Porn - I use it and feel bad - help convince me porn is wrong

Yes you have to prove it dittany - if you can't you could call for the banning of short skirts and low cut tops because they attract male attention. All sex scenes on TV should be censored incase they give men 'ideas' - burn all erotic Victorian literature too. In fact, why not just ban the entire male species and just be done with it.

Prolesworth: You have to prove, beyond reasonable doubt, that pornography is the reason men act in the way you describe. Do you genuinely believe that if pornography had never existed the sexual abuse of some women would never have happened? Are you saying that men are so easily influenced that if they see something in a film they have to act it out? I don't believe that. I think there are some sexually inadequate men who will use porn as an excuse to validate their immaturity and patheticness. I don't doubt there are women being exploited in the porn industry - that needs to be addressed ( how and by whom I don't know ? ) but you can't restrict adult use of a legal product simply because some people find it distasteful and offensive. I am not pro-porn in any way - what I am is pro-choice. I believe adults have a right to access legal pornography if they wish.

Carmina if you want evidence that porn harms women - watch a porn film. The harm is right there on film for all to see.

For 'significant evidence' - go and participate in a porn film. If it doesn't harm women, you'll be just fine right?

Porn is hate speak against women. What is so difficult to get about that?

A study was conducted by Gallup and was based on 1020 adults.

In reference to explicit sex magazines, movies, and books;
73% of people believe they lead to some people to commit rape or sexual crime.
76% believe it leads people to lose respect for women
67% believe they lead to a breakdown of public morals.

I personally think porn use does stop women being able to get on with their lives and these stats support that.

I can't help being dull and predictable dittany - I've sadly come to terms with it.

I think you'd have to find significant evidence that porn harms women ( ie: does it stop women getting jobs or getting on with their lives in general? - are some men sexist pigs purely because of porn or would they have been sexist pigs anyway? (( yes of course they would ))
you have to produce conclusive evidence that porn severely harms women, if it's a simple case of women finding it distasteful and offensive that's not enough to restrict adult use. If you're going to use the argument that porn harms some women, we could argue for the banning of all car driving on the grounds that there is an undeniable causal link between people driving cars and a large number of people getting injured.

David, feminists aren't 'supposed to think' anything about pornography.

Feminists are against misogyny and the oppression of women. It only takes about 2 minutes of feminist analysis to figure out that porn is about as bad as patriarchy gets.

Porn shows that no only will society accept women being objectified and fetishised but that it is ok to make money out of us being abused, degraded, humiliated, raped, hurt, damaged, traumatised and treated as less than human.

No feminist who had thought about that properly would be anything other against it. Actually that goes for any decent human being who is capable of independent thought.

But, no, some people wank to this shit and think they can still be considered decent human beings.

Surely it must be possible to make people understand, some of time??? Fairly depressing otherwise

Caz, I know nothing about how to help the OP. Moreover, it is not my responsibility as has been explained ^^ by others. I used the opportunity to pass on a link that is more appropriate and others posted relevant information. What more do you want?

Right, off to knit a kitten.

Oh and David51 please don't assume me to be included in your cosy group of 'everyone' who knows what a 'boring futile' exercise it is to argue with Dittany. Why do you feel this need to speak on behalf of other people? Who do you think you are the self-appointed representative of, other than yourself?

If you find it futile maybe you need to look at why? Is it because you're not capable of articulating yourself without being patronising?

Power is probably the wrong word dittany but I couldn't think of another one. I just mean that you have the opportunity to educate someone on a cause you feel strongly about, why not take it?

"I think people just see a group of women and automatically assume that they can tell them what to do, especially if they are stepping out of line and criticising male behaviour." - nonsense!! Well, when applied to me anyway!!

Carmina why does money trump morality for you?

Do you not have any concept of meaningful consent?

There are lots of instances where the law steps in and says consent to bodily harm is not possible e.g.

I can't pay you to kill you. You legally can't consent to that. Even if you gave me consent to remove one of your limbs, casserole it and eat it, it would still not be consent and I would still be rightly prosecuted (remember the awful German cannibal case?) A child under 16 cannot consent to sex with an adult. Even if they believe they can, give consent freely and willingly, their consent is not treated as valid. According to a 1994 House of Lords case neither can you consent to S&M practices which occasion ABH or GBH.

So paying money for consent to harm or abuse someone does not somehow magick it into valid consent, however 'freely' given. Would you agree that prostitutes can't be raped?

to be honest dittany I'm not interested in getting into an argument with you - I think everyone here knows by now what a boring and futile exercise that is.

You present yourself as some kind of expert on pornography, and what feminists are supposed to think about it - and yet you seem unable to handle any evidence that might force you to re-think or modify your position. That doesn't make for a vey constructive debate IMO

carminaburana you said "

The porn industry ( 99% of it anyway ) is completely legal and involves consenting adults"
this really isn't the case all you need to do is read what these ex-pornsatrs say about it, doesn't come across very consental to me