Porn

[Professor]

Did anyone see the recent investigation of the porn industry? This morning on my local radio station it was announced that porn stars that have contracted STDs are suing the industry because they are/were asked to perform without condoms. I have a great deal to say about this issue but want to first ask if one watches porn is it the same thing as supporting prostitution?

[sphinxpoet]

Originally posted by Professor
Did anyone see the recent investigation of the porn industry? This morning on my local radio station it was announced that porn stars that have contracted STDs are suing the industry because they are/were asked to perform without condoms. I have a great deal to say about this issue but want to first ask if one watches porn is it the same thing as supporting prostitution?

This is a very very tough question. Hmmmm I do not think it is the same as prostitution but it is a very small line. How does one tell the difference? I think that in this industry there are people who have no health coverage and other stuff and this is probably the industry where they need it the most.

Sphinxpoet

[Blackwatch]

Supporting pornography the same as prostitution? I can't say that, because if I watch Hannibal does that mean that I support cannibalism? Porn is exploitation, but is it exploitation by the consumer, or the industry studios? I saw a story on Nightline or 20/20 about some porn star girl who went from not having certain types of sex and not doing drugs to becoming known in the porn world for having weird sex and being high while doing it. When Diane Sawyer asked her why she smiled when she described the horrific details of some of the "situations" she's been in, she said because she tries to hide her true feelings of extreme self hate. Now, is this the consumer's fault, though she says that she does the extreme sex because that is what the fans want? But she chose to go into the industry, and the industry is a very ugly world. As long as young women will sell themselves for the money, it's hard to blame the market. No one forces these women to make movies, they maybe misguided and too young to make a decision like this, but sometimes we do have to own up to our decisions.
Blackatch!!!!!!

[Professor]

If you buy porn then you may as well support prostitution. Its the same thing. You're paying to watch and in some cases have interactive sex. I don't see the difference.

[Ideal08]

Originally posted by Professor
If you buy porn then you may as well support prostitution. Its the same thing. You're paying to watch and in some cases have interactive sex. I don't see the difference.

I was under the impression that prostitution was engaging in sexual acts in exchange for money. That is not the same thing as watching people have sex. Because we can take this to a higher level. There are people who enjoy swinging. They like to attend private orgies. Some of these people are simply there to WATCH. It's called voyeurism. So if you like to watch other people having sex, even if you have to pay to do it, how is that the same as supporting the SELL of sex? Does that mean that if you rent or buy the movies Friday or Half Baked, then you support the sell of marijuana and other drugs?

[Professor]

Call it what you will - but to clarify my sister, when you go into your local store to buy PORN it is just that. There is a big difference between renting a movie and the characters smoke a joint. Folk don't buy movies only to watch characters smoke weed but they buy porn for sexual gratification. In essence, when you BUY PORN you may as well be supporting the sell of sexual intercourse.

[sphinxpoet]

Originally posted by Professor
Call it what you will - but to clarify my sister, when you go into your local store to buy PORN it is just that. There is a big difference between renting a movie and the characters smoke a joint. Folk don't buy movies only to watch characters smoke weed but they buy porn for sexual gratification. In essence, when you BUY PORN you may as well be supporting the sell of sexual intercourse.

So does that go for Magazines such as Playboy and Hustler as well?

Sphinxpoet

[Blackwatch]

I understand ideal08's points, because watch and participating can be seen as two different things. But as I think more about this topic, I wonder if the voyerism connotates support in that you pay to watch the sex acts, which is the bottom line when it comes to any commerce. If you put your money behind something, at least in the entertainment realm, you are at least participating in the increase of demand for the product. When we go to the movies, I often wonder, as a Christian, could I in good faith be entertained by the movie "Friday" for example. I did pay to see Friday when it came out (I think) and thought it was funny, in a base level type of way. But in paying money to see it, we show the industry that this type of thing sells. Even though I think that drug use in our community is a cancer, I supported the production of that image in paying to see the movie "Friday". Did I smoke weed? No, but the money, I think to a certain degree, implies support, at least for the entertainment value of the images.

As for porn, I think that there is also a conundrum, because we say it is wrong to support porn, because of its graphic depictions of sex, but we also support movies that have graphic depictions of violence and drug use as entertainment, and reason with ourselves by saying that I can separate fantasy from reality. From a morals perspective, if we say that watching porn is immoral and supports prostitution, then we have to call in to question what role does entertainment have in our lives. What is entertaining vs. what should be entertaining? While a freshman in college, porn videos were watched for their "entertainment" value by guys on our floor. I do not know how so many 18 year olds got so much porn, but it seems as though watching porn was like watching a football game with the fellas. We were popping jokes, commenting on the scenes, etc. These women were exploited, true enough, but let us think about our other forms of entertainment and the other types of entertainers as well. Football is a prime example. Football players are indeed exploited, though they are paid well, they put their bodies through torture to entertain fans every fall. We have our favorite teams, players and games. We crtitique the players, we are in awe of their talents, and critical of their performances. Some would say that the violence displayed in the games is immoral, while other would say football is an ugly sport and is very unforgiving. And the players choose to be exploited, just as any American chooses to sell their talents on the job market.

Now I am not saying that sex and football games are synonymous in their visual imagery nor their purposes in the lives of human beings, but I am saying that we have to really start being more critical on what we deem as entertainment. If we leave entertainment and "what is entertaining" to the whim of the consumer and his or her "tastes", then commenting on the support of pornography as synonymous with prostitution I think goes too far. But if we begin to place entertainment in the realm of an indicator of one's morality, then not only should we call porn into question, but movies, sports, music, and other forms of entertainment has to be considered as well.

Blackwatch!!!!!!

[Professor]

Is it not the same thing - or perhaps its just ok to read the articles and not view the pictures - lol

Originally posted by sphinxpoet


So does that go for Magazines such as Playboy and Hustler as well?

Sphinxpoet

[sphinxpoet]

Originally posted by Professor
Is it not the same thing - or perhaps its just ok to read the articles and not view the pictures - lol

Yeah the articles thats it!

[librasoul22]

Originally posted by Professor
If you buy porn then you may as well support prostitution. Its the same thing. You're paying to watch and in some cases have interactive sex. I don't see the difference.

Huh?

You don't see the difference between watching a movie and going out and paying someone for sex?

The only way your analogy would work is if you found a prostitue and some other person and paid them to have sex while you watched.

How do you have interactive sex with a porno? I mean maybe the porno makes you feel tingly and induces sex with someone else...but aren't there a lot of other aphrodisiacs as well? Is buying chocolate covered cherries also the same as supporting prostitution?

I am trying to find the logic...very difficult.

[Professor]

If you buy porn you are paying to see and maybe have sex. If you rent a movie you do so for the plot. If the two were the same then porn would receive nominations for the mainstream awards. Also, cum on - there is a difference between two industries.

[AKA2D '91]

what?

Bad moderator, bad moderator.

You know what I'm talking about...

[librasoul22]

Originally posted by Professor
If you buy porn you are paying to see and maybe have sex. If you rent a movie you do so for the plot. If the two were the same then porn would receive nominations for the mainstream awards. Also, cum on - there is a difference between two industries.

I think we can all agree that most pornography doesn't have Academy Award caliber talent or film making. What does this have to do with prostitution?

You are paying to see sex. You are paying to SEE sex. Okay...again...prostitution is paying someone to ENGAGE IN A SEXUAL ACT. Different!

I will again attempt to follow your logic. You buy a porn in an attempt to maybe get someone horny enough to have sex with you. You have not paid THAT person to have sex with you. THAT would be prostitution. You have purchased a movie. You might have purchased some hot oil. You might have purchased a Marvin Gaye CD. Okay? Soooo...does this make either one the same as prostitution? Really, I am trying to be enlightened.

[Blackwatch]

Paying to see sex, while not prostitution, I think though could be problematic. Regardless of your intentions in the purchase of the porn video, the purchase of it supports an industry that has a track record of exploitation and hedonism. Some would say that most capitalistic enterprises are based on exploitation and hedonism (if hedoinism is people fulfilling their earthly desires). Is the issue here is whether or not the purchase and/or watching of pornography good or bad, or is it as bad as prostitution? Because I think that the former question is the one more worthy of debate. I think it opens up issues about what is entertaining, and/or useful in our lives. And even then can something seen as vile and disgusting as some of the acts that are portrayed in porn ever be edifying in our lives?

Blackwach!!!!!!