No religion (I don’t even consider myself an athiest, if that makes any sense).
Porn: can be enjoyable, but I really don’t see it as anything more than an external aid for self-gratification. Am fairly flummoxed by some of the things that others consider turn-ons (latex? insertions? scat?) but fine with that as long as such is not forced on me or anyone else who doesn’t want it. Am militantly opposed to anyone being forced to participate in the production of porn or performing sex acts against their personal preferences, whether through emotion/physical pressure or economic pressures, or if they are below the age of consent.
Former christian now non-religious mostly-atheist checking in here.
Porn is too complex a subject to sum up simply. Porn can be good harmless fun. It can also be foul, revolting mind-poison.
Addiction is in the reader. Some people can become addicted to porn. Some people can become addicted to Everquest, or television, or the Internet. Porn itself isn’t any more addictive or harmful than any other form of passive entertainment.
It is my opinion that a mindset which views porn and recreational sex as harmless is far more healthy than one which views sex as something to be repressed.
Agnostic porn viewer. I don’t approve in stuff that’s non-consensual, and kids are right out. Nor am I interested in pain, domination, or scat. Otherwise, bring it on.
Atheist. Porn is good.
You know, I don’t think we can rightly call porn a poison any more than peanuts are. Most indulge by the fistful, some find them icky, and an unlucky few suffer an allegeric reaction.
Agnostic porn viewer. I don’t approve of stuff that’s non-consensual, and kids are right out. Nor am I interested in pain, domination, or scat. Otherwise, bring it on.
I have no problem with pornography in general. I’ll even admit to having looked at it occasionally - although definitely not on a regular basis, and mostly when really bored. In itself there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Some of the more extreme things kinda creep me out, but if people like it that’s there business.
However, like all things, it can be used badly. Obviously exploiting people in the making of porn is a HUGE no (especially child pornography). Similarily obsession with porn is, like any addiction, really not a good thing. I wouldn’t say it was wrong, but it’s certainly unhealthy. My instinctive reaction is that an obsession with it is somewhat pathetic, but that’s mostly prejudice on my part, in part brought on by too much exposure to pathetic teenagers who were obsessed with it.
I hesitate to label porn with anything as simplistic as “good” or “bad.” A little reading in anthropology will tell you that humans have been obsessing about sex since we were slapping the tinted juice of flowers onto cave walls. Whether it’s Japanese scrolls, Indian stories, prehistoric Venus figurines, or cheap 16mm films projected onto bedroom walls, we have always been interested in depictions of sex in a multitude of media. It’s a fundamental aspect of who we are. Religious objections to it, in my opinion, fit this description perfectly as the mirror image of what they obsess about.
So I will call pornography – as a high-level generalization – “normal.” Obviously, there are subsets that are inappropriate and destructive (the aforementioned child-oriented porn, for example), and like anything else porn can become an obsession that interferes with one’s ability to lead a normal life. The same could be said for food, gambling, driving, and, yes, church.
But those negative aspects, however, are atypical and extreme elements of a much larger whole, which should not be judged by its outliers. In general, fantasies about sex are a perfectly natural component of our humanity, whether they take the form of paintings, prose narrative, or engineering diagrams.
Religion - current atheist - raised Catholic
Gender - female
I’m not particulary interested in “traditional” porn, though I think it’s fun to share with a partner on occasion. I do like to read erotica sometimes. I wouldn’t much care if my SO were watching porn, as long as he’s paying adequate attention to me. As far as anyone else, it’s really none of my business (child porn or anything that doesn’t involve consenting adults excepted, of course) and I don’t think anything is wrong with it. Some of the extreme makes me think “ick,” but so does eating oysters.
Christian…I agree with what someone said above, it’s poison. My personal opinion is it has no place in a Christian home. My husband has a tape I’ve been trying to get him to throw away for a long time.
Ummm, I suppose I don’t have a real problem with people viewing pornography (provided of course the person in the pornography has consented and is of age).
Personally, I don’t get much out of pornography however. I prefer my imagination.
I’m jsut wondering what people consider to be ‘pornography’?
It’s pretty broad and there is some stuff that I’m sure I don’t consider porn (that word has such negative connotations with some) and some stuff I think is porn that most people think is fine for children.
There is plenty of stuff in art museums that some people think is porn. (whereas I only think the stuff in the Muse de Orsey is porn ;))
Having been on the net or local BBS services for over a decade I have now seen everyone naked and I think mainstream porn is pretty boring.
Addictive “no”, but it can lead to harsher forms of porn, like midgets or plumper movies. Then it’s amputees or hairy women with hairless men.
as an aside and to adress some coments already made here: kiddie stuff bad, animal stuff not my cup of tea but inless it is actually injurious to the animal I see it as no worse than most things we do to animals, such as shaving them or milking them or raising them for veal, etc.
I’m thinking if someone was able to give that German shepherd a choice between being milked like a cow is or humping the skanky lady in the movie he’d hump the skank every time. Having assisted in the delivery of one horse and been around when calving was going on I don’t see the harm in men doing it with cattle or horses or sheep either. I doubt they even notice. It’s pretty damn gross, but “cruel to animals”, no. Gerbleing if it is a real thing sounds pretty damn cruel.
I was raised a Presbyterian, and now I’m sorta-Christian. I go to church when somebody marries or dies.
I enjoy porn. So does Mrs. Nott. We’re not into watching pain, and we’ve never seen any child porn. Porn exploits men and women, just as non-porn movies exploit actors and actresses. That’s the nature of showbiz.
My wife and I will watch an adult hard-core movie together on occassion. Something with a plot and some measure of sensuality. After about two scenes, we’re not even watching the movie any more. Instead, we are tuned in to each other. Isn’t that what it’s all about anyway? We don’t feel like we are compromising our relationship with God. Our marriage bed is not being defiled and we enjoy a variety of ways to fulfill each other.
I do realize that most women usually aren’t as gung-ho over porn as a man can be. I respect that and wait for her mood to cross over into the [sub]let’s watch a movie![/sub] rather than me popping a tape in the VCR every night.
I don’t use it much by myself anymore, although I reckon my use when single was typical. My wife knows what I have. She also knows that I would much rather pay attention to her than some magazine. But she can go for rather long periods without feeling the “need.” Longer than me, that’s for sure.
Funny, though, during these solo times, a slightly goofy erotic (i.e., not hardcore)movie; like Emmanuelle or Young Lady Chatterley, or one of those Category III HK films (Sex & Zen; Erotic Ghost Story) does more for me than 100 Jizz-Crazed Sluts or whatever.
Atheist. I have no problem with porn as along as everyone involved (viewers & participants alike) is a consenting adult. Thanks(?) to the 'Net, I’ve seen some weird and/or disgusting stuff. To each his own, I figure. I do not feel that porn (involving women, at least) is degrading to ALL women. The women in the porn are there for their own reasons and it would be stupid to think that all women are like them.
I think it falls under the cigarette category. Not for minors. I’d rather not have it around while eating a hamburger in a restaurant (one pleasure at a time please). And, if you partake in it too much, you’ll eventually end up in a hospital.
Like many of the above posters, I feel that it depends on the porn. Some is exploitive of women, some is tasteful and fun, and child porn is criminal (in fact, I see it as concrete evidence of a crime and think that anyone who knows where it is has a civic duty to notify the police).
We could debate all day about what it says about our society that pictures of naked or near-naked women are used to sell products, or about what it means that women’s naked bodies and sex acts are considered worth more money than men’s, or about whether the widespread availability of porn is harmful to society as a whole. For me, in the end, it comes down to letting consenting adults do and see what they want. Porn actresses aren’t trying to tell Pentacostal women that they can’t get baptized; I don’t see why Pentacostal women should have the right to tell porn actresses they can’t work.
In other words, whatever floats your boat (and I prefer the amateur films where the people are obviously having fun with it).
