My 2 cents
A friend who is trying to get into a translation program asked me today if I would look over an English composition essay she'd written for this, and it was all about the internet and if it was a good or bad thing... that sort of thing. A stupid and pointless debate, since you can't put the genie back in the bottle once it's out, but whatever. Being a bit of a feminist, my friend naturally touched on the subject of pornography and how it's basically screwing people up and skewing their views on sexuality and how it is ultimately something that should be better controlled or even banned.
Now whenever I hear of anything being banned or stifled or otherwise censored, I always feel uneasy. I've always felt that in a perfect world we would all know when enough is enough and outside control would never happen or be required. But it's not a perfect world and we're far from a perfect race, and so we often do go overboard with things and it's not rare for humans to hit the wall before they realize it might be time to slow down. Still, censorship is the right hand of a totalitarian society and we're already close enough to that already that we don't need to make things worst on our own.
I understand that pornography ultimately hurts women, but instead of trying to stop something that can't be stopped, and in the process causing many people harm and grief, why not try to stem the problem at it's source? North Americans have a very uncomfortable relationship with nudity and sexuality that extends all the way back to the Mayflower, and it's this repression that gave birth to porn. Fix that, and you may just start to see the demand for porn dwindle. Men will always be turned on by sight, that's just how we're made, but it doesn't mean we HAVE to be raised by the media's idea of what sells, instead of our parents.
In the end, responsible parenting and a responsible and mature society is what's going to deal with these issues, not repression or censorship. Having said that, I doubt you'll ever be able to stop men from wanting to look at naked girls and from someone to make a buck off of it, but maybe if it were done in a way that doesn't harm anyone, more women might find it acceptable. I don't just mean that the models be properly paid, because many are their own managers and do quite well for themselves. No, I mean how this affects the men who are addicted to porn and how they interact with the women in their lives, especially the younger boys and girls who are still learning how things work.
Back to the old drawing board...
Now whenever I hear of anything being banned or stifled or otherwise censored, I always feel uneasy. I've always felt that in a perfect world we would all know when enough is enough and outside control would never happen or be required. But it's not a perfect world and we're far from a perfect race, and so we often do go overboard with things and it's not rare for humans to hit the wall before they realize it might be time to slow down. Still, censorship is the right hand of a totalitarian society and we're already close enough to that already that we don't need to make things worst on our own.
I understand that pornography ultimately hurts women, but instead of trying to stop something that can't be stopped, and in the process causing many people harm and grief, why not try to stem the problem at it's source? North Americans have a very uncomfortable relationship with nudity and sexuality that extends all the way back to the Mayflower, and it's this repression that gave birth to porn. Fix that, and you may just start to see the demand for porn dwindle. Men will always be turned on by sight, that's just how we're made, but it doesn't mean we HAVE to be raised by the media's idea of what sells, instead of our parents.
In the end, responsible parenting and a responsible and mature society is what's going to deal with these issues, not repression or censorship. Having said that, I doubt you'll ever be able to stop men from wanting to look at naked girls and from someone to make a buck off of it, but maybe if it were done in a way that doesn't harm anyone, more women might find it acceptable. I don't just mean that the models be properly paid, because many are their own managers and do quite well for themselves. No, I mean how this affects the men who are addicted to porn and how they interact with the women in their lives, especially the younger boys and girls who are still learning how things work.
Back to the old drawing board...