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--- pornography [2023/12/16 13:49] – ultracomfy
+++ pornography [2026/08/22 13:22] (current) – ultracomfy
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-<fs xx-large>Pornography</fs> (colloquially known as porn or porno) has been defined as sexual subject material "such as a picture, video, or text" that is intended for sexual arousal. Indicated for the consumption by adults, pornography depictions have evolved from cave paintings, some forty millennia ago, to virtual reality presentations. A general distinction of adult content is made classifying it as pornography or erotica.
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-Usually one would think of pornography as just another thing that people do to pass time or enjoy themselves, however there is no fun or good thing without someone co-opting it into their agenda. Fundamentalist Christians can call themselves first to get //that//. //They// say that pornography is bad, because it's a [[sin]](([[https://www.jw.org/en/library/books/Questions-Young-People-Ask-Answers-That-Work-Volume-2/Your-Feelings/How-Can-I-Avoid-Homosexuality/#:~:text=Shun%20pornography%20and%20gay%20propaganda.]], retrieved on 16.12.2023 - Thank you for the contribution, piouslittlechristiangirl.))(([[https://www.jw.org/en/library/books/Questions-Young-People-Ask-Answers-That-Work-Volume-2/Recreation/Why-Avoid-Pornography/]], retrieved on 16.12.2023 - Thank you for the contribution, piouslittlechristiangirl.)). Oh and because even religious people realize that just saying "it's bad because it's forbidden" isn't a strong argument, they then fall back to other arguments, like those used by right wingers who just run the gish gallop and throw as much as they can, something will stick. It's [[homosexuality|gay]], brainwashing, causes crime ([[rape|RAPE]]!), it RUINS LIVES! Some more interesting points come from modern day mysogynists who will say that your **//SEX DRIVE//** is what makes men wake up and do things, and by jerking off they rob themselves of motivation. What else could motivate a man to be god-fearing and hardworking if not his desire for a [[woman|WOMAN]]?
+~~Title:Pornography~~
+<WRAP centeralign>Humans/Human Sexuality/\\
+<fs xx-large>Pornography</fs></WRAP>
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+{{:RationalWiki.png?nolink&50|}}
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+The [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Essay:I_thought_this_was_supposed_to_be_RATIONALWiki|"rational"]] people over at [[:RationalWiki]] have an article on [[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/pornography|Pornography]].
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+Pornography has been defined as sexual subject material "such as a picture, video, or text" that is intended for sexual arousal. Indicated for the consumption by adults, pornography depictions have evolved from cave paintings, some fourty millennia ago, to virtual reality presentations. A general distinction of adult content is made classifying it as pornography or erotica.
+Usually one would think of pornography as just another thing that people do to pass time or enjoy themselves, however there is no fun or good thing without someone co-opting it into their agenda. Fundamentalist Christians can call themselves first to get //that//. //They// say that pornography is bad, because it's a [[sin]](([[https://www.jw.org/en/library/books/Questions-Young-People-Ask-Answers-That-Work-Volume-2/Your-Feelings/How-Can-I-Avoid-Homosexuality/#:~:text=Shun%20pornography%20and%20gay%20propaganda.]], retrieved on 16.12.2023))(([[https://www.jw.org/en/library/books/Questions-Young-People-Ask-Answers-That-Work-Volume-2/Recreation/Why-Avoid-Pornography/]], retrieved on 16.12.2023)). And because even religious people realize that just saying "it's bad because it's forbidden" isn't a strong argument, they then fall back to other arguments, like it's [[homosexuality|gay]], brainwashing, causes crime ([[rape|rape]]!), or it ruins lives - anything, surely something will stick. Some more interesting points come from modern day mysogynists who will say that your **//sex drive//** is what makes men wake up and do things, and by masturbating one robs themselves of motivation. What else could motivate a man to be god-fearing and hardworking if not his desire for a [[woman|woman]]? (Not to exclude women, but these arguments are typically aimed at men.)
 ====== Porn Addiction ======
-[[Misogyny|Some people]] seem to be quite <del>strong</del> stubborn in their belief that a thing such as "porn addiction" exists. Allegedly you get "used" to certain aspects of your porn to the point where real life sex isn't "good enough" anymore. If you watch too much porn of women with unrealistically attractiy (and probably artificially inflated) curves then that "raises your standards", or something.\\
+Some people seem to be quite <del>strong</del> stubborn in their belief that a thing such as "porn addiction" exists. Allegedly you get "used" to certain aspects of your porn to the point where real life sex isn't "good enough" anymore. If you watch too much porn of women with unrealistically attractive (and probably artificially inflated) curves then that "raises your standards".\\
-While sexual tastes //can// be acquired, there is no scientific body on earth confirming that new tastes necessarily replace old ones. You will find plenty of "self help guides" with many products to sell and advertisements to run that will be more than happy to give you advice. Back in reality, however, such a thing does not(([[https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11930-014-0016-8|The Emperor Has No Clothes: A Review of the ‘Pornography Addiction’ Model]], retrieved on 15.12.2023)) exist(([[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6679165/|The Potential Associations of Pornography Use with Sexual Dysfunctions: An Integrative Literature Review of Observational Studies]], retrieved on 15.12.2023)).\\
+Now, while sexual tastes //can// be acquired, there is no scientific body on earth confirming that new tastes necessarily replace old ones. You will find plenty of "self help guides" with many products to sell and advertisements to run that will be more than happy to give you advice. However, such a thing does not(([[https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11930-014-0016-8|The Emperor Has No Clothes: A Review of the ‘Pornography Addiction’ Model]], retrieved on 15.12.2023)) exist(([[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6679165/|The Potential Associations of Pornography Use with Sexual Dysfunctions: An Integrative Literature Review of Observational Studies]], retrieved on 15.12.2023)).\\
-The last person who told me about this imagined threat was someone who was extremely self-conscious and insecure who, I guess, heard about this kind of thing and without looking it up took it as an easy argument to somehow steer me away from porn - because there are women in there that she compared herself to?
+====== Women in the Industry ======
+Pornography has become a very large and competitive industry with a business model that essentially asks actors to sell away their identity and dignity for objectification and money. One often understated element of this is that the sex work inherently doesn't actually inherently involve the indignification of its workers. It is the way sex workers are treated that makes it indignifying - the most vulnerable group here are women, who almost always get mistreated and also can end up financially abused but also sexually assaulted. In many countries, while the end product (ie. the videos) is readily policed, the //creation// of the video is a topic the government prefers not to talk about, so enforcement of the law in this industry is particularly weak (if laws exist at all).\\
+Because of this lack of governmental enthusiasm to govern the industry, pornography also has problems with some of the more severe human rights situations. Human trafficking, if not for slave labor, tends to attract slave sexual labor, with individuals (and by that I mean almost exclusively women) being stripped of their passports and sometimes even physically being held captive and forced to appear before a camera performing sexual acts, whether they want to or not.
+However, to quickly dispell a myth here, sex trafficking virtually does not happen to women situated in richer countries such as the USA or Western Europe. Women in these countries are politically powerful and traffickers risk getting sought after by their victim's home nation. Traffickers generally choose targets that are politically weak, ie. who are poor, have little education and who won't be missed (by anyone with power) if they go missing. Think Middle East, Africa, South America.
+====== Feminism ======
+For women, pornography is a delicate topic. On one side, for a lot of people it is the only way to get by. Some might even genuinely just be happy in that line of work. On the other side....
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+[...] the sex-negative position, holding that sex in general (as currently conceptualized in society), and pornography in particular, objectifies women, turning their bodies into vessels for male domination, rape, and capitalist exploitation.
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+<fs xx-large>//**"**//</fs>
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+<WRAP centeralign>~[[https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Pornography#Porn_and_feminism:~:text=took-,the,exploitation%2E|Rationalwiki on Pornography]], retrieved Aug 17, 2026</WRAP>
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+I find it very plausible that pornography and its widespread normalization certainly contributes to the objectification of women. If you've ever heard guys talk about women they pass by, you know what I mean((I know this is a difficult topic because I'm talking primarily about adolescents here, who are just nasty in general, plus women do that too. Still, isn't it interesting that from all the ways adolescent men can be nasty to women, they choose to sexualize them into objects?)). The classic answer to this is "sexism, not sex, degrades women".
+Personally, I am in favor of sex work being legal and workers getting the same legal protections as everyone else. While I would personally find sex work to be too degrading and would rather go homeless, I can understand why someone else wouldn't do it as I. Is sex work inherently degrading? Eh. Is it used to degrade women? Definitely. Sure, the sex itself isn't the degrading part here, but if you are in the line of sex work and are getting degraded on the base of sexism then the two will be rather difficult to seperate, no? While, sure, sex on its own isn't what degrades, the lived reality for many women is that the sex in their work comes with sexism attached, whether they want it or not.
+But - and I think that's the main point of sex-positivists - while sex and sexism might often come together, they are not //literally// inseperable. With reform and a shift in culture it is absolutely possible to give women every dignity to work in that field without constantly being stepped on. It is absolutely possible, and we should work in that direction as best as we can.