This was a great article to read , succinct and factual. The history of porn is quite a beautiful one , but it's no longer the beautiful erotic frescos on the wall that we're once respected. Most porn is fun, let's be honest, a safe way to explore fantasies. It's great to see so many people exploring with others through what's now become known as ' ethical ' porn sites like Make love not Porn. One has to wonder where the line is drawn though, consensual BDSM should be respected and its time it was accepted women too enjoy porn and BDSM , sites like KINK.com are absolutely fabulous - but having certain topics like ' violent teen gang bang' ( and I dont mean the consensual daddy/ little dynamic ) top of search lists is somewhat concerning, especially where some of these videos do indeed have under 18s - filmed in certain locations where 16 is legal for porrnography, and yet it's ready to easily search on the most accessible sites like pornhub or Xvideos. Replacing partnered sex with porn seems to be something I've come across more and more especially when I had clients ( counselling) previous to taking time off to focus on research. It seems it can sometimes serve as a buffer between partnered sex and sex anxiety- the porn provides some sort of sensuality and release while avoiding the genuine anxiety that some people have more and more nowadays with sex - stemming from shame and mixed messages about the incredible practice that sex can be- especially in countries with a heavy influence from the church . Of course there's the concepts of ' body perfection ' in porn, but again if it was accepted and spoken about more it would be more well known that there is so much make up, lighting, scripting, body tab airbrushing etc , it really ( usually) is a movie. Imagine how much safer it would all be and how much less it may cause relationship rifts if it was explained openly in sex Ed just like how to use a condom. Hopefully we can wade through it all and somewhere somehow find the lines, blurry as they can sometimes seem , focus on transparancy, Safety ( legalities ) and have porn viewed once again as the fun fantasy game it usually is and should be ! Unless it is causing genuine pain in someone's life ie; fuelling relationship upset , causing issues in one's social life or of course the more illegal aspects that have unfortunately never disappeared and need to be looked at in a fresh and more realistic light so that those who need protecting can be protected, then really at the end of the day its just a movie with actors and scripts ( just a pretty kinky one that you rarely have to watch until the end) .
Thank you! I wanted to take the time to reply properly.
Yes, I agree. Personally, I'm not much of a big porn guy. I don't even watch it really, but then again, when you can have actual sex, porn kind of takes a back seat. I think you touched on something crucial here that's often left out of the discussion—that porn is a vast conglomeration of products, not one singular product. There's wholesome, consent-observing porn, then there's the opposite. There's porn that plays into the usual human biases to capitalize on every single dollar possible, and then there's porn that breaks the boundaries and pushes new ground, trying new things, creating new forms of artistic expression beyond the usual content-mill, copy-paste of the typical cliches.
It's silly when people lump ALL of this into one massive category: porn.
Doing so ignores the nuances.
I think also a lot of people tend to have issues in their relationship and porn is just easier, as you pointed to. Heck, that's true for people who aren't having problems in their relationships a lot of the time. People don't always have the time and energy to focus on their partner and make sure someone else's needs are taken care of and honestly, I can respect that...as long as it doesn't become habituated, then there might be an underlying issue that needs to be addressed if the couple wants to be happy.
In the last year or so that I actually watched porn (years ago), the cliche body types and model types seemed to be changing. People seemed to be wanting natural, even homemade "amateur" content, and I think this is a good thing. The internet is diversifying the types of content available to people and in the long run, I think eventually we'll wind up with a world where the big porn studios don't make a whole heck of a lot of money and individual people decide what they're okay with and what they want to produce. We're seeing it now, with solo producers choosing to go with OnlyFans and skipping porn altogether.
In terms of what ideas are planted in people's heads, I'm quite liberal on that front. I think we should beef up sex education as much as humanly (and politically possible) as a way to ensure that kids know that porn, like other types of media (music, movies, etc.) are fantasy, not reality. We should do this in other fields besides sex, too. Kids should know that action movies are fantasies, that horror movies are fantasies, and we shouldn't just leave it up to chance that they'll get that message.
Did you see that Netflix documentary about the porn industry? It covers a lot of this stuff and it seems like a lot of companies are finally starting to shift toward an educational, consent-based direction with their content.
Thank you so much for reading and taking the time to comment. I sincerely appreciate both. :)
Deflection and Shaming are the artful weapons of those without hope, love and "sex" in their lives. If they were busy calling out "oh god" in their bedrooms and praying and working, they literally would not have any time for this "shit" propaganda and projection.
It is a combination of hate and jealous of going and being without also. You know (I try to paraphrase which would be so much easier at a bar or coffee shop) ... it is a I am a "nice" and "good" guy [I would be air quoting btw], I am moral and religious and do everything that society tells me I should including my religion and I am still being denied sexual joy and satisfaction.
So these folks want to say fuck you ... for enjoying yourself to the fullest and I want to make you as miserable as me.
They get off of on the punishment, but they don't understand they are violating all sorts of consent and believe they are the pious ones. They are closed minded puritans of the 21st century, and as such I do believe Australia got off better as the stepchildren of the UK.
We got the religious zealots, they got the supposed criminal's.
This was a great article to read , succinct and factual. The history of porn is quite a beautiful one , but it's no longer the beautiful erotic frescos on the wall that we're once respected. Most porn is fun, let's be honest, a safe way to explore fantasies. It's great to see so many people exploring with others through what's now become known as ' ethical ' porn sites like Make love not Porn. One has to wonder where the line is drawn though, consensual BDSM should be respected and its time it was accepted women too enjoy porn and BDSM , sites like KINK.com are absolutely fabulous - but having certain topics like ' violent teen gang bang' ( and I dont mean the consensual daddy/ little dynamic ) top of search lists is somewhat concerning, especially where some of these videos do indeed have under 18s - filmed in certain locations where 16 is legal for porrnography, and yet it's ready to easily search on the most accessible sites like pornhub or Xvideos. Replacing partnered sex with porn seems to be something I've come across more and more especially when I had clients ( counselling) previous to taking time off to focus on research. It seems it can sometimes serve as a buffer between partnered sex and sex anxiety- the porn provides some sort of sensuality and release while avoiding the genuine anxiety that some people have more and more nowadays with sex - stemming from shame and mixed messages about the incredible practice that sex can be- especially in countries with a heavy influence from the church . Of course there's the concepts of ' body perfection ' in porn, but again if it was accepted and spoken about more it would be more well known that there is so much make up, lighting, scripting, body tab airbrushing etc , it really ( usually) is a movie. Imagine how much safer it would all be and how much less it may cause relationship rifts if it was explained openly in sex Ed just like how to use a condom. Hopefully we can wade through it all and somewhere somehow find the lines, blurry as they can sometimes seem , focus on transparancy, Safety ( legalities ) and have porn viewed once again as the fun fantasy game it usually is and should be ! Unless it is causing genuine pain in someone's life ie; fuelling relationship upset , causing issues in one's social life or of course the more illegal aspects that have unfortunately never disappeared and need to be looked at in a fresh and more realistic light so that those who need protecting can be protected, then really at the end of the day its just a movie with actors and scripts ( just a pretty kinky one that you rarely have to watch until the end) .
Thank you! I wanted to take the time to reply properly.
Yes, I agree. Personally, I'm not much of a big porn guy. I don't even watch it really, but then again, when you can have actual sex, porn kind of takes a back seat. I think you touched on something crucial here that's often left out of the discussion—that porn is a vast conglomeration of products, not one singular product. There's wholesome, consent-observing porn, then there's the opposite. There's porn that plays into the usual human biases to capitalize on every single dollar possible, and then there's porn that breaks the boundaries and pushes new ground, trying new things, creating new forms of artistic expression beyond the usual content-mill, copy-paste of the typical cliches.
It's silly when people lump ALL of this into one massive category: porn.
Doing so ignores the nuances.
I think also a lot of people tend to have issues in their relationship and porn is just easier, as you pointed to. Heck, that's true for people who aren't having problems in their relationships a lot of the time. People don't always have the time and energy to focus on their partner and make sure someone else's needs are taken care of and honestly, I can respect that...as long as it doesn't become habituated, then there might be an underlying issue that needs to be addressed if the couple wants to be happy.
In the last year or so that I actually watched porn (years ago), the cliche body types and model types seemed to be changing. People seemed to be wanting natural, even homemade "amateur" content, and I think this is a good thing. The internet is diversifying the types of content available to people and in the long run, I think eventually we'll wind up with a world where the big porn studios don't make a whole heck of a lot of money and individual people decide what they're okay with and what they want to produce. We're seeing it now, with solo producers choosing to go with OnlyFans and skipping porn altogether.
In terms of what ideas are planted in people's heads, I'm quite liberal on that front. I think we should beef up sex education as much as humanly (and politically possible) as a way to ensure that kids know that porn, like other types of media (music, movies, etc.) are fantasy, not reality. We should do this in other fields besides sex, too. Kids should know that action movies are fantasies, that horror movies are fantasies, and we shouldn't just leave it up to chance that they'll get that message.
Did you see that Netflix documentary about the porn industry? It covers a lot of this stuff and it seems like a lot of companies are finally starting to shift toward an educational, consent-based direction with their content.
Thank you so much for reading and taking the time to comment. I sincerely appreciate both. :)
Deflection and Shaming are the artful weapons of those without hope, love and "sex" in their lives. If they were busy calling out "oh god" in their bedrooms and praying and working, they literally would not have any time for this "shit" propaganda and projection.
100%. But, it’s deeper than that. They want to police everyone else--it’s about punishment, not genuine concern.
It is a combination of hate and jealous of going and being without also. You know (I try to paraphrase which would be so much easier at a bar or coffee shop) ... it is a I am a "nice" and "good" guy [I would be air quoting btw], I am moral and religious and do everything that society tells me I should including my religion and I am still being denied sexual joy and satisfaction.
So these folks want to say fuck you ... for enjoying yourself to the fullest and I want to make you as miserable as me.
They get off of on the punishment, but they don't understand they are violating all sorts of consent and believe they are the pious ones. They are closed minded puritans of the 21st century, and as such I do believe Australia got off better as the stepchildren of the UK.
We got the religious zealots, they got the supposed criminal's.
They are deeply broken and miserable people.