# Does it harm children to watch pornography? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 25, 2016, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-harm-children-to-watch-pornography/755688 "2016-05-25T19:34:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-harm-children-to-watch-pornography/755688/62 "2023-03-26T22:28:44Z")
Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-harm-children-to-watch-pornography/755688/63 "2023-03-26T22:30:09Z")
I’m becoming increasingly convinced that watching pornography hurts adults. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-harm-children-to-watch-pornography/755688/64 "2023-03-26T22:37:47Z")
“Pornography” is just a massive, massive category of media. I have little doubt that some of it is harmful to kids (and adults, for that matter). But plenty of it is almost certainly not. I and almost every kid I know was exposed to some form of pornography as children – for me it was dirty magazines in the 80s/90s. The vast majority of the content I was curious about at the time was nude pictures of women. I don’t believe that was harmful to me at all. Things are different to some extent now – “hardcore” porn is easily accessible to anyone with internet access, and most kids are savvier about getting around child-barriers online than their parents. I’m not sure how that changes things. To some degree I’ll find out myself in the next several years – my toddler is already pretty savvy with electronics, even at under 3 years old. This doesn’t get into the industry itself – I have little doubt that a significant portion of the porn industry is destructive, abusive, and misogynistic. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-harm-children-to-watch-pornography/755688/65 "2023-03-26T23:11:59Z")
That’s not an example of “porn hams children”; that’s an example of “Florida harms children”. Which I think we already knew by now. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-harm-children-to-watch-pornography/755688/66 "2023-03-27T00:55:15Z")
> [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](#): > > So, is there any 20-something on the thread? Somebody who grew up with a plethora of porn at their immediate disposal, as opposed to having to stay late on Fridays, waiting for the good bits in a skinemax flick or whatever was the norm for the other generations? It me! I’m 40, but free pornography was already readily available to me online by the time I was 15 or so. I don’t think it warped my mind, and any unrealistic expectations it may have given me were immediately dashed about 30 seconds into my first sexual encounter with a woman. I find that it’s helpful to think of porn as the WWE of sex - they’re putting on a show intended for the enjoyment of the audience, not engaging in an authentic sexual act, and most of the stuff they do either wouldn’t work in the real world or would be extremely painful or awkward. These days I consider myself asexual and have very little real interest in porn or pursuing real life sexual encounters, so maybe I’m atypical in that regard. Of course, in this day where anyone can make a video and get it online, there’s a lot of amateur porn out there which is more realistic to what those adults actually do with each other when they’re not in front of an iphone on a tripod. Never really been my thing, but it’s probably better for impressionable young people to see that than to watch a woman with a body that couldn’t exist without cosmetic surgery and tons of makeup pour a gallon of canola oil on herself and then have rough sex with five men at once (which is purely a hypothetical example I’ve pulled out of thin air right here and now, yes sirree Bob, that’s the ticket). ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-harm-children-to-watch-pornography/755688/67 "2023-03-27T06:01:49Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > I never realized that Michelangelo was an early pornographer… > ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-harm-children-to-watch-pornography/755688/68 "2023-03-27T17:15:04Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > I never realized that Michelangelo was an early pornographer… I remember in probably 4th grade or so a classmate showing me that if you looked up David in the classroom’s encyclopedia, there was a picture of the naked statue. So I guess Florida had better ban encyclopedias, too. Or at least pull the D volume off of all classroom shelves. (Are actual paper encyclopedias still a thing?) ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-harm-children-to-watch-pornography/755688/69 "2023-03-27T17:36:02Z")
> **[Encyclopedia Britannica has printed its last bound edition](https://ew.com/article/2012/03/14/encyclopedia-britannica-out-of-print/)** > > Encyclopedia Britannica has printed its last bound edition That is for Britannica in 2012, The World Book Encyclopedia is still at it: [The World Book Encyclopedia 2023 - Hardcover 22 Volume Set - Over 17,000 Articles Hardcover – December 1, 2022](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0716601230/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&aaxitk=812c0d6e15d4d2e4b137820df612ff59&content-id=amzn1.sym.7dd77237-72be-4809-b5b5-d553eab7ad9d%3Aamzn1.sym.7dd77237-72be-4809-b5b5-d553eab7ad9d&hsa_cr_id=2530684860901&pd_rd_plhdr=t&pd_rd_r=5c9f176a-ec7b-450e-a959-02ff02a1fdc6&pd_rd_w=e7gTO&pd_rd_wg=m86Mb&qid=1679938245&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_lsi4d_asin_0_img&sr=1-1-9e67e56a-6f64-441f-a281-df67fc737124) You can have it for the neat price of $1199. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-harm-children-to-watch-pornography/755688/70 "2023-03-27T17:49:23Z")
I was appalled to look through the 2016 posts and find that absolutely no one except for @ [Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink) - good for you - bothered with any cites. All the rest were just pulling opinions out of their asses, which is the most boring and least arousing type of pornography. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-harm-children-to-watch-pornography/755688/71 "2023-03-27T17:55:14Z")
Yeah, zombie sex is really harmful… 😉 AFAIK, the real harm is when the individual shows addiction to the item, it is not needed to be pornography. As I remember, one comment about addiction on a Kurzgesagt video that was taken down for not being up to standards: ‘Addiction is just one symptom of the crisis of disconnection that’s happening all around us.’ ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-harm-children-to-watch-pornography/755688/72 "2023-03-27T18:21:00Z")
Now here’s the real question: Do they have a problem with it because it has a penis, or because it has a _small_ penis? I mean, these are the same people who put nuts on their trucks, for god’s sake… ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-harm-children-to-watch-pornography/755688/73 "2023-03-27T18:40:03Z")
I’m sure the people who want to ban pornography only are talking about violent rape type pornography. I mean maybe deviant stuff also like homosexuality and sex outside of marriage, but that’s probably it. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-harm-children-to-watch-pornography/755688/74 "2023-03-27T18:45:55Z")
So is society significantly more warped now compared to 2016? There’s your answer. 🙃 ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2023, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-harm-children-to-watch-pornography/755688/75 "2023-03-27T19:39:52Z")
Has anybody yet mentioned the risk of repetitive motion injury? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-harm-children-to-watch-pornography/755688/76 "2023-03-28T05:16:10Z")
Ay, there’s the rub… ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-harm-children-to-watch-pornography/755688/77 "2023-03-28T19:14:04Z")
Such moral decay in Europe! > **[Visitors flock to see David sculpture after Florida uproar](https://apnews.com/article/italy-florida-hillsdale-david-michelangelo-a51dd6008a2c8767d6ba5219b7cde149)** > > FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — Visitors flocked to see Michelangelo’s David sculpture in Florence on Tuesday, following an uproar over a Florida school’s decision to force the resignation of the principal over complaints about a lesson featuring the... ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-harm-children-to-watch-pornography/755688/78 "2023-03-29T01:07:51Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > All the rest were just pulling opinions out of their asses, which is the most boring and least arousing type of pornography. Don’t kink shame me. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-harm-children-to-watch-pornography/755688/79 "2023-03-29T01:30:07Z")
Remind me again of who has a shot at being U.S. president, AGAIN? (IMNSHO, not much of one, but it’s still not impossible.) Anyway, one wonders if the issue with “David” had to do with the size of his hands. This snippet from a short-form doco was filmed in the late 1970s. SFW. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/otL1rpFHic4/hqdefault.jpg ""Charlene"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otL1rpFHic4) ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2023, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-harm-children-to-watch-pornography/755688/80 "2023-03-30T13:29:10Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > I agree. Me too. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2023, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-harm-children-to-watch-pornography/755688/81 "2023-03-30T14:31:21Z")
I feel like this thread got off on the wrong foot: in the 7 year old poorly done OP (and incredibly poor thread title), they complained that: > [@](#): > > In my lovely state, the GOP-led government has decided to move on from regulating women’s sexuality to regulating pornography.[…]let’s go to their big excuse for doing this: > > Watching pornography hurts children. In other words, if _adults_ watch porn, that hurts children. So, if I, an adult, watch porn, does that hurt children? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-harm-children-to-watch-pornography/755688.md?page=3)