We all know there's porn for everyone. Whether you're using it for foreplay purposes or just to cozy up with your bits, there's always a time to watch some steamy scenes on your favorite DVD.
And why not?
Is porn hurting anyone?
The quick answer to that is no-- everything you're seeing in porn is fiction, as in fantasy, as in fake. Everything is consensual.
If you find something that is non consensual, (and/or involves children) it's considered illegal-- and rightly so.
But what's wrong with watching two (or more) people doing the grown-up?
A world of fantasy
and sex and really bad one liners. Sadly due to the lack of proper sex
education in the world it is also where people turn to learn about sexuality.
Now that isn’t to say that there isn’t educational porn out there but let’s
face it the majority is not and is filled with unrealistic situations, position
and body parts. Don’t get me wrong I think porn is awesome. Sitting around with
a bowl of popcorn watching Pirates with friends is a heck of a lot of fun. It
also allows people to explore possible fetishes and fantasies without having to
try them out first. You just have to understand that those people in the films
are Professionals with a capital P so don’t hurt yourself trying to reenact it
all and don’t be disappointed when sex with your lover is nothing like what you
see. Just like regular movies porn is a fantasy world.
If we're talking about porn we need to take a look at first amendment, the rights of porn makers to produce erotica and the need to protect the public from potentially derogatory material that may warp viewers’ ideas about sex and relationships.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
—The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
So let's purse some happiness! Right?
Some people consider certain pornographic images insulting to women and harmful for gender relationships and so should not be displayed.
Those people often wonder why content they feel is pornographic isn’t outlawed--simply wiped off the face of the Internet. It’s not that easy. A great deal of such material originates in foreign countries, where U.S. law doesn’t carry much force. Furthermore, the display of some sexually explicit material is constitutionally protected. So how does the concept of “pornography” square with the First Amendment?
Ginsberg v. New York:
In 1968 the Supreme Court held that the government can constitutionally prohibit children from accessing certain types of sexually explicit material that it can’t constitutionally ban for adults. It also noted, per Butler v. Michigan (1957), that the government can’t “reduce the adult population…to reading only what is fit for children.”
In 1968 the Supreme Court held that the government can constitutionally prohibit children from accessing certain types of sexually explicit material that it can’t constitutionally ban for adults. It also noted, per Butler v. Michigan (1957), that the government can’t “reduce the adult population…to reading only what is fit for children.”
Miller v. California:This 1973 case established that material can be judged obscene if, taken as a whole and judged by community standards, it appeals to the “prurient interest” in sex, depicts sexual conduct in a patently offensive manner, and lacks serious literary, artistic, political, and scientific value.
New York v. Ferber:
This 1982 case upheld the constitutionality of a state statute that prohibited anyone from knowingly producing, promoting, directing, exhibiting, or selling any material showing a “sexual performance” by a child under the age of 16. It defined sexual performance as any performance that included “actual or simulated sexual intercourse, deviate sexual intercourse, sexual bestiality, masturbation, sado-masochistic abuse, or lewd exhibition of the genitals.” The case also established that child pornography doesn’t have to meet all of the requirements of the Miller test.
This 1982 case upheld the constitutionality of a state statute that prohibited anyone from knowingly producing, promoting, directing, exhibiting, or selling any material showing a “sexual performance” by a child under the age of 16. It defined sexual performance as any performance that included “actual or simulated sexual intercourse, deviate sexual intercourse, sexual bestiality, masturbation, sado-masochistic abuse, or lewd exhibition of the genitals.” The case also established that child pornography doesn’t have to meet all of the requirements of the Miller test.
Various forms of
porn have been around for centuries. Rich roman emperors would have slaves have
sex in front of them and guests at parties as forms of entertainment. Sexually
explicit pictures have been painted on cave walls. The discovery of Pompeii
exposed a lot of the sexual exploits to light which in 1821 was the first thing
to be called pornography and was locked away in the Gabinetto Segreto in Naples.
Even in the prude Victorian era you could get naughty pictures
of naked people in sexual positions. With the invention of film pornographic
movies were soon to follow. In 1896 one year after the invention of film a nude
striptease was made called Le Coucher de la Marie. Believed to be filmed around 1907 in Argentina
the film El Sátiro is considered to be the oldest surviving Pornographic film
with explicit sex scenes. Most of these sorts of films were shown in brothels.
These films stayed in the shadows until the so called golden age of porn
starting at the end of the rock and rolling 1960’s and rampantly grown through
the whole free loving 1970’s. During this famous era that has forever put its
stamp on the industry with its funky music and large bushes. Hugh Heffner was a huge part of this era by providing the world with Playboy that mothers have found
hidden by son’s and husband’s in the most unlikely places ever since. Films
like Deep Throat took the world by storm. Actors in these films became so
famous that you still hear about them like Ron Jeremy, John C. Holmes and Linda
Lovelace.
1968 Lyndon B. Johnson spent a lot taxpayer money to research the porn industry. That study and subsequent studies still show that there is no reliable evidence to support that exposure to explicit sexual material will play a significant role in leading to criminal behavior. (Reagan had a similar study done that said the exact same thing-- too bad, so sad!)
There are many reasons why people turn to pornography.
Men try
to hide the fact that they watch porn but porn is not unhealthy. In fact it is
quite the opposite. If you are a woman who likes porn like I do somehow we are
labeled as a sex freak. Not to say I don’t like a roll in the hay but my porn
watching is nothing to do with it. In fact most of the time I watch it not for
material for my self pleasure like most men do but to watch to enjoy the cheesy
story. Sometimes people are just going to it for things they wish they could do in real life. It fills in a gap in their own relationship. They have a partner who doesn't like to do oral sex and they love it themselves, and they're in this relationship and they want to stay, so they go and look at pictures of oral sex. In this regard, porn can be part of a healthy relationship.
Now
looking in to the world of porn can be quite scary there is so much of it that
you can get easily overwhelmed. I recommend figuring out what you like and look
into porn that plays out that fantasy. A simple Google search with the filters
off should show you plenty of options.
Men (such visual creatures) are thought to be more easily aroused by erotic imagery than women are, but many women masturbate to pornography, too.
The Internet became a major force in everyday life in the late 1990s. Before then, porn was available in adult stores, through X-rated video rentals, and on some newsstands. But with the arrival of the Internet, porn availability exploded. It was just a click away 24-7 for free in tens of millions of homes and offices. In 1997, 16 percent of American adults used the Internet regularly. By 2005, the figure had quadrupled to 65 percent. The Internet has also made porn much more available to impressionable kids. How many kids, ages 10 to 17, have viewed Internet porn? According to a recent report in the journal Pediatrics, 42 percent.
If porn is a significant contributor to social harm, we would expect to see substantial increases in sexual irresponsibility, divorce, and rape since the late 1990s when the Internet suddenly made X-rated material much more available to those who might instigate sexual mayhem, overwhelmingly men.
Guess what. Since the arrival of Internet porn:
* Sexual irresponsibility has declined. Standard measures include rates of abortion and sexually transmitted infections. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), since 1990, the nation's abortion rate has fallen 41 percent. The syphilis rate has plummeted 74 percent. And the gonorrhea rate has plunged 57 percent.
* Teen sex has declined. The CDC says that since 1991, the proportion of teens who have had intercourse has decreased 7 percent. Teen condom use has increased 16 percent. And the teen birth rate has fallen 33 percent.
* Divorce has declined. Since 1990, the divorce rate has decreased 23 percent.
* Rape has declined. According to the Justice Department's National Crime Victimization Survey, since 1995, the sexual assault rate has fallen 44 percent.
Why would social ills decline as porn becomes more widely available? No one knows. But the one thing porn really causes is masturbation. Internet porn keeps men at home one-handing it. As a result, they're not out in the world acting irresponsibly-or criminally.
I'm not arguing that porn is utterly harmless. Some men consume it so compulsively that it interferes with their lives. They need therapy. Some women become distraught when they discover that the men in their lives enjoy porn. They might benefit from couple therapy. And to the extent that porn is a sex educator, it teaches lovemaking all wrong.
But the evidence clearly shows that from a social welfare perspective, porn causes no measurable harm. In fact, as porn viewing has soared, rates of syphilis, gonorrhea, teen sex, teen births, divorce, and rape have all substantially declined. If Internet porn affects society, oddly enough, it looks beneficial. Perhaps mental health professionals should encourage men to view it.
In the past election the sex industry had a major issue enter scrutiny. The Los Angeles County ballot initiative that would require condoms to be used for vaginal and anal sex in porn films shot in the county is known as Measure B, and authored by the Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF). This initiative also requires porn film producers to obtain public health permits. Repeated failure to do so could result in civil fines or misdemeanor charges.
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