# Old enough to have sex, not old enough to watch porn

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-enough-to-have-sex-not-old-enough-to-watch-porn/457375>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [July 22, 2008, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-enough-to-have-sex-not-old-enough-to-watch-porn/457375 "2008-07-22T15:20:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-enough-to-have-sex-not-old-enough-to-watch-porn/457375/1 "2008-07-22T15:20:28Z")

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Prompted by the dying/drinking thread, this is one that has rattled around in my head for a while.

In the UK the age of consent is 16 (and in other European countries it’s sometimes lower), but the age you have to be to either watch or perform in pornography is 18. I don’t understand this. If you’re 16 and want to watch sex all you need to do is face the mirror whilst doing it or film yourself, so why the prohibition on watching others do so until you’re 18? I believe 18 is a fairly uniform age for porn participation/watching across the rest of Europe as well. What precisely is this age restriction supposed to achieve?

Any thoughts/comments on this?

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**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-enough-to-have-sex-not-old-enough-to-watch-porn/457375/2 "2008-07-22T15:43:05Z")

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You could get arrested for child pornography for filming yourself performing a legal act too.

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**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-enough-to-have-sex-not-old-enough-to-watch-porn/457375/3 "2008-07-22T15:45:16Z")

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Is it to watch or to buy? Cause I don’t really know how you could stop people from watching, but buying is a whole different thing, and I don’t really have a problem with it.

As for performing in it, well, there is a world of difference in having sex with your girlfriend and getting paid to have sex. 18 is an arbitrary age, sure, but why not?

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**Author:** ![kellner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c2a13f/32.png) [@kellner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellner)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-enough-to-have-sex-not-old-enough-to-watch-porn/457375/4 "2008-07-22T16:17:21Z")

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In Germany there is no age limit for watching porn. What is illegal is making porn available to minors (unless the person in question is a parent.)

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**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-enough-to-have-sex-not-old-enough-to-watch-porn/457375/5 "2008-07-22T17:15:55Z")

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[QUOTE=Snarky\_Kong]  
You could get arrested for child pornography for filming yourself performing a legal act too.  
[/QUOTE]

[Or doing nothing at all.](http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2004-03-29-child-self-porn_x.htm)