The Question of Pornography & Society

[Min George]

There are bigger concerns that the parliament should bother about and not porn. It doesn't really do any harm to anyone. If one wants to be truthful with no sentiments, porn indirectly might be reducing incidence of rape cases.

 

[Fidelia]

I don't consume porn. And I don't support any law banning it. I learned that romantic partners use porn to learn about sex. That fine. Why do they want to ban such a helpful industry?

 

[Matthew-NC]

Consider Before Consuming: SATHIYA SAM - RECOVERED PORN CONSUMER, ACTIVIST, & PORNOGRAPHY RECOVERY COACH

Meet Canadian activist Sathiya. After facing his own struggle with pornography, Sathiya created DeepClean, a program build to help men experience long-term freedom from pornography through a systematic process. Sathiya talks with podcast host, Garrett Jonsson, about his own struggle with pornography, how it negatively impacted different areas of his life, and why he’s now dedicating his life to helping men find lasting recovery.

Study Finds Self-Identification as a Porn Addict Stems from Problematic Use Patterns, Not Morals

These findings suggest that mental and sexual health professionals should take the concerns of clients identifying as pornography add...

fightthenewdrug.org

Porn, Addiction, and the Brain: 3 Misunderstandings Corrected by a Neurosurgeon

We're tackling some pro-porn arguments that simply aren't true, like, "The brain effects of today’s porn are no different than static porn of the past."

fightthenewdrug.org

 

[Monke from Tropix 2]

I only disagree with the part that porn, production or the consumer, isn't totally harmless, @Min George I wouldn't want to delve into a rabbit hole like I did with that Canadian shooter just in the middle of February down the "In the News" forum. With porn industry that mass produced them has a hideous inside beyond spank and puss juices. Banning porn is draconian, I admit, and it would lead to ludicrous laws such as verification in every crevices of the Internet to child-proof it (ugh, the dumb ID debacle again). @Webster did a good job compiling all the ugly sides of this.

I learned that romantic partners use porn to learn about sex. That fine. Why do they want to ban such a helpful industry?

 

[Matthew-NC]

@Webster did a good job compiling all the ugly sides of this.

Its' an ongoing process; as I was telling @MrDawn a while back, if an adult wants to view pornography, have at it. The question is, how do we allow that while blocking children (those under 18) from accessing it.

Unfortunately, there's really no way to parse that line w/out some form of age-gating. That said, more and more evidence is coming to light of just how harmful porn is - from being a dopamine dump for one's mind to being a cover for sex/human trafficking to being a conduit in past decades for mobsters to make money on-the-side to just how addictive porn is.

The sad part is that, while most porn producers try to at least play by the rules, others (looking at you Pornhub!) don't.

 

[Matthew-NC]

Consider Before Consuming: MADDIE CORMAN, ACTRESS PLAYWRIGHT, & BETRAYAL TRAUMA SURVIVOR

Maddie Corman started her career as a child actor in the 1980s, growing to become an American film and television actor appearing in over 25 films. But Maddie’s world was rocked when her television director husband was very publicly arrested for possession of child pornography. Maddie has since found healing through the one-woman show she wrote and stars in that explains her true story of discovering the new normal when her world fell apart. Listen to Maddie Corman talk to podcast host, Garrett Jonsson, and discuss how she faced betrayal, shame, and eventually forgiveness in this must-hear episode. Listen to Maddie’s one-woman show, Accidentally Brave, on Audible or learn more at AccidentallyBrave.com.

Tech Companies Reported Over 45 Million Child Porn Images & Videos on Their Platforms in 2018

About 12 million of the worldwide reports of graphic child exploitation images and videos actually came from Facebook messenger users alone.

fightthenewdrug.org

How Porn Can Become an Escalating Behavior

Research indicates that porn consumers can become desensitized, often needing to consume more porn to get the same response they...

fightthenewdrug.org

 

[MrDawn]

The question is, how do we allow that while blocking children (those under 18) from accessing it.

Not all sites are complying with the selfie / license verification rules. There's a lot of sites just letting you click on their links and going there with similar content to Pornhub.

What has me curious is that I wonder what they're going to do with the other porn sites not going along with adults needing to verify license?

 

[saoussen5765]

I don't know, but I believe in a free internet. Parents need to be parents. If your kids have access to the internet, you need to have some parental controls in place for whatever devices they are using. Age verification sounds great in theory, but it's a serious invasion of privacy forcing people to upload their ID or enter their SSN to prove that they are of age.

Age verification is a joke. You just say you have 18 years old or born in 2000 and then you have 18 years old no upload id to sumstub nothing. It is like a casino placing self exclusion in footer link to fill up requirements of responsible gambling they do same for visitors.

 

[Matthew-NC]

It is like a casino placing self exclusion in footer link to fill up requirements of responsible gambling they do same for visitors.

You'd be surprised how many casinos actually do enforce those self-exclusions; I know here in Western NC the Harrah's Casinos' up on the Qualla Boundary enforce them.

Age verification is a joke. You just say you have 18 years old or born in 2000 and then you have 18 years old no upload id to sumstub nothing

That's why more and more sites are doing facial recognition as a means of age-gating. You can lie about your age, your can proffer falsified ID's but you cannot, 99%+ of the time, spoof age verification that uses facial features/recognition as the gatekeeper.

 

[Matthew-NC]

Consider Before Consuming: ANNIE KADLECEK, ACTIVIST & 2019 FIGHTER OF THE YEAR

Meet Annie, Fight the New Drug’s 2019 Fighter of the Year. Annie has one of the coolest and most impactful backstories of getting involved with our organization that we’ve encountered to date. As a junior in college, Annie did some incredible things on her campus to start important conversations about the harms of porn and take away the stigma of struggling with it. Listen to Annie discuss her journey with podcast host, Garrett Jonsson, to see how she is making the movement famous in her community.

-Read more: https://fightthenewdrug.org/why-the-goal-of-the-phrase-porn-kills-love-isnt-to-shame/

 

[saoussen5765]

That's why more and more sites are doing facial recognition as a means of age-gating. You can lie about your age, your can proffer falsified ID's but you cannot, 99%+ of the time, spoof age verification that uses facial features/recognition as the gatekeeper.

This never happened in pornography sites just over under and maximum ask date of birth and enter

 

[Matthew-NC]

This never happened in pornography sites

Tell that to Pornhub and other adult sites that, when age verification first rolled out, decided to leave and block everyone from states w/such laws rather than bite the proverbial bullet and follow the law.

 

[saoussen5765]

Tell that to Pornhub and other adult sites that, when age verification first rolled out, decided to leave and block everyone from states w/such laws rather than bite the proverbial bullet and follow the law.

Exactly what I mean

 

[Matthew-NC]

Exactly what I mean

I still remember when they used credit card info as their age verification.
Wasn't foolproof but it worked.

 

[Matthew-NC]

Consider Before Consuming: GABE DEEM - FOUNDER OF REBOOT NATION, ACTIVIST, FORMER PORN ADDICT

Like most adolescents in the world today, Gabe was exposed to hardcore porn well before the age of 18. What started as a habit driven by curiosity and a growing normalized culture around porn spiraled into a full-blown compulsive habit. Without expecting any sort of negative effects in his relationships as a result of his years-long porn habit, as a twenty-something, he started having trouble getting and maintaining an erection in real-life sexual encounters. Looking for answers, he found thousands of other young guys in online forums talking about the exact same issues he was having. Inspired to make a difference, change the conversation, and remove shame and secrecy among young people who struggled with porn and its proven negative effects, Gabe started Reboot Nation. It’s a site where anyone can go and join a supportive community while they “reboot” their brains and regain optimal sexual health by ditching porn for good. Listen to Gabe tell podcast host, Garrett Jonsson, about how pornography impacted his ability to be intimate with partners in real life, and how he’s since been able to create a supportive community of recovering porn addicts.

Reboot Nation – Road to Recovery

www.rebootnation.org

 

[MrDawn]

I still remember when they used credit card info as their age verification.
Wasn't foolproof but it worked.

VISA has shunned adult stores across the US. They won't even allow most stores to have a VISA / credit card machine in order to charge your card. They have to go off cash app or other means for payment.

 

[Drac Morbis]

The fact of the matter remains that pornography can be extremely addictive. It actually stimulates dopamine and other neurotransmitters in the brain in such a way, that it becomes impossible to escape the addiction. I think that these politicians should have thought about it earlier. The irreversible damage has now been done.

What exactly is your point? Tonnes of stuff is "extremely addictive". Why are cigarettes and alcohol not made a "federal crime" to consume? Why is gambling not a federal crime? These things can cause great harm but no one argues about *them*. Why is that?

What is the core issue here? Why is "porn" such a debated thing? What is the actual, REAL issue? Are people upset that the porn industry is one of the most lucrative industries in the world? Are ALL porn stars being forced to be in movies against their will? Are ALL porn stars killing themselves? No, they are not. These are excuses.

As I said before, things shouldn't be made illegal or a "crime" simply because people just don't like it. I don't need anyone telling me what *they* think I should or shouldn't look at it.

Please someone tell me what the REAL issue is with porn is? (I don't care if you think it's immoral, just don't like it, think it's a "thought crime", anti-religion, against God, etc, etc., again, excuses).

 

[Matthew-NC]

Please someone tell me what the REAL issue is with porn is? (I don't care if you think it's immoral, just don't like it, think it's a "thought crime", anti-religion, against God, etc, etc., again, excuses).

I'll repeat what I've said in the past: if an adult wants to view pornography, that's fine. That's their business and have at it; the principle question here is "how do we keep those under 18 from viewing it in the least restrictive, least censored manner possible?"

Unfortunately, in recent years in order to deal with the question I just posited above Drac, more and more locations are going to age-verification and that's not a good thing because, among other things, a lot of items that can get flagged alongside porn - like LGBTQ+ information - often does get flagged.

There's also the increasingly growing body of evidence showing the deleterious effects pornography has on individuals and on society in general, things such as (offhand) decreased libido, performance anxiety in the bedroom (in the most recent podcast posting the individual featured, Gabe Deem, spoke of just that Drac), constant dopamine rushes (similar to that of drug addicts), increasing the extreme manner of pornography viewed (that's akin to "hardcore wrestling" - fine when done to blow off a feud/storyline, bad when done every day), etc.

The Brains of Porn Addicts (according to neuroscientists)

Learn how pornography impacts the brain, causing physical, psychological, and behavioral changes that may contribute to emotional instability.

www.mentalhealth.com