Is porn actually harmless, or are we just pretending?

[Monster Energy]

5 minutes ago, Lila9 said:

Porn is not harmless. It is harmful for everyone.

Sex, at least between humans who are complex beings, naturally involves emotions and feelings because we are not only material beings but emotional and spiritual beings as well.

Porn is the capitalist version of sex: mechanical, materialistic, violent, stripped of feelings or any meaning, performative, non-erotic.

People start watching porn from childhood because it is so accessible. Girls learn to objectify themselves, and boys learn to objectify women.

This provides such a distorted view of sex and creates unrealistic expectations.
It doesn’t do well for the psyche. The porn industry is very exploitative.

There would be a better world without it, or at least if people were more critical and mindful about it.

 

 

 

Yeah, I actually agree with most of that

 

[Monster Energy]

This film will make you stop loving porn. It was banned in multiple countries around the world.

 

[bazera]

[NewKidOnTheBlock]

Cranked out a decent one while reading this

[Monster Energy]

1 hour ago, bazera said:

Based on a true story 

[LordFall]

Plenty of pornstars also like their work and their fans 

[Oeaohoo]

Porn is definitely not harmless. It fills your subconscious with garbage, especially over time. It can even attract dark and demonic forces which corrode the soul.

[Basman]

14 hours ago, bazera said:

@Basman Lets not split hairs about the terminology. The fact is that you can get so used to using it, you can overdo it and experience negative side effects (weak or no erections, low libido, requiring more intense content to get off, objectifying women in an unhealthy way, guilt, unable to maintain proper intimacy with a girl, etc), then you decide to quit and find yourself in a craving and relapsing cycles.

That's classic addiction to me. It can have psychological roots but also deep physiological dependency as well.

It's factually not an addiction. This is what I mean by exaggerating.

[Basman]

12 hours ago, integral said:

Would porn still exist without capitalism?

Yes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_erotic_depictions

[bazera]

10 minutes ago, Basman said:

It's factually not an addiction.

How would you define an addiction? 

What is an addiction?

[Natasha Tori Maru]

An addiction is typically outlined when a compulsive habit begins to interfere with the person's ability to function and perform in life. This is when it crosses over into a pathology clinically.

I'd say porn addiction can do that. Gooners are a good example. I've seen a legit goon cave... MY GOD is I will say. Being a NEET and spending 7-8hrs a day edging to porn really isn't functional.

Edited 2 hours ago by Natasha Tori Maru

[bazera]

2 minutes ago, Natasha Tori Maru said:

spending 7-8hrs a day edging to porn really isn't functional.

Yes, even less then that, daily consumption not only makes you less functional, it tends to skew your perceptions a lot. You get desensitized to what you see on the screen (and I don't just mean vanilla erotica stuff, most people develop tendencies to go into some real hardcore shit because vanilla isn't enough anymore) and as a result real life becomes less exciting / dissapointing, which makes intimacy with a partner much harder. 

Quote

An addiction is typically outlined when a compulsive habit begins to interfere with the person's ability to function and perform in life.

That's why I'm calling that an addiction and not something else. When you have that problem in your life and call it an addiction, that comes with a responsibility and recognition that yeah, this is not right, I need to fix it.

When you don't recognize it as addiction, you might bullshit yourself that it's normal.

Again, I'm talking about overconsumption, if some people goon occasionally and live a happy healthy life, that's fine I guess. No moralizing here.

[Natasha Tori Maru]

@bazera I agree - and no judgement from me either.

Some people may be able to consume porn with very little consequences. Others, not so much. 

I do think we have to question its effects, what sort of ideas it is programming into us - and as you touched on - the 'more' nature of the dopaminergic response humans have toward sex and orgasm.

[Basman]

29 minutes ago, bazera said:

How would you define an addiction? 

What is an addiction?

No respected medical board defines it as an addiction. They have precise standards for what is considred an addiction. "Porn addiction" is a pseudoscience. 

10 minutes ago, Natasha Tori Maru said:

An addiction is typically outlined when a compulsive habit begins to interfere with the person's ability to function and perform in life.

I'd say porn addiction can do that. Gooners are a good example. I've seen a legit goon cave... MY GOD is I will say. Being a NEET and spending 7-8hrs a day edging to porn really isn't functional.

It's more common to spend that kind of time gaming, but you don't see moral panic over that to nearly the same degree. 

Functionality alone is way to broad and iffy as a definition. It's not functional to be on a forum 1-3 hours every day either. I guess you have an addiction and need psychiatric help. 

I'd argue that excessive media consumption is more likely symptomatic of something underlying then the cause. Someone who has 8 hours to burn has issues and doesn't have a life. That's not only a psychological issue, but also sociological and historical (untethering of bonds, stare of the job market, etc.).

The urge here is to blame porn for a bunch of issues that aren't directly related to porn itself. 

[bazera]

6 minutes ago, Basman said:

No respected medical board defines it as an addiction. They have precise standards for what is considred an addiction. "Porn addiction" is a pseudoscience. 

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/addiction

Quote

a compulsive, chronic, physiological or psychological need for a habit-forming substance, behavior, or activity having harmful physical, psychological, or social effects and typically causing well-defined symptoms (such as anxiety, irritability, tremors, or nausea) upon withdrawal or abstinence : the state of being addicted

This was literally my experience with over-consuming porn and compulsive masturbation to it.

This is why I call it an addiction. Based on an experience, not based on a medical board definition.

Edited 2 hours ago by bazera

[Natasha Tori Maru]

3 minutes ago, Basman said:

No respected medical board defines it as an addiction. They have precise standards for what is considred an addiction. "Porn addiction" is a pseudoscience. 

It's more common to spend that kind of time gaming, but you don't see moral panic over that to nearly the same degree. 

Functionality alone is way to broad and iffy as a definition. It's not functional to be on a forum 1-3 hours every day either. I guess you have an addiction and need psychiatric help. 

I'd argue that excessive media consumption is more likely symptomatic of something underlying then the cause. Someone who has 8 hours to burn has issues and doesn't have a life. That's not only a psychological issue, but also sociological and historical (untethering of bonds, stare of the job market, etc.).

The urge here is to blame porn for a bunch of issues that aren't directly related to porn itself. 

If it impedes functioning any of the above can be a problem and can verge on qualifying for an addiction. If you have issue resisting the compulsion and it impedes your ability to function in day to day life, for me, it doesn't matter if it is clinical or not. It follows the patterns of an addiction and could very easily be termed as such.

I am not singing out porn consumption here.

If you want to narrowly define an addiction that is fine. But porn consumption CAN be a problem.

[bazera]

14 minutes ago, Natasha Tori Maru said:

the 'more' nature of the dopaminergic response humans have toward sex and orgasm.

Yes, from personal experience, this can get real bad. Not to mention the shame and guilt that comes with it.

There's higher awareness on this issue in culture today than it was 10-15 years ago. But I think more and more young guys are suffering with same issues, but they can't talk about it because it's a taboo. Mostly they get a wake up call when they are with a partner and can't perform. That's a turning point for most men, but even then, it's not that easy to get rid of it.

Edited 2 hours ago by bazera

[Basman]

I believe most anti-porn advocacy is religious and ideological in nature but take on a "scientific" approach since the ideological approach is a non-starter nowadays. Again, 8 hours of gaming doesn't get the same level of critique of as 8 hours of porn despite the former being way more common. 

Fight The New Drug is a prime example. It's a Utah based organization (mormon) that preaches anti-porn advocacy using pseudoscience, misinformation and correlatory conclusions. That is an  ideological driven org masking itself as rigorous and truthful.

The Nofap org is similair, but more akin to a grift in my opinion. The owner Alexander Rhodes would sue people who criticized his work and he trademarked "nofap" as a silencing tool. Obviously because it's an untruthful org that doesn't want to be exposed.

[Basman]

11 minutes ago, Natasha Tori Maru said:

If it impedes functioning any of the above can be a problem and can verge on qualifying for an addiction. If you have issue resisting the compulsion and it impedes your ability to function in day to day life, for me, it doesn't matter if it is clinical or not. It follows the patterns of an addiction and could very easily be termed as such.

I am not singing out porn consumption here.

If you want to narrowly define an addiction that is fine. But porn consumption CAN be a problem.

You can call it a compulsion. It's like the word "narcissist". It's an exact term. Using it flippantly is unserious and a misuse of serious medicial terms in my opinion.

[Basman]

3 minutes ago, Basman said:

I believe most anti-porn advocacy is religious and ideological in nature but take on a "scientific" approach since the ideological approach is a non-starter nowadays. Again, 8 hours of gaming doesn't get the same level of critique of as 8 hours of porn despite the former being way more common. 

Fight The New Drug is a prime example. It's a Utah based organization (mormon) that preaches anti-porn advocacy using pseudoscience, misinformation and correlatory conclusions. That is an  ideological driven org masking itself as rigorous and truthful.

Which is also reflective of a lot of internet users. The misuse of medical speak and unbacked claims of the negatives (misinformation) of porn is trying to sound more credible than they really are. It's really about latent cultural religious values and conformity in my opinion.

I'm going to sound like a broken record, but why is porn uniquely worse than gaming? Nearly everything you attribute to being bad about porn can be equally true of gaming. But only one recieves this kind of energy.