So what exactly is degrading about porn?

[LucreziaBorgia]

I'm interested in seeing all sorts of answers, with some specifics. I hear a lot of "porn is degrading to women/men" but not a lot of exactly WHY someone thinks it is degrading.

 

Is it:

 

1. The sex act itself that is being portrayed?

2. The nature of the sex act?

3. The impersonal nature of it?

4. That it is being filmed?

5. That people use it as a masturbation tool?

6. That people in relationships use it?

7. That it creates emotional competition for you?

 

My own opinion is a little here, a little there - I've seen all sorts of porn and when I say all sorts, I mean ALL sorts. I recognize that it is a depiction of a sex act played out for the use of others - actors on a stage so to speak. I also recognize the difference between fantasy and reality - so I don't really have a problem with people who use it as it was intended: to enhance an orgasm.

 

I also recognize that a good deal of women in porn - the ones who 'make it' so to speak, and who win awards at porn conventions, etc. are in it by choice and love what they do (Jessie Jane for example). I also recognize that even the more extreme things are done with the understanding of the actors involved and that releases explaining the act are signed, etc. I don't see 99.9999999% of porn as degrading. It is adults choosing to do what they do, and getting paid for it.

 

It wasn't always like that - I am aware of the Linda Lovelaces before industry regulation and so on. These days now though, it is an industry with contracts, money, and so on. Ask any adult actress or actor now if they are being degraded and they might bitch about the pay but the ones with steady work, fans and fame will laugh in your face if you bring up the "degrading" issue.

 

Now, that said - I am also aware of the sort of porn that isn't legal but is still available, porn which depicts sex with animals, etc and so on. Some of the foreign stuff like that does use women who are kidnapped and forced into porn and sexual slavery. That is degrading - degrading to humanity in general and it makes me sick and sad. Child porn - well, I'd gladly crush the skulls of people who participate in that and force children into it. That it is degrading goes without saying.

 

But... a majority of the threads on here aren't about that. They are about regular old porn and how "degrading" it is. That is what I am curious about - why people feel that it is degrading?

 

The stuff I watch for example shows women being tied up, and then forced into incredible orgasms by use of gspot manipulation and powerful vibrators. These women are glowing afterward, exhausted and clearly coming down from very real orgasms. They are subs and masochists who like that sort of thing and are gotten off ultimately. I don't see how that is degrading. Even vanilla porn while boring and rarely showing any real orgasms is just people getting each other off, or pretending to. Blow jobs, money shots, gaping, etc. - it is all consented to and acted out. Degrading?

 

So, what about you? What do you find degrading about regular old porn? We know you find it degrading, so what specifically do you find degrading about it?

[Krytie TV]

The fact that most women in America are freakishly threatened by it. Otherwise, got me.

[JackJack]

It doesn't matter. People could list a variety of things for why they feel its degrading. It will get trampled on upon those who think its not anyway.

 

Some people feel it is, some feel its not. If you love it think its great, and do not feel its degrading then keep on keepin' on. If you feel it is, then its good to not watch it.

[norajane]

Because a significant portion of it portrays women as objects men use to get off.

[Engadget]

Women have the choice to do it, or not to do it. If they were forced into porn as some sort of sexual slavery, then yes I could see.

 

However if they are asked to have sex on tape with someone who's notorious for degrading porn, they do NOT have to do it.

[blair08]

I had replied to another porn thread about this. I had suggested goggling a certain porn actress who got out of it. She talked about her journey into it and how she got out of it. Why its degrading etc. It was the thread for those who hate porn.

 

She talked about her struggles and what really went on during and after shoots. I guess one thing to do is read the other thread on it where I suggested googling her, then ask her point blank some questions. No matter her answer, then some should say, "well no one made you do it", then see what her answer might be, because I can't answer for a porn actress.

 

Yes, it was/is a choice to get into it. And thankfully for her an others its a choice to get out of it.

 

"People could list a variety of things for why they feel its degrading. It will get trampled on upon those who think its not anyway."

 

Yes, that is correct.

[Engadget]

I had replied to another porn thread about this. I had suggested goggling a certain porn actress who got out of it. She talked about her journey into it and how she got out of it. Why its degrading etc. It was the thread for those who hate porn.

 

She talked about her struggles and what really went on during and after shoots. I guess one thing to do is read the other thread on it where I suggested googling her, then ask her point blank some questions. No matter her answer, then some should say, "well no one made you do it", then see what her answer might be, because I can't answer for a porn actress.

 

Yes, it was/is a choice to get into it. And thankfully for her an others its a choice to get out of it.

 

"People could list a variety of things for why they feel its degrading. It will get trampled on upon those who think its not anyway."

 

Yes, that is correct.

 

There are also porn actresses who have said it's not at all, which I posted in another one of these threads. You could also find women in the business world who feel degraded, sexually harassed, etc. It doesn't necessarily make it true across the board.

 

I'm not saying the conditions are perfect or anything, but it does seem to be blown out of proportion. Frankly before I ever came here I didn't even know women were so threatened by porn, and I still can't understand why.

[ADF]

You hit on exactly the mistake the porn-haters make. Where is "obscenity?" Where is "degredation?" These qualities do not exist in the material itself, but in the subjective impressions of some observers. It is a classic category mistake.

[somedude81]

I only watch porn where it looks like the woman is enjoying it. Also if the men are being too rough on her I won't watch it.

[Els]

I guess I could hazard a guess on their behalf. Imagine if some submissive guys make a video of themselves crawling to women's feet and sucking it, getting kicked in the balls, preaching female supremacy, etc. I imagine some men would call the video 'degrading to men', since the act portrayed is 'degrading', although the actors themselves are not 'degraded' per se.

 

 

Some people feel it is, some feel its not. If you love it think its great, and do not feel its degrading then keep on keepin' on. If you feel it is, then its good to not watch it.

 

And I agree with this.

 

HOWEVER. When people insist that porn watching is wrong, a scourge, something that should be banned, etc based on the idea that it is degrading, they are trying to turn it from a personal opinion into an 'objective fact' that should impact others' lives as well. Indulgement in pornography is a personal choice based on one's opinions of it, correct. Imposing one's own personal opinion on the choices of others, however, is presumptive, judgemental, controlling, and WRONG.

[blair08]

There are also porn actresses who have said it's not at all, which I posted in another one of these threads. You could also find women in the business world who feel degraded, sexually harassed, etc. It doesn't necessarily make it true across the board.

 

I'm not saying the conditions are perfect or anything, but it does seem to be blown out of proportion. Frankly before I ever came here I didn't even know women were so threatened by porn, and I still can't understand why.

 

 

You are right. I was just meaning that particular porn actress plus tons of others on her page, including her husband, were some of the few that got out of it and told the other side. Yes,m there probably are some in it, who love it. The ones I were referring to, loved it to at one point. Then they had, had enough. I would think most people who first get into something do love it, until they decide, hey this is no longer for me. So I guess they shouldn't be judged on why they got in to it to begin with or why they got out. Could be a number of reasons. I see more people, especially on this site condem a person for getting into something when they choose to get out, than to praise them for getting out of something they no longer enjoy.

Edited May 15, 2010 by blair08

[PandorasBox]

"Frankly before I ever came here I didn't even know women were so threatened by porn, and I still can't understand why".

 

*You could have tons of women, non-porn stars and even porn stars who got out of the industry to explain to you WHY, and you still may never understand it. maybe google the dark side of or the down side of porn and see what the answers are. BUT even when the other side is brought to light doesn't mean people will believe it, they want to keep believing the wonderful, glam side. No one wnats to hear the other side of something they hold so dear and love.

 

I think The Pink Cross foundation might have a few answers, or at least a starting point.

Edited May 15, 2010 by PandorasBox

[Woggle]

Men enjoy it so therefore it must be bad. If men enjoyed knitting feminists would all of a sudden be against it.

[PandorasBox]

Men enjoy it so therefore it must be bad. If men enjoyed knitting feminists would all of a sudden be against it.

 

 

So what about the women who enjoy it? There are women who do, they have said so on here before. So don't turn this into a woman bashing men who love porn thread, because thats not what this is about.

[Pyro]

I'm not sure if degrading is the word. Threatening perhaps?

 

I think women are threatened by it because they worry that they will be replaced by porn.

 

I think men are threatened because they feel that they are in competition with porn, in regards to pleasuring their partner.

[Woggle]

So what about the women who enjoy it? There are women who do, they have said so on here before. So don't turn this into a woman bashing men who love porn thread, because thats not what this is about.

 

There are plenty of women who enjpy but the militant anti-porn people are usually the militant misandrists.

[shadowofman]

Because most of it depicts blow jobs, which are inherantly degrading.

[Citizen Erased]

Jealousy. They don't want their partner imagining another person while they're pleasuring themselves. Fair enough, some people can live with that and some can't. Personally I don't have a problem with porn, unless it was to become the problem of my sexual needs being neglected while they jerk it to porn every day.

[Nikki Sahagin]

I think another poster hit the nail on the head when they claimed that if we reversed things and porn was primarily female driven and men crawled around and were slapped around the face etc, men would feel threatened by that/repulsed by it. I think its because a lot of porn is intermingled very strongly with violence and misogyny i.e. 'slut', 'whore' etc. Though no doubt many people in the porn industry ENJOY their job, there are a lot who are forced into porn or gravitate to porn because of their own mental and emotional issues. Of people I have known who strip or lapdance etc for a living (not many), only 1 of them is a well-adjusted girl - the others are very emotionally and mentally insecure, vulnerable or attention-seeking.

 

I watch porn a LOT but I still have a mixed relationship. I watch porn and I enjoy it...but I feel some guilt afterwards because of the way the women are treated. I think if we assume women can't seperate sex and emotions, then when I watch it in a moment of being horny its fine, afterwards I feel like a bit of an animal for watching something like that. If we assume men seperate sex from emotions, then we could say men can watch more graphic/'degrading' porn and enjoy it as sex and not be 'upset' by the violence or the names or whatever. But I do think if you had a LOT of porn where men were 'degraded' and 99% of women watched it, often instead of having sex with their partners, men would be upset by that. It is of course that porn becomes 'better' or 'preferable' for many than real sex, and also that a lot of people see 'porn sex' as 'real sex'; and real sex can rarely compete. Say you are a man that wants anal and blowjobs and your wife doesn't like that...you will probably harbour disapointment/resentment towards your wife in comparing her to porn women.

[EnigmaXOXO]

Because, as a parent, unless I was equally as enthusiastic about seeing my own daughter being pimped out by the male dominated sex industry as I was defending my reasons to view, enjoy and financially support it… then I couldn’t honestly state that I didn’t find this brand of entertainment somewhat degrading towards females in general.

 

The entertainment value of porn quickly looses its validity if you imagine your mother, your daughter, your sister or your wife switching places with that stripper, prostitute or actress on screen. Particularly when you stop to consider the type of audience these girls are mass marketed to.

 

If it hit just a little closer to home and became more personal, could anyone truly say there is nothing objectifying, degrading or disrespectful about how females are too often portrayed by the sex industry?

[Nikki Sahagin]

Because, as a parent, unless I was equally as enthusiastic about seeing my own daughter being pimped out by the male dominated sex industry as I was defending my reasons to view, enjoy and financially support it… then I couldn’t honestly state that I didn’t find this brand of entertainment somewhat degrading towards females in general.

 

The entertainment value of porn quickly looses its validity if you imagine your mother, your daughter, your sister or your wife switching places with that stripper, prostitute or actress on screen. Particularly when you stop to consider the type of audience these girls are mass marketed to.

 

If it hit just a little closer to home and became more personal, could anyone truly say there is nothing objectifying, degrading or disrespectful about how females are too often portrayed by the sex industry?

 

100% agree. I can't imagine any parent supporting or being proud of a child in such a career.

[ADF]

The entertainment value of porn quickly looses its validity if you imagine your mother, your daughter, your sister or your wife switching places with that stripper, prostitute or actress on screen. Particularly when you stop to consider the type of audience these girls are mass marketed to.

 

Oh, what rubbish!

 

Look, I don't want to watch my mother or my sister haing sex, PERIOD. I could care less if they decide to film it. If any of my close female relaties worked in porn, I just wouldn't watch films in which they appeared.

 

And what do mean by "the type of audience these girls are mass marketed to?" Practically ALL men watch porn, so are you saying that you regard the male half of the human race as scum? Sounds like it.

[Engadget]

Because, as a parent, unless I was equally as enthusiastic about seeing my own daughter being pimped out by the male dominated sex industry as I was defending my reasons to view, enjoy and financially support it… then I couldn’t honestly state that I didn’t find this brand of entertainment somewhat degrading towards females in general.

 

The entertainment value of porn quickly looses its validity if you imagine your mother, your daughter, your sister or your wife switching places with that stripper, prostitute or actress on screen. Particularly when you stop to consider the type of audience these girls are mass marketed to.

 

If it hit just a little closer to home and became more personal, could anyone truly say there is nothing objectifying, degrading or disrespectful about how females are too often portrayed by the sex industry?

 

If it's what they want to do, who is anyone to say it's wrong?

[EnigmaXOXO]

If any of my close female relaties worked in porn, I just wouldn't watch films in which they appeared.

 

Why not?

 

If she were a skilled actress in any other form of media, wouldn’t you enjoy watching the films in which she appeared… even boast about how talented she was in regard to her particular art form and invite all your male buddies and relatives to share a beer and watch her performance right along side you?

 

And what do mean by "the type of audience these girls are mass marketed to?"

 

Those same male buddies and relatives rubbing one off to visual of your wife/daughter/mother pretending to enjoy being sodomized, spit on and gang-banged by a bunch of less-than-average Joes who wouldn’t stand a chance with a hot chick in real life unless they paid for it.

 

Is that articulate enough for ya?

[ADF]

Why not?

 

If she were a skilled actress in any other form of media, wouldn’t you enjoy watching the films in which she appeared… even boast about how talented she was in regard to her particular art form and invite all your male buddies and relatives to share a beer and watch her performance right along side you?

 

 

 

Those same male buddies and relatives rubbing one off to visual of your wife/daughter/mother pretending to enjoy being sodomized, spit on and gang-banged by a bunch of less-than-average Joes who wouldn’t stand a chance with a hot chick in real life unless they paid for it.

 

Is that articulate enough for ya?

 

Your response is typical of anti-porn crusaders.

 

Let's be honest. For all their fancy rhetoric and theorizing, anti-porn crusaders' problem with porn reduces to this: they are PERSONALLY offended by it. They feel it is disgusting and degrading. And they feel this so strongly, they cannot bear haing anyone disagree. They are like the born-again Christians who argue, against all reason and sense, that homosexuality is a mental disoreder. These Christians are so PERSONALLY disgusted by the idea of gay sex (or, in some cases, so deeply closeted), they simply cannot, will not allow they might be wrong. They just can't do it. What a shame.