Porn is like bacon: some won't eat it for religious reasons, some consider it filthy, some feel guilty after eating it, but everyone else (which is most of the population) loves it. Funny enough, scientists have searched long and hard (pun intended) for men who had never looked at pornography. They couldn't find any. Go figure.
There's a belief that porn causes violence. Ask most (but not all) NOW feminists and they'll probably throw-out Robin Morgan's infamous quote: "Pornography is the theory; rape is the practice." And, as the adage goes, no reason to discard a good theory just because it isn't true. But science says that porn doesn't make us more aggressive, doesn't promote sexism, and doesn't harm relationships. And science also suggests that suppressing desires for moral or religious reasons might actually encourage problems. (Cue Catholic church sex abuse scandals.)
Although hypersexuality can be a personal problem, being a nymphomaniac doesn't make you an aggressor. Yes, there are violent people who watch porn; but to try to pin the blame of violence on porn appears disingenuous. Porn doesn't make your sexuality pathological, and many who view porn still are quite conventional in their sexual practices. Porn also is a great way to learn new sexual techniques and add spice to your relationship. Additionally, it has been "scientifically investigated that as pornography has increased in availability, sex crimes have either decreased or not increased."
While once difficult to obtain, hardcore porn is now everywhere on the Web. As busybody politicians try to block porn, the rest of us can't seem to get enough. A typically large and profitable contributor to TV revenues, there are now so many free amateur porn videos on the Web that porn isn't selling like it used to. (Open source porn: take that copyright trolls.)
Do you think people base their relationships on what they see in porn? Does porn cause men to disrespect women? Do you think porn negatively affects marriage and family relationships? Is porn a cure for sexual repression? Does porn help improve your sexual relationship? If porn were illegal, what do you think would happen?
It used to be tough to get porn. Renting an X-rated movie required sneaking into a roped-off room in the back of a video store, and eyeing a centerfold meant facing down a store clerk to buy a pornographic magazine. Now pornography is just one Google search away, and much of it is free...
Contrary to what many people believe, recent research shows that moderate pornography consumption does not make users more aggressive, promote sexism or harm relationships. If anything, some researchers suggest, exposure to pornography might make some people less likely to commit sexual crimes...
The most common concern about pornography is that it indirectly hurts women by encouraging sexism, raising sexual expectations and thereby harming relationships. Some people worry that it might even incite violence against women. The data, however, do not support these claims. "There's absolutely no evidence that pornography does anything negative," says Milton Diamond, director of the Pacific Center for Sex and Society at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. "It's a moral issue, not a factual issue."
...Regular pornography use does not seem to encourage sexism, either...
Perhaps the most serious accusation against pornography is that it incites sexual aggression. But not only do rape statistics suggest otherwise, some experts believe the consumption of pornography may actually reduce the desire to rape by offering a safe, private outlet for deviant sexual desires.
...the trends "just don't fit with the theory that rape and sexual assault are in part influenced by pornography," Ferguson explains. "At this point I think we can say the evidence just isn't there, and it is time to retire this belief."
...What if it turns out that pornography use actually reduces the desire to rape? It is a controversial idea, but some studies support it...
The findings suggest that suppressing the desire to view pornography, for example, for moral or religious reasons, might actually strengthen the urge for it and exacerbate sexual problems.
DISCUSS!
Original posting by Braincrave Second Life staff on Aug 8, 2011 at http://www.braincrave.com/viewblog.php?id=615
We all admire beauty, but the mind ultimately must be stimulated for maximum arousal. Longevity in relationships cannot occur without a meeting of the minds. And that is what Braincrave is: a dating venue where minds meet. Learn about the thoughts of your potential match on deeper topics... topics that spawn your own insights around what you think, the choices you make, and the actions you take.
We are a community of men and women who seek beauty and stimulation through our minds. We find ideas, education, and self-improvement sexy. We think intelligence is hot. But Braincrave is more than brains and I.Q. alone. We are curious. We have common sense. We value and offer wisdom. We experiment. We have great imaginations. We devour literacy. We are intellectually honest. We support and encourage each other to be better.
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Sep, 2017 update: Although Braincrave resulted in two confirmed marriages, the venture didn't meet financial targets. Rather than updating our outdated code base, we've removed all previous dating profiles and retained the articles that continue to generate interest. Moving to valME.io's platform supports dating profiles (which you are welcome to post) but won't allow typical date-matching functionality (e.g., location proximity, attribute similarity).
The Braincrave.com discussion group on Second Life was a twice-daily intellectual group discussions typically held at 12:00 PM SLT (PST) and 7:00 PM SLT. The discussions took place in Second Life group chat but are no longer formally scheduled or managed. The daily articles were used to encourage the discussions.