Opinion of pornography

[memphis]

Porn is great!  And with the internet I can get exactly what I want. And over the years, I've learned exactly what that is. And I've learned that there are a great many things that don't appeal to me, but must be great for others. So good for them! It's been very educational.

[memphis]

Porn is great!  And with the internet I can get exactly what I want. And over the years, I've learned exactly what that is. And I've learned that there are a great many things that don't appeal to me, but must be great for others. So good for them! It's been very educational.

details?

Dude. My porn life is my own. Go figure out what tickles your fancy. There's a wide world out there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiFD6EFVsTg

[memphis]

Regardless of use or not, we can all agree it doesn't have a good influence on individuals.

No, we can't. I think I'm a much better person once I've had a release. The prudery in this thread is quite unexpected.

[memphis]

Kina creeped out that somebody thought that porn was about humilation. Guess I know what gets him off. Whatev. I don't judge. BDSM is available. Not my thing.

[memphis]

Freedom, I guess, but also dangerous. Not physically of course (hopefully), but I've heard a few stories of guys getting too addicted to it and only being able to get off to it, even when engaging with other people.

Neutral entertainment. Useful when it's needed, but one can't help but feel a bit of shame afterwards.

Not shame, more like "I can't believe I just got off to that..."

You could say the same thing about many items. Pizza looks a lot more appetizing before indulging as well.

[memphis]

Addicting and destructive -so much so that when I look back on it, I wish I never came across those pictures and videos in the first place.  

Fortunately I have weaned myself off of it, so I consider myself clean again.  

Why the prudery? How is it "destructive?" Not like people are robbing banks to get money for more porn.

[memphis]

Addicting and destructive -so much so that when I look back on it, I wish I never came across those pictures and videos in the first place.  

Fortunately I have weaned myself off of it, so I consider myself clean again.  

Why the prudery? How is it "destructive?" Not like people are robbing banks to get money for more porn.

Dismissing people's personal experiences of addiction as 'prudery' is generally considered bad form.

It seems pretty darn ridiculous to call porn destructive. That's a very strong word. Has it cost him a job? Has he spent his last dime trying to get more porn?  How is it destructive? Describing himself as "clean again?" How is that anything but prudery?

[memphis]

Addicting and destructive -so much so that when I look back on it, I wish I never came across those pictures and videos in the first place.  

Fortunately I have weaned myself off of it, so I consider myself clean again.  

Why the prudery? How is it "destructive?" Not like people are robbing banks to get money for more porn.

Dismissing people's personal experiences of addiction as 'prudery' is generally considered bad form.

It seems pretty darn ridiculous to call porn destructive. That's a very strong word. Has it cost him a job? Has he spent his last dime trying to get more porn?  How is it destructive? Describing himself as "clean again?" How is that anything but prudery?

What the hell? What is it with you and empathy? How is it up to you to define what's destructive or addictive or not?

People react differently to different things. Reactions that you can't identify with aren't less natural or valid than the ones you have.

Ok, let's substitute pornography for something else that we enjoy very much, but is also not destructive in a conventional sense. Posting on the Atlas Forum. I waste a decent amount of time here. I could be doing something better, sure. But, as with porn, it is extremely unlikely to endanger health or finanacial wellbeing. So let's take a look at his quote with a minor tweak to reflect our new reality of discussing the Atlas Forum instead of porn.

"Addicting and destructive -so much so that when I look back on it, I wish I never came across those maps and updates in the first place.  

Fortunately I have weaned myself off of it, so I consider myself clean again."

Does this not strike you as absurd? What's the difference between porn and the Atlas Forum? They both have equal levels of destruction on life.  

[memphis]

If Frodo sincerely lost his job or his health or something of the same scale because he was looking at porn all day long, I'll admit that he had a legit problem. I vvery much doubt this is the case. What is far more likely is that the people who raised him made him feel so guilty about sex and porn that he cannot enjoy a little fun. Which do you think is more likely?

[memphis]

Just to clear the air (and get rid of some unwanted attention) -I meant 'destructive' in the sense that it was taking time away from my studies, affected my social life, and delayed my graduation from college by at least several years.  

No, it is not as serious as losing a job over it (unlike some federal employees), or destroying a relationship, but it was bad enough from my perspective.  Enough such that it spurred me to quit.  

P.S.  Memphis -there is no need for you to get so defensive about the issue.  The porn industry is doing well enough that it does not need your help in this thread. 



 

Pornography led you to graduate years later than you should have?

^^^^^^^^
Yeah, I find that one a little odd too. The thing about the desire porn is that it's rather self regulating. The Atlas comparison I made earlier was not a good one. If you plotted a brain's interest in Atlas throughout the course of the day versus that for porn you'd find a stark difference in consistency. I'm not sure how one could spend more than an hour or two with porn per day.

[memphis]

Gus, I'm getting tired of the personal attacks. You're not living up to the TOS for members, much less the behavior expected of a mod. If you can't disagree without resorting to ad hominem, you have no business here and certainly should not be in a position of authority. Grow up.

[memphis]

I've looked over this thread, and there's plenty of dismissive, flippant behavior to go around (although I don't see any ad hominems offhand.)  Honestly, this thread would go a lot better if folks didn't latch onto their knee-jerk responses and go from there -- but if you want to do that, it's technically not against the rules.  If that's what you're going to do, enjoy the inevitable disappointment.

It's not just this thread. The women's thread aslo. I'm not trying to start some Atlas forum board style drama, but I strongly question Gus's position as a mod. He hasn't shown the requisite judgement lately.

[memphis]

Gus, I'm getting tired of the personal attacks. You're not living up to the TOS for members, much less the behavior expected of a mod. If you can't disagree without resorting to ad hominem, you have no business here and certainly should not be in a position of authority. Grow up.

I pointed out that your positions and attitudes are horrible. If you want to defend them, defend them. If you can't, don't cry me a river about it.

I'm not a moderator on this board and even if I were I'm not going to sit back and let you spew the kind of nonsense you're spreading in this thread and the one about women unchallenged. And it's frustrating to argue with someone who makes completely ridiculous claims.

I'm still waiting on you to defend the position that a) pornography can't be addictive and b) there is no discrimination of women in the workplace (in fact they have it easier than men). I've provided sources for my positions, yet you have done nothing. You can run away from losing the debate by crying about ad hominems all you will but it'd certainly be more mature to actually defend your position or give it up.

.
I'm not crying at all. You've been, by far, the one with the more emotional attitude throughout. I've not been the one to say things like "surely you're not that stupid" or "You really might want to educate yourself a bit on this issue before offering opinions about it because you come off as totally clueless" or "You're being a fairly disgusting, entitled idiot." That's not my style of debate.  And it shouldn't be the style of any moderator. There was the whole incident with Bushie and Ameriscam and what not. Moderators are held to a high standard.
If you want to lower the threshold for addiction all the way down to porn, you're going to have a lot of addictions out there. Is Honey Boo Boo addictive? Is hunting? How about model railroading. Lots of people lose themselves in these activites.
The wikipedia article you linked was mostly about criticism of the idea of porn addiction as quackery. You have, in fact, presented very little evidence that women routinely face undue burdens in the workplace. You've found a survey that indicates that some women perceive it. That's not quite the same as the outright discrimination that you've been harping about for several pages. At first, you presented a highly dubious anecdote about some girl you know. I'm not saying you deliberately misrepresented it. Wouldn't surprise me it all if she misrepresented the incident to you. People are always misrepresenting things that happened to them to make their lives look more interesting. And, just as important, you've presented no evidence that sexual harassment is a problem unique to women. I've had slimy female bosses. All you have to do to explain to a boss how things are in that department, they will almost always back off. They don't want trouble with their bosses. But in your world, women are too weak to say no to the uncomfortable flirtations that come their way.
There are a million real problems in the world. Diseases. Poverty. Homelessness. Religious Mind Control. Being a woman in the West or enjoying porn doesn't even register.

[memphis]

there is some question as to whether compulsive use of pornography functions as an addiction (see drug use) or as an impulse-control disorder (see compulsive handwashing).

The real reason for this isn't anything particularly attractive about pornography, it is that there is something wrong with a society in which it is so difficult for so many males to get sexual intercourse.

True.

I blame Disney movies.  They make every little girl in this country think she's some perfect princess that has to wait for frickin' Prince Charming to come along until she gives herself up.  If we just told them they are decaying bags of meat like everybody else we'd all be getting it in a lot more.  

The attitude expressed in this post contributes far more to you not getting laid than Disney does.

I don't have a problem getting laid, I was just trying to be funny.  And I like responding to opebo's posts.  

EDIT: but, would you not agree that women who live in a more open society about sex are not so picky when it comes to partners?  

I think you're right.  We don't so much raise women as being equal.  We raise them as being "special".

Of course we do. We don't need all the males running around. They're a dime a dozen and their "job" as it were biologically can be done by a small population. Send the rest down a coal mine or off to war. They will go down with the ship. The uterus must be protected/rescued for the survival of the band.

[memphis]

Heterosexual male sexuality is of great importance to heterosexual females. They have a dog in this fight too.

[memphis]

This thread explains why women don't post here.

Oh, do elaborate.  I like to think women are not so fragile as you seem to imply.   

Not wanting to read Memphis', Hockeydude's or Opebo's crap is hardly a sign of "fragility".

Most women are aware that they are different than men, and it doesn't hurt their feelings one iota. They're not fragile, just more balanced. They have very little patience for is the 18th thread about which way an obscure county will trend.

[memphis]

Good god, this thread is an abortion.

And given how exploitative the sex industry is (Do I really need to post evidence of this?), I can't possibly see it as 'freedom entertainment'. But whatever gentleman... continue your obviously metaphorical wanking.

Ok. Fair point. The sex industry is rather shafty. But nobody is forcing porn actors to perform. It's not sexual slavery, which is a seperate, much more serious problem.