Posted on 10/26/2004 2:07:52 AM PDT by Banjoguy
There are an estimated one million porn sites on the Internet, and most of them are easy to find.
“Basically, if you want to see it, you can,” said Mark, 17.
And many porn sites are hardcore.
“Very vulgar, lewd type of material,” said Jeremy, 19.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 70 percent of 15- to 17-year-old males have visited a pornographic website. Another survey found that among 16- and 17-year-olds, four percent visit porn sites regularly.
“I’m hanging around kids my age, and they all pretty much get their fair share of that stuff I would say daily,” said Jake, 16.
Meanwhile, the National Institute of Health is studying the long-term effects of porn on young adults.
“It has the potential for teenagers to really mess up what their attitudes are about sexuality, and really mess up relationships,” said Paul Schenk, Psy.D., clinical psychologist.
(Excerpt) Read more at kget.com ...
Aint this nice..as I was reading this you wouldnt guess what popped up on my screen.
You'll need to learn how to control those 'popups.'
In other words, shouldn't depictions of violence be even less socially acceptible than depictions of sexuality?
It took me more than a while to formulate an answer to this question, but the answer that came to me seems very significant.
The violence in an action movie is (almost) always part of a context in which one person takes a personal risk to achieve some selfless goal (e.g. Rambo risks his own life to rescue the POWs). However, pornography is just as consistently a depiction of selfishness - in fact it is a celebration of selfishness.
And selfishness is the root cause of most of the true evil in this world.
"And selfishness is the root cause of most of the true evil in this world."
A different way to phrase that is that a failure to love one's neighbor as one's self is the root cause of most of the true evil in this world.
If I keep up all this reasoning I'll probably end up with the Ten Commandments(!)
Theres porn on the internet???
Porn is especially damaging in that it always objectivizes the woman involved. This can lead to serious relationship problems, sometimes physical harm, and as the author points out,addiction.
Pleasure based addictions eventually become a dominant motivational force which will supercede everyday constructive, behavior.
IMO it's not about 'virtue' but instead it's about enlightened self interest and the pursuit of healthy, positive sexual development in young people who need to learn about the role of mutual respect in relationships.
Very funny.....
Back in the real world, people aren't that good looking and they're going to have to settle for less. They may even have to settle for (gasp!) monogamy with someone who's not a super-model. All this porn makes people reject this because , even though they may be sexually gratified by their partner, they think they've failed in life if they are stuck with an average looking but nice partner.
Ping.
Isn't it interesting how that works? ;)
It's true, as you say, the reality that is depicted by entertainment and modern marketing vs what one realizes in their real life is rarely congruent. Some can't get past the the expectations offered by fantasy. Most of the time when you decide to change partners due to expectations not being met, you wind up trading a headache for a broken arm.
For a while I was enrapt by the online availability of explicit material until it paled and palled; now it's all clinical observation without meaning. I've come back around to the ideal that true beauty comes from the soul while attractive packaging can harbor repugnant evil. Then again, I've always been so drawn to faces (and their nuances) that not noting important things like marriage rings on hands has led to some embarrassments.
The grounding lessons of morality that used to be laid down by religious upbringing is sorely lacking in today's society. Parents don't wish to look as "square" as their parents seemed to them and often try too hard to be their kid's best friend when the kids' souls cry out for knowledgable authoritarianism. The price of not putting one's foot down is children adrift and subject to whatever moral or immmoral code they find convenient. I believe the neotribalistic tattoo and piercing fads are evidence of parenting failures ("I need one to express my individualism. All the other kids have one!")
Too often the kids who go that far indulge in loveless sex and suffer the related contractual illnesses and psychic scarring that often results.
If you're a parent be a parent. I've had several sets of parents and the toughest ones were the most valuable (and garnered the most respect) in my upbringing. Values are the greatest gift you can give.
Porn can be damaging if one's obssessed with it. Its like anything else that's legal - alcohol, tobacco, and gambling - too much of it can ruin your life. If people can handle it responsibly, its merely diversionary entertainment. Its one of those vices or pleasures, depending on how its looked at, that will always be with us. There's something about sexuality and the male fascination with women that will summon up desires as old as human nature in fantasizing how to get them, how to have them and how to keep them.
Most men know porn is fantasy. That's exactly why its popular - there isn't a man alive who hasn't fantasized making love to the most beautiful woman on earth. That doesn't mean we'd give up the women we love for the "perfect" celluloid woman. No woman alive will ever match the fantasy and I would say for most men the fantasy is a simply a reminder to treasure what we do have in our lives and we're blessed to have someone love and appreciate us for who we are.
Why shouldn't sex be great, and inventive, and prurient, and all that? What is wrong with high expectations, or interesting sex? And who are you to decide who deserves interesting sex?
Socialism is the least selfish of all forms of government and yet it leads to poverty , tyranny, war and other evils. The problem is not self interest, the problem is not living reasonably.
Nothing wrong with thinking about having mind-blowing sex. Although it should never be a substitute for putting the effort into making a relationship work. At the right time at the right place, it can be the closest thing two people will ever experience to heaven on earth.
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