Pornography, should it be banned?

[DrScoobs]

Should pornography be completely banned? a discussion i got into with a friend of mine earlier today.
He is of the opinion that all pornography of any shape or form (including naked sex scenes in movies and scenes depicting sex in movies) should be banned for these reasons:

- Pornography completely objectifies women
- It sets unrealistic standards for real sex
- Many sex slaves in the world are linked to pornography
- 98% of female performers in pornography are unhappy (Apparently from a real study according to him)
- Lack of pornography would mean a drop in sexual crimes (I think completely the opposite)
- Stops children getting their hands on porno by accident
- If pornography was banned, it would mean a drop in human trafficking (again, an opinion I think completely the opposite to)

I highly disagree that pornography should be banned. I thought it would be more of a motivation for people to pursue prostitutes and underground, seedier pornography if it were completely prohibited. It isn't a perfect industry, but at least it is with some semblance of legality. At least it isn't in the same state as the illegal drug trade, an example of prohibition gone horribly, horribly wrong.

I was honestly quite fascinated by his point of view, and was wondering what the lovely people of the escapist thought on the subject.

 

[Jonluw]

No, porn shouldn't be banned. That's ridiculous. What it should be is better controlled to make sure that studios don't support human trafficking or other illegal activities.

 

[Lionsfan]

How does pornography objectify women more than anything else in media today? Seriously, have you read any of those magazines like Glamour or Cosmo? I think those do more damage with regards to objectifying women than porn ever could

 

[Colour Scientist]

That's a really silly idea.

There needs to be some significant changes within the porn industry alright but pushing it further underground isn't going to help.

- 98% of female performers in pornography are unhappy (Apparently from a real study according to him)

What study? That sounds like horseshit to me. Horseshit based on the premise that women are passive sexual beings who couldn't possibly be happy in a job where they have to 'degrade' themselves for the pleasure of men. What about 98% of male performers?

That said, that kind of porn does exist, a lot of it does objectify women, it would be stupid to suggest otherwise. I think that the answer to that should be more porn though, not less. By that I mean, diversify it from that shitty American template. Or just scrap that template altogether. Make more women friendly porn (note: it's not women friendly just because, at some point, cunnilingus happens). I think I would die of shock if I saw a woman have a real orgasm during porn the way things are now.

As for children getting their hands on porn, it's up to their parents to protect them from that. If you have some hide it well and put blocks on the internet if you have a child using it. The sexualisation of children in the media is a completely separate matter though.

Also, if it was made illegal, it wouldn't go away, it would just be more shady, if anything that would make the whole 'sex slave' problem worse.

Your friend just sounds like a serious prude.

 

[Tiger Sora]

Well I don't think it should be, I like porn. Can't deny that.
Besides by banning it you'll just send it underground, where it shall do far more harm than good. Just like The War on Drugs created empires for the creation and distribution of drugs. It won't be as bad as drug cartels and the like, but you know what I mean.
It's a bad idea.

 

[II2]

The independent stuff tends to be saddled with less of the expressed issues than the larger industry as exists through magazine empires and their millions of .com subsidiaries.

Regardless of one's opinion on the subject, I don't think it's really possible to ban at this point. The technology to create and distribute pornography exists in most people's cellphones.

 

[Rainmaker77]

Good luck banning the internet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWEjvCRPrCo

 

[Dryk]

Even if your friends dubious statistics are correct, banning porn would not make those problems go away. Attacking the problems themselves would be a lot more helpful

 

[Ampersand]

No of course not, the social stigma surrounding sex is a huge part of most of the reasons your friend has listed there and banning pornography would only feed that.
In addition it would make the would an even more repressed and uptight place then it already is.

 

[Loop Stricken]

Should pornography be completely banned?

Haha.

No.

I'm honestly not sure how to continue this discussion. We wouldn't have the Internet without pornography, and for once this isn't hyperbole.

 

[DoPo]

- Pornography completely objectifies women

It's not the only one. But I agree, it is possible to call porn out on those grounds.

- It sets unrealistic standards for real sex

And the fashion industry sets unrealistic standards for women. Advertising sets unrealistic standards as do lots of other things. Maybe just ban the unrealistic standards and make all porn amateur. That would fix it.

- Many sex slaves in the world are linked to pornography

[citation needed]

Also, just assume we ban and completely remove porn from the entire world. By magical means. Would that mean that sex slavery would suddenly perish or drastically reduce? I don't think so. It will just adapt to no porn.

Or, you know, more realistically it will continue doing porn illegally. Which kind of doesn't help.

- 98% of female performers in pornography are unhappy (Apparently from a real study according to him)

And 78% of statistics are bullshit. Which means that only 76.44% are unhappy. Or it's bullshit. One or the other.

- Lack of pornography would mean a drop in sexual crimes (I think completely the opposite)

Nobody can prove that...we only have this study [http://www.hawaii.edu/PCSS/biblio/articles/2005to2009/2009-pornography-acceptance-crime.html] done (maybe more, that's the first that came to mind) which confirms your idea. Somewhat.

It has been found everywhere scientifically investigated that as pornography has increased in availability, sex crimes have either decreased or not increased.

(emphasis mine).

Now, whether the study is correct or not is up to debate but at least it's there. It shows that people cared enough to look into it and so there may be other studies that would clarify things.

- Stops children getting their hands on porno by accident

Well, this is undeniably stupid. If something is illegal it doesn't mean it's inaccessible. Case in point: drugs are illegal. Kids get their hands on drugs.

Also, this point only stands, if porn is bad for kids. Cue in rambling what the definition of a kid is. Sure, it may not be the best for a six-years old but would a 17-years-old be as affected by that?

- If pornography was banned, it would mean a drop in human trafficking (again, an opinion I think completely the opposite to)

Yeah...sure. Because there are people out there who say "Wait, we need more pornz. Quick, more traffiking!"

And same with the sex slaves: banning porn wouldn't mean they can't make it illegally. EXACTLY LIKE RIGHT NOW.

 

[Mayhaps]

Should pornography be completely banned? a discussion i got into with a friend of mine earlier today.
He is of the opinion that all pornography of any shape or form (including naked sex scenes in movies and scenes depicting sex in movies) should be banned for these reasons:

- Pornography completely objectifies women

And makes people 'completely' neglect men, apparently.

- It sets unrealistic standards for real sex

So does any sort of fiction, hell, parents set unrealistic standards for their children. (saying things like: "You're unique, you're special, you're the prettiest girl in the world")

- Many sex slaves in the world are linked to pornography

Maybe we should make pornography less stigmatic and more public, so we could avoid it. Making it more underground seems counter-productive.

- 98% of female performers in pornography are unhappy (Apparently from a real study according to him)

That is a sad statistic, if true, which I doubt. Maybe they should think about switching careers. Unless they are the slaves mentioned earlier, but then that fact is to be expected.

- Lack of pornography would mean a drop in sexual crimes (I think completely the opposite)

I agree, doesn't sound very true. It would defiantly increase the amount of illegal porn being watched though.

- Stops children getting their hands on porno by accident

...

- If pornography was banned, it would mean a drop in human trafficking (again, an opinion I think completely the opposite to)

We already know the illegality of prostitution helps fund human trafficking. I do believe he is wrong.

I highly disagree that pornography should be banned. I thought it would be more of a motivation for people to pursue prostitutes and underground, seedier pornography if it were completely prohibited. It isn't a perfect industry, but at least it is with some semblance of legality. At least it isn't in the same state as the illegal drug trade, an example of prohibition gone horribly, horribly wrong.

I was honestly quite fascinated by his point of view, and was wondering what the lovely people of the escapist thought on the subject.

I agree with you.

 

[Davatehi]

HAHAHAHA!!! Thank you, I really needed a laugh like this.
Porn is as old as man and the last thing mankind will ever make before we will die out will probably be something porn related.

 

[Zhukov]

Yeah... no. Regardless of whether or not it's a good idea, that's not going to happen.

It would work about as well as that one time when the great and wise moral guardians tried to ban alcohol.

 

[SquidVicious]

- Pornography completely objectifies women
- It sets unrealistic standards for real sex
- Many sex slaves in the world are linked to pornography
- 98% of female performers in pornography are unhappy (Apparently from a real study according to him)
- Lack of pornography would mean a drop in sexual crimes (I think completely the opposite)
- Stops children getting their hands on porno by accident
- If pornography was banned, it would mean a drop in human trafficking (again, an opinion I think completely the opposite to)

I just want you to know, OP, that I am not attacking you. Should the opportunity present itself I hope you will take the time to counter many of his criticisms with these:

"Pornography completely objectifies women"

True, at least on the surface. The prevalence of cumshots is enough to drive that point home, however behind the scenes, the female porn stars have far more control over who they sleep with than the male ones. Like with movies, the intent is to put on a show, something the audience has seen before a thousand times but will always come back to, like what the technician said in Cabin in the Woods "You gotta keep the customer happy"

Also as far as the objectification goes, that same statement can be applied to just about every facet of entertainment, music, movies, magazines, books, etc.

"It sets unrealistic standards for real sex"

Out of your friend's argument, I think this is the only one that has any real ground to stand on, but it has a quick fix. Instead of teaching kids about Abstinence Only during the yearly sex ed class, have someone try and drive the point home that pornography does not equal sex. Sure the same basic motions are happening, but the actions that go on in front of a camera and ones that go on behind closed doors are far removed. I think it speaks to a bigger issue of losing our grip on reality, but that's another point altogether.

"Many sex slaves in the world are linked to pornography"

Complete bullshit. Sex slavery is done solely for prostitution which has a much more favorable return on investment.

"98% of female performers in pornography are unhappy (Apparently from a real study according to him)"

Shall we do a study on how many people working at McDonalds are unhappy? I mean they're in a field of work that is just as scrutinized by everyone else. How many times do people hear "Do well in school or you're going to be flipping burgers at McDonalds"? If the numbers are high shall we just ban fast food? What about every other job out there that people hate, which would probably be most of them. I think your friend is either making this study up, or greatly exaggeration the numbers.

"Lack of pornography would mean a drop in sexual crimes (I think completely the opposite)"

I would love to hear his logic behind this nonsense, I'm going into law enforcement and have spent a lot of time talking with instructors and police officers and one thing they all say about sex crimes is they're committed with a desire for control rather than feelings of sexual frustration (i.e. "bust a nut"). The ones that are committed out of frustration are more often than not the date rape ones, which unfortunately has very little way of preventing it besides ordering your own drinks.

"Stops children getting their hands on porno by accident"

Any child over the age of five does not get their hands on pornography by "accident".

"If pornography was banned, it would mean a drop in human trafficking"

Again I fail to see how pornography and prostitution are linked.


Basically the only thing you really need to say is "Hey, remember that time when the United States banned alcohol and nobody ever drank again and there wasn't a total rise in organized crime, corruption, and violence?" By banning pornography it would just do the same thing, create an underground market (which there already is), undo every safety regulation that has been issued like HIV testing and condom-only sex, and be completely ineffectual so long as the internet is still up and running. The only noticeable change would be the skin magazines would be behind the counter at the magazine store, big victory and totally worth the damage it caused.

 

[JimB]

How do people mix up prostitution and pornography so often?

To be fair, pornography is pretty obviously just a very specific form of prostitution. Your point is otherwise good, though.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I'd give him 2 very important reasons why pornography shouldn't be banned; Blue balls.