# What's the point of looking at pornography if your not going to "use it" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 15, 2014, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-looking-at-pornography-if-your-not-going-to-use-it/695615 "2014-08-15T16:15:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![therealyankey27](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/41988e/32.png) [@therealyankey27](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/therealyankey27)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-looking-at-pornography-if-your-not-going-to-use-it/695615/1 "2014-08-15T16:15:43Z")
It just seems utterly stupid to me that people get themselves aroused and do nothing. The same goes for brothels, as if you can’t get someone “with you” then what was the point of getting aroused? My opinion- there isn’t a point, a waste of…we’ll you get the idea, ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-looking-at-pornography-if-your-not-going-to-use-it/695615/2 "2014-08-15T16:20:12Z")
Personally porn doesn’t do much for me but I can easily see the point to it. When I was single I had quite a few women friends who enjoyed watching porn. It got me aroused seeing them getting aroused. I know plenty of adults who for one reason or another use porn to help themselves get off I say whatever works. ---
**Author:** ![therealyankey27](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/41988e/32.png) [@therealyankey27](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/therealyankey27)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-looking-at-pornography-if-your-not-going-to-use-it/695615/3 "2014-08-15T16:34:39Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > I know plenty of adults who for one reason or another use porn to help themselves get off I say whatever works. Yea, but if one is not not getting off to it, then why would they watch it? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-looking-at-pornography-if-your-not-going-to-use-it/695615/4 "2014-08-15T16:39:19Z")
Why drink if you’re not planning on getting drunk? Sometimes you just like the taste. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-looking-at-pornography-if-your-not-going-to-use-it/695615/5 "2014-08-15T16:48:28Z")
Doing a sociological study on perversion. I’m up to Advanced Child Molesting! ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-looking-at-pornography-if-your-not-going-to-use-it/695615/6 "2014-08-15T17:17:14Z")
> [@Flywheel](#): > > Doing a sociological study on perversion. I’m up to Advanced Child Molesting! So ‘Teen Molesting’, then. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-looking-at-pornography-if-your-not-going-to-use-it/695615/7 "2014-08-15T17:40:21Z")
There’s a lot of weird though harmless\* porn that there’s no way most of us would be aroused by, but there’s also no way we’re not going to have to see. \*as opposed to a lot of stuff that we want nothing to do with, and you know what I mean by that. Or maybe not. For me: the Mr. Hands video? Wild horses couldn’t stop me. Fake stepdaughter rape? Not a chance in Hell. ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-looking-at-pornography-if-your-not-going-to-use-it/695615/8 "2014-08-15T17:45:09Z")
I fully support the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-looking-at-pornography-if-your-not-going-to-use-it/695615/9 "2014-08-15T18:34:28Z")
Is there some sort of recent study that has been done that shows a significant % of people view porn or go to whorehouses but don’t follow through…or is this just the OP’s anecdotal evidence with his frat brothers. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-looking-at-pornography-if-your-not-going-to-use-it/695615/10 "2014-08-15T18:42:48Z")
Does “use it” mean masturbate to it? Anyway, the answer is that it gives one a pleasant, warm feeling. This is nice, even if it does not reach the level of inspiring masturbation (or one does not have the time to masturbate, or whatever). Do people really go to brothels and not “do it”? That does puzzle me, but I doubt that it commonly happens (except, maybe, when a man is suddenly overcome by guilt, or impotence, or lack of money, or something like that). ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-looking-at-pornography-if-your-not-going-to-use-it/695615/11 "2014-08-15T18:58:08Z")
> [@Flywheel](#): > > Doing a sociological study on perversion. I’m up to Advanced Child Molesting! Those gifted kids get all the breaks… ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-looking-at-pornography-if-your-not-going-to-use-it/695615/12 "2014-08-15T18:59:35Z")
Or you are really old and like to guess what is real and what is airbrush or mostly looking to see if you can tell if they are really 18 or all of the above. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-looking-at-pornography-if-your-not-going-to-use-it/695615/13 "2014-08-15T19:50:02Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > . . . Anyway, the answer is that it gives one a pleasant, warm feeling. This is nice, even if it does not reach the level of inspiring masturbation . . . Exactly! It can result in a comfortable, low-level arousal that is pleasurable without being intense. A person might get much the same sensation from looking at pictures of people in tight bathing suits, or gymnastic athletes, or classical statuary. (That “David.” Whatta hunk!) ---
**Author:** ![therealyankey27](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/41988e/32.png) [@therealyankey27](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/therealyankey27)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-looking-at-pornography-if-your-not-going-to-use-it/695615/14 "2014-08-15T21:25:48Z")
> [@Doyle](#): > > I fully support the OP. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2014, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-looking-at-pornography-if-your-not-going-to-use-it/695615/15 "2014-08-15T21:47:04Z")
> [@therealyankey27](#): > > The same goes for brothels, as if you can’t get someone “with you” then what was the point of getting aroused? I believe you meant strip clubs, not brothels. At brothels you do get the full service. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-looking-at-pornography-if-your-not-going-to-use-it/695615/16 "2014-08-16T14:39:42Z")
> [@Staggerlee](#): > > So ‘Teen Molesting’, then. No, it works the other way around. You start with regular adult molesting, do a couple of semesters of teen molesting, and only then do you get to move on to child molesting. For the really advanced students, there are some programs in toddler molesting available. After that, you go to jail. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-looking-at-pornography-if-your-not-going-to-use-it/695615/17 "2014-08-16T14:57:04Z")
Who’s watching porn and not whacking off to it? ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-looking-at-pornography-if-your-not-going-to-use-it/695615/18 "2014-08-16T15:24:23Z")
Because it feels nice to be aroused, to feel the tension and anticipation, but orgasms are optional. If women expected an orgasm every time we got aroused, most of us would be hella frustrated, given that for lots of us it’s not even close to a guaranteed thing no matter how nice it would be. So we tend to appreciate the state of arousal more. I don’t watch porn more than once in a blue moon or so, but I read a hell of a lot of it, and I don’t usually try to come because of it. It’s just nice to feel the tingling. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2014, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-looking-at-pornography-if-your-not-going-to-use-it/695615/19 "2014-08-16T16:50:19Z")
When I first discovered porn, the idea of combining it with masturbation didn’t even occur to me. Granted, combining the two makes both more pleasurable, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do either one without. And, yes, it is sometimes fun to do analysis, figuring out whose body part is more attractive. One site I used to frequent has a rating system. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-looking-at-pornography-if-your-not-going-to-use-it/695615/20 "2014-08-17T01:07:53Z")
In the 90’s, when you still had to go rent a VHS tape to watch porn, I had a friend who swore he mostly watched it for the humor. Based on the times we were watching together, I assume he was honest. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-of-looking-at-pornography-if-your-not-going-to-use-it/695615.md?page=2)