Which of you is right? Who knows. Personally, I suspect the truth lies in the middle: men have at least SOME biological urge towards varied sexual partners, porn caters to that urge AND porn strengthens that urge through repetition.

I think that kind of perspective is sorely missing in many anti-porn feminist circles - it’s the difference between respecting men and expecting the government to do work that society needs to do. I really don’t think censorship would solve many of the problems that women in the pornography industry face which is why I’m against it (beyond the fact that I find censoring anything to be pretty distasteful).

I might quibble with you about what sort of media fits under the objectionable category of porn, but as far as I’m concerned that’s largely beside the point. The small minority of progressive, feminist-created pornography really isn’t the issue here.

Mr. Bad - Believe me, I am concerned about men who are coerced into work, in fact, I am one (and so are you, propably). That’s why I’m an anti-capitalist. It’s why I volunteer serving food to the homeless (a majority of them, men). The fact that I didn’t mention men in a specific comment (about feminism) doesn’t say much about my character at all. The fact that you’re so quick to jump to conclusions says something about yours.

Under capitalism, virtually everyone (except a small minority of the idle rich) is coerced into working. To certain degree, nature itself coerces us - since we can’t eat without work being done, but most economic activity in today’s world has little to do with meeting basic human needs. It’s no exxageration to say that society could function with a six or even four hour work day, which could be possible in a (non-authoritarian) socialist society.

Everyone in a committed relationship who is also masturbating with pornography needs to examine why he or she is doing it.

Masturbation with pornography can often be used as self-medication, like drugs or alcohol or any number of other substances or behaviors, in order to numb, deny, and push away pain of all kinds, especially emotional.

I began self-medicating with pornography when I was young and came back to it after marrying an emotionally abusive spouse who refused sex by claiming I was lazy, stupid, ugly and immature. Pornography– along with a number of other coping strategies– enabled me to endure the emotional starvation for about 10 years. I am now divorced and sorting through the damage my and her behavior caused.

Is pornography a recreational pursuit like watching hockey or basketball– is it really harmless to you and your SO– or is it your denial mechanism? Given the real justice issues around pornography, however gray, why would you choose to continue on with it? Is there something more wholesome you can substitute?

Speaking as someone who asks himself these questions too and is working on it.

Why should anybody who is not a sexist only be concerned about women who are coerced into work? Surely just as many men are similarly coerced, so ignoring their plight speaks volumes about character.

Capitalism is an inherently coercive economic model, and I think it’s easy to see sex work as “more coercive” because it’s sexual (it’s certainly more apalling, at it’s worst), but I don’t think that’s always the case.

However, if you’re encouraging people to boycott the pornography industry completely because of this kind of exploitation, while continuing to buy from, say, the fast food industry (which is, on the whole, at least as exploitive, if you don’t believe me, talk to someone who works in a meat packing plant), then you’re really just setting up a big double standard in which prudishness about sex is more important than actually fighting exploitation.

I have a lot of respect for many anti-porn feminists, but not if they don’t have the same standards for protect other workers as they do for protecting sex workers. How many minimum wage workers consent to a life of poverty? Would the women who are driven to the pornography industry by desperation have many other options? I think some hard questions need to be asked.

Such as? I might agree re. what you call “high art” but for smut, the only difference is that the product is images of sex acts, which with the exception of Anime have to be performed by real, living men and women before you can make an image.

“(2) I see the important obligation as ensuring the safety and freedom of the workers. Nobody trafficks the readers/viewers of the adult industry, who have (in any case) plenty of protections already.”

I don’t believe that the trafficking of sex workers in the U.S. is a significant problem vis-a-vis numbers when compared to other industries that exploit workers such as agriculture, mining, petroleum production, etc. As for other countries, I really don’t care because I believe that members of individual cultures should be able to determine their own destiny without outside interference. E.g., the Iraq war falls into this category.

“(3) I support mandatory and enforced rules, not an industry code of practice.” As long as those rules are applied evenly across lines protected by the Constitution, i.e., race and sex, then I agree.

Three caveats: (1) I specifically exclude actual prostitution from the “adult entertainment” industry (in which I include virtually everything from high erotic art to frank smut). Not that I oppose measures for the safety of prostitutes, only that I see prostitution as a different situation, with different and far greater hazards for workers. (2) I see the important obligation as ensuring the safety and freedom of the workers. Nobody trafficks the readers/viewers of the adult industry, who have (in any case) plenty of protections already. (3) I support mandatory and enforced rules, not an industry code of practice.