Why is pornography considered a degrading thing?

Does anyone have a favorite porn star?

Aria Giovanni.

 

Wonderful! The civil & respectful Bubba has returned! It's nice to have you back, my friend.

What do you think pornography is?

Bear with me -- I'm gonna bypass this question for just a moment...

Is pornography not designed to arouse, excite, and enflame our sexual desires?

...and ask that you tell me why these elements are necessarily problematic for you, and in what sense (again: personal, societal -- what?)?

 

Aren't women/men designed to arouse, excite, and enflame our sexual desires?

I think we have a weiner! Being a human is immoral.

 

Ain't nothin wrong or unhealth about porn unless you become obsessed with it, but that's true of anything.

Nothing wrong with Star Wars unless you become TOO obsessed with it.

Nothing wrong with TV unless you become TOO obsessed with it.

So Bubba, I wasn't actually referring to your pure uncorrupted soul, but rather I was saying that the only way porn could be unhealth for you is if you watched it too much, and if you did watch it too much that's your own fault.

 

I'm still waiting for someone to refute my claims. So far no one has been able to do that.

 

You gotta lot of posts on that last page, how about a "recap" of your irrefutable points?

What are we even arguing? I thought this thread was about whether or not porn is "degrading."

 

Pages 4 and 5 are the best pages to look at. It's too much for me to retype so you will have to go back and read it yourself. I'm mostly looking for Fire to respond to my last response to him.

 

Surely anything can make people 'lose grip on reality'.

Then again, porn is evil and makes children steal cars. And stuff.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

An example of this is my statement on the increase of kids having sex more frequently and at a younger and younger age. Why would they do this unless they were overly exposed to things like porn?

Uh, because reproduction is a basic instinct in all forms of life - otherwise, they'd die out. And because it's fun. Poeple have been discovering sex for quite a long time without porn. If you're arguing that porn is leading to an increase in sexually active youth... Maybe. Then again, it could just be that societal standards for sexual behavior are relaxing a bit.

Why is it illegal for a woman to sell her body on the streets (i.e. have sex for money), but it's perfectly fine for a woman to sell her body for a shady porn film?

Excellent question. People's bodies are their own, and I don't see why the government can tell me that I can't receive money in return for giving sexual gratification to others. Doesn't make any sense for prostitution to be illegal, you're right.

If I had it my way the porn industry would be shut down entirely.

So basically, you're saying that two people ought not to be able to produce a product that does no harm to anyone and sell it to a third person to whom it does no harm? You're advocating categorical censorship? And where will you draw the line? Are you going to turn Ashcroftian on us, and start closing down art galleries with nude statues? For that matter, I have definitely seen artistic photography which includes the nude body; are you going to ban that as well? If you censor pornography, you're asking the government to judge the value of any art containing nudity, which is not something the government can do.

I'd say reproduction is the big reason for sex, wouldn't you?

On a special and evolutionary level, yes. On a personal level, it's just one of many reasons, and no better or worse than any of the others.

With the exception of dolphins, we're the only species that has sex for pleasure. What that has to do with anything, I don't know, but it is a good point for having sex for pleasure.

I don't know that you can draw this distinction. The reason sex is pleasureful for us is that it is an essential part of reproduction, and it is biologically necessary for us to enjoy participating in activities leading to reproduction if we are to reproduce and perpetuate the species. I'd say it works much the same wa in anmals, and sex is pleasant for them. I don't think you can say what the answer would be if you interviewed a rabbit and asked if it had sex because it was fun, or because it wanted a lot of baby bunnies. If you could teach cats what condoms were and how to use them, can you say for sure that they wouldn't? Because of the near impossibility of communication with animals, I don't think you can back this up. Correct me if you know something I don't.

I can accept porn being legal but ONLY if it is kept from mainstream media. It's bad enough that it is so easily accessible on the internet (I once did a search for geology of all things for a college class and I actually had some porn sites appear. WTH is that about? ) but to have it become mainstream on public television is unacceptible.

Let's hypothetically assume that I had some technological method that 100% guaranteed that a minor could never, ever view pornograpy on television. Do you still need it kept out of the mainstream media?

Then again, porn is evil and makes children steal cars. And stuff.

The call to ban porn is really a ploy to sell more copies of Grand Theft Auto!

-Paul

 

Let's hypothetically assume that I had some technological method that 100% guaranteed that a minor could never, ever view pornograpy on television. Do you still need it kept out of the mainstream media?

Of course.

 

Okay.... Why is that? It's not as though somebody can force you at gunpoint to watch a particular channel on TV. You're free to change channels, or to flip off the set. Likewise, those who do wish to see pornography can easily go to the appropriate channel and watch away. Why do you hold that broadcasters should be legally unable to broadcast pornographic material if they feel there is a sufficient demographic wishing to see it? There are lots of people out there who don't like it, so it's not as though television's going to go all-porn or anytihng. It'll only be on some channels, where those who want to see it can. Why ought this to be illegal?

-Paul

 

Cause he wants a Christian Theocratic Dictatorship to replace our Democractic Republic. He mentioned this in another thread before, no lie. Thats why I believe his arguments are moot.

 

Cause he wants a Christian Theocratic Dictatorship to replace our Democractic Republic. He mentioned this in another thread before, no lie. Thats why I believe his arguments are moot.

No I didn't. I would LOVE to see you post a link to prove that one. *rolls eyes*

Xen, stop trying to spread lies and start trying to argue in an adult manner. Until you do so your points are all "moot" as you like to put it.

Okay.... Why is that? It's not as though somebody can force you at gunpoint to watch a particular channel on TV. You're free to change channels, or to flip off the set. Likewise, those who do wish to see pornography can easily go to the appropriate channel and watch away. Why do you hold that broadcasters should be legally unable to broadcast pornographic material if they feel there is a sufficient demographic wishing to see it? There are lots of people out there who don't like it, so it's not as though television's going to go all-porn or anytihng. It'll only be on some channels, where those who want to see it can. Why ought this to be illegal?

Because I don't want myself or my kids to be channel surfing and then to have some porn scene flash on the screen. Obviously you don't have kids or have no experience with them. Would you want to explain to your 5 year old son or daughter what it was that they just saw on the screen? I didn't think so.

Porn should be left private and not public. If you want it, you should have to pay for it (go get Satelite with the playboy channel or something) but you should not be able to force it on everyone else. Public television should be censored so that it is "family" friendly.

Porn causes great harm to children and the articles that I have posted back up my claims. Anyone care to try to rationally and logically refute my claims? So far I haven't seen any.

 

No I didn't. I would LOVE to see you post a link to prove that one. *rolls eyes*

I must apologize for that one, I got your post and Firemans confused. But what the hell Im only human, a sinning human who you want to keep from enjoying life and all of what it has to offer by trying to force chasity on me.

Xen, stop trying to spread lies and start trying to argue in an adult manner. Until you do so your points are all "moot" as you like to put it.

I made a mistake, but I do argue in adult manners. I will post this thread Assault On

I think its quite clear who was rambling on and supporting turning the country into a dictatorship and who was defending liberty and the God given right to free will.

EDIT: Fixed link

 

Maybe from your point of view, but not from mine.

BTW, I'm not forcing chastity on anyone. But I am claiming that porn is a bane in society. I am also saying that it should be kept off of public airwaves (this does not include cable or satelite). Your "freedom" to be unchaste shouldn't affect my ability to keep myself free from having to view pornographic material on public television or on ads.

Nevertheless, apology accepted.

 

Easy there, Tiger. My comments have been taken out of context before on this matter, and blown largely out of proportion. I only meant that I'd like for my God to have a more active role in the government. In other words, I'm glad the President is a fundamentalist Christian. I'm glad for laws that coincide with Biblical Law. And yes, if God Himself were to come down and rule over this nation, which the Bible says He will someday (or every nation existing at that time), I would be more than ecstatic about it.

 

Space_Man, all apologies for my earlier lack of civility.

There's nothing wrong, per se, with sexual arousal in the normal routine of things. My problem with pornography is that watching porn is not part of the normal routine of life. It's the difference between the smell of food in the kitchen making you hungry and going out of your way to think about food so that you're hungry all the time.

That's where the idea of an "enflamed" appetite comes in.

 

Fireman, I agree. If God were to come down and personally rule over us in a theocracy (as the scriptures say he will) then I am in full support of it (you would be an idiot to oppose him!). Otherwise a theocracy is unnacceptable.

Bubba, it's nice to see someone else around here that has come common sense in this matter.

 

I'm still waiting for someone to refute my claims. So far no one has been able to do that/

All of my stuff is hardcopty stuff. So you're not going to get much from me in way of proof. And since any crackpot can put up a site and their studies I'd pretty much say your points cannot be refuted, online at any rate.

Let me see what my abnormal psych book has.

 

Any crackpot can put something in a book too. Don't kid yourself.

 

Yeah, but I'd trust something that uses the DMS IV as a guide a little more than I would a site that says that in order to cure an addiction you must pray to god.

 

Which of the sites that I posted said that? And even if one or two did, most of those sites weren't even focusing on God or morality so your statement is moot. Most of the sites I posted were talking about the physical and social problems caused by porn and not the religious aspect.

You want to try and use a little more professionalism in your debating rather than throwing out such false statements next time?

 

There's too much gone by already for me to review, but I will throw in my two bits, in the form of a paraphrased quote from the late great Bill Hicks:

"The Supreme Court defines 'pornography' as anything that causes sexual thought and has no artistic merit.... hmmmmm. Let's see here... 'causes sexual thought and has no artistic merit'.... kinda sounds every commercial on television, doesn't it?"


Vezner, I'd like to know why you feel the need to tell other people what is best for them. What folks do to or with themselves is not any of your business so long as they are not forcing anything on an unwilling person.

Near as I can figure, people like you don't have any faith in God. If you did, you'd be content to let Him mete out justice as He sees fit.

 

Pornography addiction invades the lives of people in all age groups, ethnic backgrounds, religious faiths, and social status. Even young people are affected by it. But regardless what background the addict has, there is help! God is able to change the most addicted mind - even the mind of a person whose involvement in pornography has progressed to the stage of his acting out with criminal consequences what he sees in his viewing material. He is able to renew the mind and heart of any person who will ask Him. Learn how to take that first step by reading "Prayer - the beginning of change". If you are addicted to pornography and would like further information regarding this problem and how you can be set free from it, feel free to contact us. We will respond with whatever information we can. Our Referrals Page offers additional resources that you should consider taking advantage of.

 

TI1420, I wont even bother to argue with you because I have done so over and over and over again already on this thread and am tired of doing so. Read the thread if you want to know my position and how I feel about this topic. Start on page 4 if you want a good place to start.

FID, as I said earlier, most of the sites I provided do not even try to bring God into this (although I personally see nothing wrong with turning to God for help, but I will accomodate you). Try to not be so selective in your arguements and try to refute some of the sites that don't mention God as much. I have seen the sites myself and I know there are PLENTY of them to look through.

BTW, coming from the same site that you used for your previous quote:
...that pornography consumption can be as mood altering and as addictive as narcotics? (Richard Drake, assistant professor at Brigham Young University College of Nursing) In fact, some studies have indicated that pornography can have the same effect on the brain as cocaine. Images can be permanently "burned" into the memory by epinephrine, a chemical in the brain.

...that according to Nielson NetRatings, 17.5 million people visited porn sites in January 2000? (U.S. News & World Report, 3/27/2000)

...that there are more outlets for hard-core pornography in this country than there are McDonalds restaurants?

...that rape statistics are proportionately higher in those states with higher pornography sales and lower in those states with lower pornography sales?

...that cyberporn sales - including videos and accessories ordered online - accounted for 8% of 1999's $18 billion E-commerce pie? (U.S. News & World Report, 3/27/2000) That's nearly $5.25 for every man, woman, and child in the United States!

...that boys ages 12-17 are one of the largest consumers of pornography and pornographers target them for that reason? If the pornographers can arrange for the young person to become addicted, then a steady flow of income is assured.

(Information received from Enough Is Enough, Morality In Media, and National Coalition For The Protection of Children and Families.)

No mention of God there but there is mention of where information has been obtained.