Humor will not be tolerated!! -Portia

Rifka wrote:

Portia wrote:I'm okay with adults having consensual sex, but a child can't give consent, so, yeah, seems unambiguously morally wrong for a child to be exploited by an adult for pornography!! Is this honestly at issue? Women are neither minors nor legally incompetent. If i wanted to earn money fulming some sex scenes (hint:i dont) that would be my choice. Children cant and ought not to be in such situations... i see no logical contradiction. There's a big ol chasm between permissiveness ans just plain perviness

You're assuming that it's only exploiting the people who are filmed in the pornographic scene. That's just not true. That's like saying that as long as a person is an adult, they should be able to smoke anywhere because they are old enough to make the decision, completely ignoring the effects of secondhand smoke. Pornography harms more than just the people making the film. It harms people who watch the film and those who don't even watch the film. It objectifies women. It tells them and the world that they are only good if they are sex toys. It's crushing to women who can no longer measure up sexually for their husbands because pornography has set unrealistically high expectations. In my opinion, that's why all pornography is dangerous, not just child pornography.

I guess I just don't see myself as some sort of victim of The Male Gaze. This seems like a very First World not-problem-problem to me: "oh no, we only ever have 'vanilla sex.'"

I do want to be seen as a sexual being: not by my family members, or the children I work with, or by women, but by a sex partner? Yes. Definitely.

I feel neglected by my significant other by his devotion to his work: ought we to ban the workplace? Tell him he is a sinner for going in on Saturdays and not coming home till 7? I think the insurance biz did far more to put a damper on romance than porn ever could.

Maybe if a man is berating a woman for her natural breasts or hair or unwillingness to have orgies the problem is that he's a jerk, not his sex drive.

What about women that are sexually active/have sex drives/are shallow in regards to men's physiques? Oughtn't this be a discussion of strength of character? A good man and a good woman will communicate well, will be honest and fair in their sexual dealings, will not sacrifice the good of tomorrow for the pleasures of the moment. I am more concerned with the contents of a man's character than the history of his web browser. Even under a paradigm of "X is sin," stopping bad habits is a lot easier than becoming a complete person.

I do agree that there is exploitation of sex workers whether it be porn stars, prostitution, "escorts," etc. Few eighteen-year-old girls from the San Fernando Valley probably have the resources, mental or financial, to say "well I could have gone to college to be a microbiologist but I think I'll pursue that erotic film career instead!" It is something serious to think about: that these are real men and women who could very well pick up unwanted diseases, violence, etc., and what it says about western society that abusive situations do happen. But I think many people would think of a girl who decided to be in a porno (or even more so, a prostitute) that she was " slut," not a person who needed help or options. If we want to fight the ill effects of the sex industry, housing and educating and giving job training to a 16-year-old runaway, likely addicted to various substances and abused by a pimp, sounds like a marvelous cause celebre to take up to me.