that all but the nastiest {censored} can be shown on tv, is pretty sublime. Plus, you can feel vaguely artsy about it. Fetish porn mostly blows, because as far as I can tell no one making the stuff actually understands fetish. It could also have something to do with my very low threshold for viewing breast crushing or cock-n-ball torture . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jcn37203 Posted June 10, 2005 Author Members Share Posted June 10, 2005 Originally posted by gappie imho this: has nothing to do with porngraphy.i think porn disturbs our sexual development. i think nudity and sexuality are beuatiful. the best thing i can say about porn is that it is boring. I would agree with you if that were conventional wisdom. But our society considered Janet's tittyflop to be pornographic. Playboy sits on the same shelf with Swank. So there really isn't any differentiation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PB Wilson Posted June 10, 2005 Members Share Posted June 10, 2005 I wonder if the extreme graphic closeup, messy, degrading, attempts to be shocking staged bull{censored} will fall from the spotlight and make way for some more realistic, thoughtful observations (in print and photo) to get back to a more artistic and realistic view of sex. A lot of the "fine art nude" sites are much more provocative than the spread-eagle nonsense. It's like the difference between Hustler and Perfect 10. One leaves no crevice unmapped, the other shows a more artistic view of sexuality. The goal is somewhat the same, but the execution is way different. A cool website that tries to address a more modern, realistic view of porn, sex and nudity is nerve.com. It's tagline is "literate smut." A thinking person's pornography sounds like just what the doctor ordered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members corso Posted June 10, 2005 Members Share Posted June 10, 2005 Well, I swore off a while back...I just think that it is similar in nature to any pleasure of the senses. It feels good, but upon a deeper inspection, its inner nature is death and suffering. I think we rationalize the harmful aspects of it (consider the well being and personal development of those involved in making it) in order to enjoy the momentary pleasures of it. All in all, I don't think it is a good trade off. Add to that, that mental input is different than physical ...you can change a bad diet, and your health will improve. Quit smoking, the body recovers. But stuff you put in your brain is there forever...I know there are some pornographic images stored on my mental hard drive I would love to delete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BillyGrahamCracker Posted June 10, 2005 Members Share Posted June 10, 2005 AOL was around in 1990? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bobby yarrow Posted June 10, 2005 Members Share Posted June 10, 2005 Answering further: Porn is not at all boring to me. Obviously. Basketball, yes. Auto racing, yes. Porn, no. There's a lot of bad porn. By which I mean, porn that doesn't turn me on. So keep looking. I think the distinction between sexuality and porn is a false dichotomy. Certainly there is sex-positive porn and sex-negative sex. And I don't think nastiness is the thing that separates the sex-positive from the negative. Nasty can be very positive, and a Gap ad can be very negative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Thelonius Posted June 10, 2005 Members Share Posted June 10, 2005 Originally posted by PB Wilson I wonder if the extreme graphic closeup, messy, degrading, attempts to be shocking staged bull{censored} will fall from the spotlight and make way for some more realistic, thoughtful observations (in print and photo) to get back to a more artistic and realistic view of sex. A lot of the "fine art nude" sites are much more provocative than the spread-eagle nonsense. It's like the difference between Hustler and Perfect 10. One leaves no crevice unmapped, the other shows a more artistic view of sexuality. The goal is somewhat the same, but the execution is way different. A cool website that tries to address a more modern, realistic view of porn, sex and nudity is nerve.com. It's tagline is "literate smut." A thinking person's pornography sounds like just what the doctor ordered. Thanks for the site! I can't look at it now but maybe later. Sounds right up my alley. (wrong phrase to use in a discussion of porn). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jcn37203 Posted June 10, 2005 Author Members Share Posted June 10, 2005 Originally posted by BillyGrahamCracker AOL was around in 1990? Pretty sure, it may have been as late as '92 though. My first concrete memory of AOL in relation to time was talking about it with my chemistry lab partner my junior year, and I graduated in '95, and I'd had it for a while by then. I remember because he had Compuserve, and we were the only two people we knew who had even heard of the Internet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BillyGrahamCracker Posted June 10, 2005 Members Share Posted June 10, 2005 Originally posted by jcn37203 Pretty sure, it may have been as late as '92 though. My first concrete memory of AOL in relation to time was talking about it with my chemistry lab partner my junior year, and I graduated in '95, and I'd had it for a while by then.I remember because he had Compuserve, and we were the only two people we knew who had even heard of the Internet. Wow. I didn't have internet until I got to college (I'm the same age as you). And that's when my family got it, too. I would've been unstoppable (and would've never left my room) if I'd have had a computer and internet when I was a kid. I spent so much time with JC Penney's catalogs and other non-porn-substituting-as-porn. Maybe it helped my creativity and imagination, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jcn37203 Posted June 10, 2005 Author Members Share Posted June 10, 2005 Originally posted by corso Well, I swore off a while back...I just think that it is similar in nature to any pleasure of the senses. It feels good, but upon a deeper inspection, its inner nature is death and suffering. I think we rationalize the harmful aspects of it (consider the well being and personal development of those involved in making it) in order to enjoy the momentary pleasures of it. All in all, I don't think it is a good trade off. Add to that, that mental input is different than physical ...you can change a bad diet, and your health will improve. Quit smoking, the body recovers. But stuff you put in your brain is there forever...I know there are some pornographic images stored on my mental hard drive I would love to delete. Those are very good points. What about the cultures where things we consider pornographic are commonplace? Wouldn't that indicate that the problem is actually our perception of what is obsene rather than what actually is. There is a native group, in South America I think, called the Yanomami. One of their traditions is, essentially what we consider child rape. The men ejaculate in to the mouths of the children boys, and this is not done for sexual gratification, but because it is perceived to give them strength as they develop in to men. On further thought, it might not be the Yanomami. It might be a different group, but I know there is such a group. They also have lots of bizarre rituals for healing and other things. My point isn't that we should redefine our society's rules to allow Yanomami strength rituals. Just that the concept of obsenity is the problem with spiritual destruction, not the actual imagery. ... in my opinion, of course. Not that we can do anything in the short term about what we consider obsene. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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