What do you grrls think about porn? I myself am torn.... on one hand, I'm all for anything that opens people's minds and decriminalizes sex, on the other hand, it makes me feel terrible about myself when I see a Playboy - I'll never look like that! :0 Some women say that they really like porn... I guess sexy stories are pretty good. Do I just have a problem because I have no self esteem? I'd really be interested to see what some other intelligent, forward-thinking females have to say on the subject. :)
Shannon... here's my humble opinion.
what an intricate topic. i guess it should be free chioce. if a woman wants to be a model or a prostitute deosn't she have the same right to be that as a woman who wants to be a teacher or a pilot?
There are two basic types of porn, erotica and obscenity. Erotica is depiction of sex between equals or just pictures of naked people. Well, I'm not into this but I don't see anything wrong with it. Obscenity is violence, coercion, or the use of children in sexual activity. Personally I think that's just sick.
Oh yeah, another thing. One of my pet peeves is when people see art, like Michelangelo's David or something and they think it's sick pornography because of the nudity.
I don't see anything wrong with pornography that is portrayed about 90 percent of the time. Most pornography doesn't actually degrade women or treat them like more sex objects than it does to men. You have to accept the fact that when somebody wants to go out and look at a naked body, he/she doesn't care a helluva lot about the mind behind it.
I think prostitution is wrong whatever way you do it. Sex should not be sold, it should not be a cold, sterile business deal. It should be for love or pleasure on BOTH sides, between people who KNOW and LOVE each other. If women need to sell sex to be independent, they're in pretty bad shape. What kind of education do you need to follow that career? I think it should be illegal, but it should be the men using the women that get prosecuted, and the law should fund something getting the women into good worthwile careers instead of chucking them back on to the streets after a few days in prison.
I'm against porn because I've read that men who view porn tend to think less of the woman they have a relationship with. I know this to be true! My ex-boyfriend boasted of the movies he had taped from adult cable channels, but he didn't spend much time considering how he viewed real life women.
about prostitution, hey, i don't think there should be a law against it, because no matter what your ideals are, it's none of your business if a woman is willing to sexually satisfy a guy for money, and if a guy is willing to pay for sex. it's a consensual agreement between two adults. personally, i wouldn't want MY sex life to work that way, but it's none of my business what other people want to do.
By Keridwyn on Friday, June 12, 1998 - 11:43 pm:
Like you, I have always been somewhat torn about pornography. I am against censure. At the same time, I feel some types of porn hurt women badly. You say Playboy makes you feel inadequate, perhaps because, as you said, you may never look like the Playmates. But I think there is a worst problem, even. Some porn is absolutely degrading women by the way it depicts the female body -- as a play thing, an object to be used and then trashed. That truly pisses me off.
On the other hand, another subject that leaves me torn is the women who choose to pursue sexual "professions" (if you can call it a profession!). Again, I feel women should do what they choose, but why would they choose something as degrading as porn? Only the Gods know! I don't have any mercy for them. I strongly (and probably wrongly) couldn't care less if they get completely screwed up in life. Think about it -- if it wasn't for them (and other women who do not necessarily make a career out of their bodies, but use it instead to get what they want from men), female bodies would not be belittled and trashed as they are. Too many women let that happen, and as long as we let them do it, it will continue to happen. Grrrrr.
Keri
By HappyFace on Saturday, June 13, 1998 - 11:02 am:
butit does make the rest of us look inadequate.
By Laurel on Wednesday, June 17, 1998 - 10:50 am:
By Laurel on Wednesday, June 17, 1998 - 10:53 am:
By MonkeyGod on Monday, July 6, 1998 - 04:52 pm:
To say that a woman who persues a profession in pornography has messed up values is pretty harsh too. You can't assume you know why anybody chooses what they do, and you should condemn them for doing it if they're not hurting other people. I understand that you feel they are hurting you by giving men a bad image of what you should be.
It's not pornography that shapes what men think is sexy nearly as much as it is the mass media. Pornography actually is shaped by men's desires more than vice versa. Look at old issues of Playboy and you'll see what I mean.
The mass media, on the other hand, does try to shape peoples' desires. If you look at this media, though, you'll see that most of this advertising is directed at women than men. I see more pictures of "super models" in Glamour and Teen magazines than I do in Playboy.
I've always seen the illegalizatino of prostitution as a serious offense against women, because it has, in the past, been a way for women to be independant. Now, prostitutes are forced to work for pimps who treat them exactly the way you are afraid of being treated.
If pornography and prostitution were widely accepted, we would have a lot more control over the sick kinds that were mentioned before. The way things are now, nobody really wants to get rid of it all, but they would have to in order to get rid of the unwanted forms.
http://www.winternet.com/~hanuman
By Suki on Saturday, October 3, 1998 - 04:57 pm:
As for soft porn (hard porn I do not approve of in any way), I think I'd like it better if it was more equal rather than just aimed at men who think of nothing else than sex. Also the stereotype of these blonde bunnies with huuuuuge tits and lips and too much foundation is no turn on and yes, it makes women out to be pretty thick. Sure the women who do it are getting loads of cash and that's good. But I think there's a lot to be said for the old Indian proverb of your soul being taken away when you're photographed. You can't stop people using their bodies as a career, but I still think there's a million other things you could be doing other than pandering to men's dirty desires. It shouldn't just be all about the money, it should be about showing you're a person not just a body.
By Anonymous on Friday, October 30, 1998 - 12:40 am:
I realized things were hopeless when he told me he had gone to a strip joint with his friends and accepted a lap dance they had paid for. At the time we had been going out for over two years and he had only kissed me once. If he was able to do something that intimate with a total stranger but couldn't initiate romantic contact in our relationship, then something was wrong. (For the record, I didn't want to have sex with him, I just hoped we could kiss more than once.)
We're not dating anymore but I really hope he someday sees that he should try for meaningful physical contact before trying out things on a total stranger.
By Thora on Saturday, November 7, 1998 - 05:52 pm:
anyway, people have this stereotype of prostitutes being drug addicts who sell themselves to support their habit. not that there aren't plenty of prostitutes like that, but the best prostitutes are practically invisible. they're street-smart. and they're good at what they do. they've chosen to make sex their business, and that's their choice. and law or no law, it's not going to go away.