Pornography.... a controversial topic. It has many, interesting, differing opinions. On one hand, some like it for some pretty lewd reasons (and wish fufillment), and others despise it for it's imminent popularity and what it represents. What is your opinion? Please discuss. 

There is so much information, so many TED talks, so many things written and discussed regarding pornography. I won't go into the science and the physiology of what happens when you watch but I will discuss my opinion.

I think it starts out as harmless and ends up being something much more if the person takes it that far. Porn can be enjoyable in relationships and people can have fun with it and use it to explore their own sexuality. They can see things and read things and form ideas about what they like or don't like and that's completely fine.

People that sit there and watch porn for a few hours at a time, or more, or miss out on work or school. That's where trouble starts, when people use pornography 'irresponsibly' and take away time from other more important, meaningful relationships and activities. When your grades dip because you're busy watching porn, that's bad. When you're blowing off steam, so to speak, or watching with a significant other and enjoying yourselves, that's just fine.

Like everything, it's something that must be handled with care. And like (almost) everything, a small dose here and there won't hurt anybody. The trouble starts when control is lost: when things go to extremely bizarre levels, when people consumes too much of it...

Every year, there's some kind of meeting in my city which revolves around the world of eroticism that makes it to the newspapers. Those meetings serve the purpose of educating people into making a good use of pornography and eroticism, as well as talking about a lot of topics concerning sexual relationships. I personally think it's good to have things like that, it helps reduce the mystery around a subject many people don't talk about for considering it taboo, though I've yet to go there (too shy to be in such a place or ask somebody to go with me).

Pornography is like any other entertainment, just that its topic is quite closed and clear. It can be helpful when used carefully, though some people won't ever accept this. I'd personally encourage people to watch porn, mainly so they discover a bit of their inner self and throw away some of their insecurities. Beyond any good or helpful use I'm totally against it.

Porn is a drug. It has all the same effects as a drug and is equally as illusory. Drugs are bad, mkay?

Txgangsta : Some drugs = medicine, therefore... Porn = medicine. 

It's one of the oldest professions in the world. No matter how many times people say it's the worst thing ever or try to ban it, it'll survive, even if it has to go underground. There's really no point in trying to get rid of it, especially since there's no real harm in it. Prostitution? Yeah, there's a lot of nasty stuff there, which is why it's illegal in many countries. Pornography? You can try to argue against it the same way you would argue against sex work, but it's just not valid.

Of course, it's possible to be addicted to porn. It's also possible to be addicted to sugar. Should sugar be banned? I don't think that's the proper response. Just about anything can be addictive, but the reason many of the illegal drugs are illegal is because they're hyper-addictive - taking them even once can result in a terrible addiction, and trying to not take the drug causes possibly life-threatening consequences. Has anyone ever died as a direct result of not being able to watch porn? I didn't think so.

Never seen it, not interested. I'm only aware of the definition of it and that's as far as I'm ever interested in going with it.

Sexuality to me is absolutely useless, reproduction is the sole purpose and people who enjoy watching it probably could be doing better things.

As a profession, it's whatever. A job is a job and whatever counts as productive is fine by me.

There is nothing wrong with pornography as long as it does not interfere with your school,work,life,relationship,etc. Before you think I am being a disgusting pervert,know this. A lot of advances that we take for granted,were advanced by porn. Color film,VHS,Blu-Ray,etc.

I think Porn is a very bad thing and that it is a plague on society. I think its bad for my Christian beliefs. But even if you are not religious it is very bad. I will explain. 


If stats are right 75% of males aged 15-24 watched porn on a regular basis. 1 out of 4 males that are in that age group believe that sexual assault was okay, and that No does not mean No. I strongly believe that porn is contributing to rape culture. Again if stats are right sexual assault on schools has really increased over the past 10 years. 1 out of 6 girls gets sexually assaulted. I think it is due to the porn industry. Especially young people viewing it regularly. I think that is why we are seeing young males think No does not Mean No. 

Porn is a source of human trafficking. In several special reports its horrifying what goes on in the Porn industry especially other countries. Girls as young as 14 are sometimes sold into the industry or captured by human traffickers. These girls are often used as sex slaves. But to cover up the Porn industry will make these girls older on cards so they can smuggle them. In one episode I watched. These group of teens were captured in Cambodia their ages ranged from 11-16. They were sold to porn film makers. They were given false id cards to make them 18-22. They were then smuggled back to the states. Thankfully they were busted and the girls where rescued. But that was one of many. 

Third Porn leads to pedophilia often times. There are several cases of teens who watch porn on a regular basis end up become pedophiles and in child pornography. A good example is Jarred Fogle (subway guy ). It was revealed how he watched porn when he was younger in high school then college. Well then he started inviting kids to his house engaging in well nasty things and making videos of them. In my state a child porn ring was recently busted. Most of the people busted were younger than 24. Studies have also shown young males who watched porn were more likely to commit sexual assault, rape, and sexual things with children. 

So yeah rather your religious or not these three reasons I think make Porn very bad and I call it a plague on our society.  

tornadocam : While I can't argue some of your points, I would like to talk about your comment on pedophilia.

While unlikely, pornography can lead to develop certain kinds of fetishes. And while this is true, it cannot cause people to be interested in pedophilia, as study shows it works more like a sexuality rather than a fetish. That being said, this means that pedophilia could in the future be on the level of acceptability as homosexuality.

But my main point is that pornography doesn't turn you gay or turn you into a pedophile, it's something you're either born with or decide throughout your life for other reasons.

There is nothing wrong with pornography initially, but the way people use it is bad. Similar to the whole argument about how firearms aren't bad, it's about who uses it.

Pornography is used to stimulate arousal. People use this in their basic life as a harmless means of enjoyment, which I would even relate to videogames.

It's a kind of media. Child pornography is wrong, but it's not the sole reason that pornography is a plague in our society. It causes less problems than some bigger things.

To summarize, pedophilia isn't something that is developed through pornography and thus pornography isn't inherently dangerous to our society.

Well said,Yoshi. There are many kinds of porn out there. Everything from "instructional" porn up to "holy f--k,what the hell is that?" porn. And used in the right way,they can make things better. Porn is like everything else in life. If you use it too much,you neglect other aspects of your life. Just like if you like ice cream. Eating a bit every now and again,is okay. Eat a bit of it every day,you might begin developing a problem. Eat a half gallon of ice cream a day,you are going to need serious medical attention. If you work out,you can burn some of that off. Everything in moderation.

tornadocam : I've heard of human trafficking but related to prostitution and not pornography. And since the other taboo word came out, let me say that both fields have people willingly working on it that are on their right to do such job, but there's always someone who exploits the system and then it stains the fair work of others to the point that its overshadowed in an attempt to stop the exploit. Do we have to blame the industry as a whole for what a bunch of undesirable people does, or must we make more strict rules that can avoid the exploit and even be more efficient in catching it?

Porn isn't exactly contributing to rape culture. Coming from the country with the highest number of assassinations for what we call "male chauvinist violence" I can totally tell you that there are other factors besides porn. It's like saying that videogames make you violent, it may play a part but it doesn't need to be the main factor or even a factor at all.

It's all an issue of what use we give to it. Japan, for example, is known for the strangest and craziest things in nearly any industry, yet their main issue isn't the number of rapes going on, it's the number of people who directly avoids sex because of finding what they like and need in porn (and other things, of course). They can fulfill their desires while not doing any harm, so I don't see the bad on it beyond the heavy decrease in childbirths it can bring, which can be palliated with the correct education.

EX Palen : It's not like we're overpopulated or anything

Frodlex : No, but Ex Palen brings up an interesting point and Japan is dying.

Here's a fun read:

http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2015/September/Japan-Is-Dying


Baritron : The human brain does react to porn as if it were a drug. Here's more interesting reading if you like reading and learning.

https://www.scribd.com/doc/32712148/Pornography-and-Addiction-Brain-Chemistry-Research-and-Porn-by-Marnia-Robinson

But what they don't say is that the human brain reacts in similar ways when you watch action movies, play video games, meditate, exercise, eat sugary foods, eat salty foods, read books, talk with someone you like, listen to someone you disagree with and you get the rest. Everything affects our brains and changes the chemistry on one way or another. Porn just has a very specific impact. There are a few good TED talks on YouTube that outline what happens to the brain and how various species react in the same way with needing something new and exciting to stimulate them sexually.

As long as people aren't getting hurt when they don't want it, porn, if used in moderation to not over-effect other parts of life, is perfectly fine. Religious doctrine aside (and don't a lot of religious leaders get caught with 100s of gigs of porn anyway?) porn can be fun, it can be a healthy way to explore sexuality, and it never, ever causes pedophilia. That's an entirely different conversation.

8/10 I saw it once, never really got the appeal but I can see why people would like it. Would recommend to a friend. Fun for the whole family. Does have it's flaws though

Frodlex : Well, if pornography is responsible for taking mankind into a sustainable level of population then it won't be seen as something bad or dangerous. Unless mankind keeps going backwards to the point of extinction, at that point something should be done to counter it.

Since we're talking about Japan dying, I wonder how much of an impact hentai has had in it besides "regular" pornography. I'd say they're more or less 50/50, but knowing how big the industry of anime is I wouldn't be surprised if it tilted the scale on its favor.

I agree with most other people here, if you watch it and can live a perfectly healthy life without running away from your responsibilities, then I don't see the problem. Of course, porn videos have twisted plots like brothers and sisters hooking up or scenarios in which blackmailing plays a role, but as long as you know that in real life that would not be cool at all, and if it's just a fantasy of yours, then it's no problem. And it's a good way to explore your sexuality, to discover what turns you on and what doesn't, and maybe it's good that these last few years people are opening up more to discussing about sexuality, sex, and porn in general, and doing more research on the topic. 

tornadocam : What's the source for your first claim? 

EX Palen : At this point isn't Japan the most over populated and crowded country in the world? Over all humanity is far over due for another bottleneck in population and I wouldn't be even remotely surprised if it happened in our lifetime, albeit I highly doubt porn will be the cause.

While I won't go into details, due to this being a PG-13 site, I sometimes find some porn to be helpful to relax. However, for me, I'm not into real world porn or anything like that.