I have a real distaste for arguments and movements that seek restrictions on the behaviour of consenting adults. I am a true social liberal in that regard. As a skeptic I find that there are topics of skeptism that are rarely discussed in skeptical circles. Maybe this is because they are too taboo or too devisive even amongst those who self identify as skeptics.
The anti porn lobby, along with the arguments that they make and influence others to make, is one such topic. I thought that my first blog post should reflect some of my views on this subject, so here is a point by point rebuttal I wrote in response to a random woman who decided to engage me on another forum. Her comments are in purple.
I wanted to be a teacher, fashion designer, surgeon, detective, journalist, dentist, physical therapist, literature professor and graphic artist. I'm now considering getting my PhD. Never a porn actress, it didn't even cross my mind.
That's ok. Being a porn actress wasn't for you. Much like being a dentist wouldn't have ever crossed the mind of someone else.
Sex is fun. Really, really fun. Pornography is not fun for women.
That's a real sweeping statement. Pornography is never fun for women? I hope you have more to back this up than the anecdotal word of a single former porn star who is trying to stay in the spotlight.
Jenna Jameson, an actual pornographic actress, has said this. Because they have to do it for a long time, and they have to make it look good, which means she has to strike poses and hold them while having sex or having her picture taken.
Yeah, thought so.
Jenna Jameson was a highly successful porn star with a seemingly troubled past. But as far as her porn career goes she has made her millions. Even if she now claims that she didn't enjoy parts of it, as a consenting adult she made her choices at the time and obviously figured that the benefits she enjoyed far outweighed the costs.
I have would have no sympathy for her if she's truly complaining about it now. But as far as I am aware, many of things she has claimed with regards her career in porn would not support your position. You just happen to have cherry picked one anecdote from her that you liked the best.
Jenna Jameson was a highly successful porn star with a seemingly troubled past. But as far as her porn career goes she has made her millions. Even if she now claims that she didn't enjoy parts of it, as a consenting adult she made her choices at the time and obviously figured that the benefits she enjoyed far outweighed the costs.
I have would have no sympathy for her if she's truly complaining about it now. But as far as I am aware, many of things she has claimed with regards her career in porn would not support your position. You just happen to have cherry picked one anecdote from her that you liked the best.
Having sex in all its forms for hours on end is tiring, and she spoke about how sore she was during and after.
I'm going to have to call BS on this. No porn actor or actress has to have sex for hours on end to the best of my knowledge. Porn scenes can range from as low as 20 minutes to 45 minutes in real-time action to as much as 3 hours (with many, many stops, starts and breaks within that time). If at any time an actor or actress needs a time out, they get it.
Pornography effectively takes something that is fun, and turns it into something that is painful for its female participants.
You keep the gross generalizations coming don't you? But here's how you find out whether an argument is worth making. Let's ask "what if it were true?"
If it were true that porn is so consistently painful or tiring (and it's not)? How would this make it any different from any other physically demanding job? (eg a professional athlete) And what right do you suppose female participants should have to work in the sex industry and perform whatever sex act they like regardless of the levels of pleasure or pain they might consentingly experience.
You act as if women are incapable of making their own choices in life and that they need protecting from their own decision making.
If it were true that porn is so consistently painful or tiring (and it's not)? How would this make it any different from any other physically demanding job? (eg a professional athlete) And what right do you suppose female participants should have to work in the sex industry and perform whatever sex act they like regardless of the levels of pleasure or pain they might consentingly experience.
You act as if women are incapable of making their own choices in life and that they need protecting from their own decision making.
And then there is always the potential of catching STDs with pornography or promiscuous sex.
I see then that it is promiscuity in general that concerns you and not merely sex work.
Yes, it's regulated with blood tests, but it's a not perfect system. Apart from the medical field, which has all kinds of safety precautions, I cannot think of a job that consistently put you in such proximity to catching potentially fatal or untreatable diseases.
How about an aid worker working in the tropics? Even anti-malarials are not 100% effective.
But regardless. Do people in porn ever catch things? Sure. But here's what doesn't happen in organised pornography. People don't walk around for months or years on end without knowing that have a disease. Everyone is routinely tested. Whereas in everyday life there are huge numbers of people with diseases that they know nothing about.
Nevertheless, it is still consentual. Everyone knows what the risk are, no matter how small. And as far as dangerous jobs go, pornography is on the low end of the risk scale.
But regardless. Do people in porn ever catch things? Sure. But here's what doesn't happen in organised pornography. People don't walk around for months or years on end without knowing that have a disease. Everyone is routinely tested. Whereas in everyday life there are huge numbers of people with diseases that they know nothing about.
Nevertheless, it is still consentual. Everyone knows what the risk are, no matter how small. And as far as dangerous jobs go, pornography is on the low end of the risk scale.
They most likely equate their appeal as a sex object to their self-worth; the more men who will have sex with them, the more valuable they are. This flawed thinking is usually the result of sexual abuse, especially as children.
Source please? Do you have any reliable stats on this or are you just going with your feelings?
And while I do agree that it wouldn't be healthy for someone to "equate" sexual desirability with self worth, I do believe that for most people, that perceived sexiness plays a major role in their psychology. I would class that as normal.
And while I do agree that it wouldn't be healthy for someone to "equate" sexual desirability with self worth, I do believe that for most people, that perceived sexiness plays a major role in their psychology. I would class that as normal.
Second, there is a huge amount of drugs in the pornography world; most women are probably addicted to some drug or another, and they aren't going to find any work that pays them so much in so little time, so they do porn to feed their habit.
Again, may I have a source please? Because this one sounds like BS too.
And are they consenting to take these drugs? If someone has a substance abuse problem and they get a job at McDonalds to feed their habit, does that mean McDonalds is wrong? Should I use this as an excuse to boycott McDonalds? No? Then why even try to argue this point then?
And are they consenting to take these drugs? If someone has a substance abuse problem and they get a job at McDonalds to feed their habit, does that mean McDonalds is wrong? Should I use this as an excuse to boycott McDonalds? No? Then why even try to argue this point then?
But an objective analysis of some of the acts that are popular in porn tells me that they are simply physically unpleasant for a woman.
There are a few popular acts in porn that I don't enjoy seeing and wouldn't or don't enjoy doing, but I refuse to judge those who do and I am not naive enough to think that there aren't women who would enjoy them regardless of my own tastes.
It's all subjective, and I hate to have to keep repeating myself, but it's all CONSENTUAL.
That's why these acts don't make it into the niche market of porn for women, and why they don't feature in "couples porn".
You think that there aren't women who enjoy regular porn too? I understand that you don't, but not everyone has the same tastes.
