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A couple of months ago a college student that participates on the SRR discussion forum asked me to assist with a college essay he was writing on the adult entertainment industry. Below are the questions he asked and my responses. I thought it might be interesting for some of you to read. Whether you agree or not, comments are welcome!
Q: The pros and cons of watching porn, and being in the porn business?A: Primarily, I see porn as a form of entertainment for adults. In other words, for most people, it is simply a lighthearted diversion much like television, going to the movies or listening to a music CD. As such it holds leisure value for consumers who choose to view it and similar "pros and cons" associated with mainstream offerings. Also, it facilitates a safe, affordable and readily available sexual release for men who are without a sexual partner. I feel confident that many viewers use porn mostly as a masturbation aide. If adult entertainment was not available, more men might seek out the services of illegal prostitutes which may have the undesired consequence of spreading STDs in it's current, unregulated state. Porn may also encourage people to be more comfortable with their sexuality and experiment more. Once one breaks free from the morality based restrictions imposed mainly from society at large and organized religion, it is quite possible this leads to great personal fulfillment and happiness.
As far as the "cons" of watching porn, as with other entertainment, too much of a good thing may be detrimental. If porn began to completely substitute for real life relationships, that is obviously a not a good situation. Also, porn does not show relationships between men and women in a full or realistic context. Porn starlets are often treated or portrayed solely as objects for the sexual gratification of men. Most viewers understand this and realize it is fantasy. It is possible that some viewers are influenced to a higher degree.
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For myself, the adult industry is much more fun relative to other jobs I have worked. It also permits a high level of creativity and is challenging in an endless number of ways. The downside of working in the industry is that, there are still many who adopt a judgmental negative view toward the people who work in it. This is true despite the undeniable main-streaming of porn that occurred with the advent of the Internet and insatiable appetite the public has for it. People like to view it, but the person who produces it is "scum", "pervert" or worse. The other negative of working in the industry is the associated legal risks which ebb and flow with the political climate.
Q: Does porn lead to violence against women?A: I am unaware of any reliable research that can demonstrate this. One must be very careful when attempting to delineate the causation of anything, especially when looking for grand explanations for societal problems that run deep. It's easy to create inferences that have no connection to reality and violence against women occurred long before Deep Throat was on the scene.
For instance, one will often see statements in the media such as "A search of the rape suspect's home found that he had a large pornography collection." in crime reports. The fact that "condition A" existed (pornography viewer) does not necessarily have anything to do at all with "result X" (rape). "Result X" may have been caused because "conditions B, C, D, E, or F" (i.e mental illness, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, being abused as a child, and the fact that he is angry at his ex wife). Even if, in an individual case, someone were to step up and say "Porn made me do it." I still do not believe this would be a valid reason to forbid it. As noted above, most viewers can distinguish between reality and fantasy. If we are going to go down that road, shouldn't we also ban violent movies, movies, books and video games?
Q: Does porn degrade women?A: There's different ways of looking at this. First, if we are looking at porn as a whole, it is important to remember that men and women often participate equally as talent. So, if it does degrade anyone, in reality it's an equal opportunity degrader. It may degrade people depending on one's personal views of sexuality. Some may hold the view that sex should be restricted within the confines of a loving relationship or marriage only. If so, then by definition, participating and perhaps watching porn may degrade the participants.
However, it's important to remember that the women in porn are not participating against their free will. They are consensual adults who are hired to facilitate the creation of a commercial scene that contains specific sexual acts for the audience at home. The majority are well paid professionals working as free agents, who accept gigs over and over again. Since they feel comfortable with it, how important is an outsider's judgment that being a porn star is degrading? Again, it really comes down to personal values.
Also, in my view the porn industry has not set out expressly on a mission to degrade women. There's an extremely wide variety of sexual material out there, from very soft content that flies on cable TV to the most raunchy special interest fetishes one could imagine. There's literally something for everyone. But regardless of how sanitized or nasty the sex is presented, all of it was produced because there was demand for that type of content. The laws of supply and demand apply to porn as any other industry. Content that no one wants to see won't get produced, or at least it won't be produced for long. So no matter how "sick" or "perverse" something appears, it only exists because there's a demand for it. Our fathers, husbands, brothers, uncles, friends, neighbors, coworkers may be watching it. That said, there is also some content that is degrading by design. Some producers have effectively tapped into this theme because it is a proven turn-on for a certain segment of the audience. It is notable that in Japan, where there is a big market for porn, there is a sizable audience for the related genres of shame and humiliation.
Porn crusaders should keep in mind, "Whoever battles monsters should take care not to become a monster too, for if you stare long enough into the Abyss, the Abyss stares also into you." � Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, chapter 4, no. 146
Q: How does porn affect our society?A: Besides some of the points mentioned above, I don't have a clue and neither does anyone else! I believe society is really too complex to accurately pinpoint cause and effect to that degree. Porn is just one cog in a very, very big wheel. We do know it has a very large economic impact. In the United States alone it is estimated to grease the economy to the tune of over 12 billion dollars a year now. So it's keeping a lot of people employed and that's a good thing. Also, I suspect adult entertainment makes a lot of guys happy by feeding their fantasies of women unlike any they know in their real life. The women in porn are unrestrained, sexual creatures who always put out and always go the extra mile. They happily do whatever it takes to please the man. That probably puts a smile on the face of untold numbers of men all over the globe.
Q: How does watching porn change a person (if it does at all)?A: I believe the answer to this would vary from person to person. Our ideas of sexuality are shaped by many influences (such as our parents, society, religion, peers, the mainstream media) and personal experiences long before one is ever exposed to porn. One's reaction to the sexually explicit content is necessarily and forever tied to the background of the viewer.
I started a
discussion thread on the forum for this Q&A also.
Attention Graphic Artists -- APH Logo Needed!Any graphics designers out there? I need a
logo for "Asian Porno Hotties" for use with the upcoming 1st annual
APH awards in June, the website, t-shirts and that sort of thing. I would like something professional looking, simple and elegant that suggests Asian beauty and sensuality. I'm not looking for anything explicit. I will need an EPS (vector image) of the design and various other formats in color and black and white so it can be used for a variety of purposes easily. Also, I would require that I own all the rights to the artwork. In the future the logo may be trademarked. If your design is the one I go with, you can win some cash, valuable banner advertising and more. For more information, see
this thread on my site.
Here's one of the logo concepts recently submitted:
Have a great weekend!
-- Snowman
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