Disenchantedly Yours Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 Do you think porn and the availibility of it has made us a more sexually healthy society? Or do you think we still have a long way to go before that happens if it's even ever possible to happen? Clearly, I do not think porn has made us a more sexually healhty society. It's made us a more sexually available society. I just don't think that equates to "healthy". I don't think more "in your face" depictions of sex are doing us any favors.
Dust Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 No I think its there to make money and the entire sex industry takes advantage of "MEN" first then of course "WOMEN" by way of their goal of taking advantage of men. I don't believe in going to stripclubs or buying/looking at pornographic material. I'm all for rated R movies that arn't pornos having sex scenes/nudity. What I'm not for is specific jack off material. I'm all for lots of sex. What I'm not for is chronic masturbation.
Emilia Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 I think it's impossible to tell whether it has made us sexually healthy or not because the spread of porn is a result of sex being less of a taboo than before - which has to be a good thing surely. Personally, I don't believe in taboos, ie not being able to acknowledge aspects of our society or personality and brush anything that's uncomfortable under the carpet. So while you can have a point over porn and the chronic masturbation as Dust put it, it is a side-effect of a more liberal society which I am a great believer in.
somedude81 Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 Of course porn hasn't made us more sexually healthy. That was never its purpose.
aj22one Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 No I think its there to make money and the entire sex industry takes advantage of "MEN" first then of course "WOMEN" by way of their goal of taking advantage of men. I don't believe in going to stripclubs or buying/looking at pornographic material. I'm all for rated R movies that arn't pornos having sex scenes/nudity. What I'm not for is specific jack off material. I'm all for lots of sex. What I'm not for is chronic masturbation. This. Haha. Any guy who would prefer porno to his girl is really wacky. Unfortunately sometimes people are married to someone with a low libido or something so what are you gonna do then?
Author Disenchantedly Yours Posted February 10, 2012 Author Posted February 10, 2012 No I think its there to make money and the entire sex industry takes advantage of "MEN" first then of course "WOMEN" by way of their goal of taking advantage of men. I don't believe in going to stripclubs or buying/looking at pornographic material. I'm all for rated R movies that arn't pornos having sex scenes/nudity. What I'm not for is specific jack off material. I'm all for lots of sex. What I'm not for is chronic masturbation. Did you always see it that way Dust? Also, I am curious, how old are you?
Author Disenchantedly Yours Posted February 10, 2012 Author Posted February 10, 2012 Emilia I think it's impossible to tell whether it has made us sexually healthy or not because the spread of porn is a result of sex being less of a taboo than before - which has to be a good thing surely. I acutally think the spread of porn is a result of technology. Not because of a less taboo mindset about sex or porn. More porn doesn't equal more positive examples of sexuality or a "better" mindset about sex. Being open about sexuality is healthy. Porn itself doesn't appear to be too healthy. Personally, I don't believe in taboos, ie not being able to acknowledge aspects of our society or personality and brush anything that's uncomfortable under the carpet. I agree. These things are important to talk about because it's so connected to human sexuality. So while you can have a point over porn and the chronic masturbation as Dust put it, it is a side-effect of a more liberal society which I am a great believer in. Question, how does a more liberal society make us a better society?
Author Disenchantedly Yours Posted February 10, 2012 Author Posted February 10, 2012 Of course porn hasn't made us more sexually healthy. That was never its purpose. I understand that and agree. Porn's purpose was never for sexual health. However, we can not ignore the fact that it does have an impact on our sexuality.
Eddie Edirol Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 I think Porn (evolving from the past) made us more healthy. Back in the 30's to 40's, most people were getting married to the first person they dated. Much of them didnt even sleep in the same bed or see each other naked. When the population boomed, boys pressured their girlfriends to be more sexual, ladies told each other they liked it, the trend spreads. Then guys dont show their women the porn, but use the ideas on them, and everyone is happy as a result. The part where porn becomes a problem is if the man isnt communicating his desires to his wife because she wont do them, but stays with her anyway. Or if he isnt attracted to her anymore. But thats not the problem of porn, thats the problem of the couple.
gaius Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 I believe Lara Logan would have preferred all those perverts in Egypt went home and whacked one out to porn rather than do what they did. Sure porn has it's disadvantages, but so does not having easy access to porn. I'm not a woman but if I was one I'd much prefer to live in the more sexually free west than one of those repressed Islamic countries.
Author Disenchantedly Yours Posted February 10, 2012 Author Posted February 10, 2012 What happened with Lara Logan had very little to do with sex.
Ross MwcFan Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 (edited) I think it's good for the sexual health of guys who can't get women. Granted for some of these guys porn will make them feel worse because they're seeing what they can't get, so for those particular guys it wont be healthy, but for others (including myself) it wont be the case, it will actually stop us from feeling so sexually frustrated. It fills that need, that desire to a good extent, that would not get fulfilled otherwise. I think if men didn't have access to porn, there may just be a lot more rape, and sexual molestations happening (not that I'd do that), by men who can't get women, since they would be feeling a lot more sexually desperate. Edited February 10, 2012 by Ross MwcFan
gaius Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 What happened with Lara Logan had very little to do with sex. Then what did it have to do with? How about the 83% of Cairo women and 98% of foreign women in Cairo that said they had been harassed? It's rough out there for women when men are forced to suppress their sexuality. It always comes screaming out in one form or another. http://am.blogs.cnn.com/2011/02/17/high-rate-of-harassment-sexual-assault-in-egypt-and-other-arab-nations/
Author Disenchantedly Yours Posted February 10, 2012 Author Posted February 10, 2012 Porn doesn't "save" women from rape Gauis. There is no real substanial evidence of that. And it's acutally quite derogatory toward men to say the only thing that keeps men from raping women is the availability of porn. Are you really trying to use an extremist culture that has bigger issues then just sex to make a case for porn? You also seem to suggesting that if these guys has a little porn, they would have been okay and that what happened to her wouldn't have happened. That these men were "forced" into doing what they did becaues of their repression? I'm sorry but porn doesn't save women from rape. And men are better then using porn as a barometer for their ability to be good.
Emilia Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 Question, how does a more liberal society make us a better society? Easy: when it's not a liberal society, it's one person's or a group's ethics, views and morals that are forced on people. It's called a dictatorship and I know how terrible that is because I was born and raised in a dictatorship.
Author Disenchantedly Yours Posted February 10, 2012 Author Posted February 10, 2012 But "liberal" is also just one idea on ethics and views and morals in itself. "Liberal" does not neccesarily mean "equal" or "ethical". At least, that's how I see it. I don't advocate for a dictatorship. I just don't think "liberal" is the opposite of "dictatorship.
Ross MwcFan Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 Question, how does a more liberal society make us a better society? Take a look at Afghanistan, the bible belt, or any other strict religious country/society and that should answer your question.
aj22one Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 But "liberal" is also just one idea on ethics and views and morals in itself. "Liberal" does not neccesarily mean "equal" or "ethical". At least, that's how I see it. I don't advocate for a dictatorship. I just don't think "liberal" is the opposite of "dictatorship. It depends on what you mean by "liberal". Classical liberalism (like John Locke and the enlightenment figures) is the opposite of dictatorship. "Liberal" as in the modern sense (like the Democrats in the US) is not necessarily the opposite of dictatorship.
Emilia Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 But "liberal" is also just one idea on ethics and views and morals in itself. "Liberal" does not neccesarily mean "equal" or "ethical". At least, that's how I see it. I don't advocate for a dictatorship. I just don't think "liberal" is the opposite of "dictatorship. Liberal means people are allowed to do what they want to do rather than being dictated to. It is exactly the opposite of dictatorship.
PratyekaYana Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 I've run into literature here and there that suggests a rather easily intuited relationship between the rise of pornography and the inflation of sexual expectations upon the fairer sex. In one instance, a sampling of female college students lamented the fact that vanilla sexual acts were no longer sufficient to keep the attention of the average man. They spoke of having to tailor their performances--again, in order to secure the continued presence of their lovers--to something approaching what might commonly be seen in porn and the anxiety created by that kind of pressure. I suppose in that light it is possible to accuse porn of compromising the sexual health of a generation or two. Personally, I hesitate to make any such judgments. Popular culture (even the semi-deviant aspects) will inevitably influence the criteria by which members of either sex select their counterparts. The dissatisfaction with tamer sexual activity that the female collegians noted in the men around them is arguably just another manifestation of that influence, one that may be healthy or unhealthy depending of course upon how each man responds to having or not having his sexual appetite sated.
kaylan Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 (edited) Porn is not a cause, but an effect of a more sexually healthy society. Porn is just a product of society becoming more sexual healthy, expressive, and honest. Sex is no seen as something to hold back and be afraid like in conservative generations and conservative areas. What could be better than living in a time where more women are being taught to have orgasm and embrace their sexuality. Rather than stifle it and leave sex as something to only be enjoyed by men. Edited February 10, 2012 by kaylan
Mme. Chaucer Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 I believe that sexual repression is unhealthy. I think that the United States is a very sexually repressed, sexually shaming, puritanical and prohibitionist society, and this is one of the reasons that people here are reacting to porn the way that they do. This ranges from the (IMO) insanely anti-porn folks here on LS all the way to the porn obsessed guys they are ranting about. In other countries where sexuality has traditionally been viewed as more "normal," I don't think that there are nearly as many huge issues about porn (or about sexuality in general). I have spent a lot of time in Holland, since my ex husband's father lived there. There, sex is "out" rather than hidden. There are mostly naked prostitutes in windows on the street. Nudity in advertisements is normal and not shocking. People aren't terrified and obsessively worshipful of boobs. There are sex museums and condom stores galore; parents don't shield their children from them. Sexuality is part of the landscape and people grow up able to accept it more easily and with more health than we are able to here (in general). Here, we sexualize EVERYTHING and pretend that it's not happening. The TV shows, clothing, ads are blatantly sexual, yet we take on a stance of horror when Janet Jackson's boob popped out or we were faced with the sexual foibles of our former President. Overall, it's a very hypocritical view of sexuality that does end up feeding into a propensity for people to sit by themselves with the "shameful" images and become jerk off addicts. Basically, I think we are sick here in the US and our relationship to porn is a reflection of that. The porn industry here is capitalizing on this sickness, and the "religious right" is tapping into it as well in order to try to get "control" of people using shame. No, porn is not making us more sexually healthy, but stomping it won't help at all.
GorillaTheater Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 I learned a new position from porn that my wife seems to like, if that counts.
Negative Nancy Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 I've run into literature here and there that suggests a rather easily intuited relationship between the rise of pornography and the inflation of sexual expectations upon the fairer sex. In one instance, a sampling of female college students lamented the fact that vanilla sexual acts were no longer sufficient to keep the attention of the average man. They spoke of having to tailor their performances--again, in order to secure the continued presence of their lovers--to something approaching what might commonly be seen in porn and the anxiety created by that kind of pressure. That's exactly the problem with porn.
PratyekaYana Posted February 10, 2012 Posted February 10, 2012 That's exactly the problem with porn. In the spirit of devil's advocate, does that argument undermine personal agency? If a woman is sufficiently stressed from having to satisfy her lover's sexual appetites, can she not simply abandon the source of the stress, the relationship itself? Also, does the acquisition of less inhibited sexual tastes through pornography differ from, say, a woman demanding that her suitors resemble Brad Pitt because of her exposure to celebrity culture? Both cases present inflated expectations.
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