cjack

Jeez, do you need a step-ladder to get off that moral high horse you're on?


Let's take a step back here and differentiate between prostitution and porn...

Prostitution is an individual selling (or more accurately, renting) their own body for the sexual gratification of another person. The client is the direct recipient of the sex.

Porn, on the other hand, is something quite different.

For one thing, unlike the prostitute, the porn actor/performer/talent never interacts with the consumer of the "product."

For another, porn is not as easily defined as prostitution.

Some people would define the Victoria's Secret catalog as "pornographic." Plenty of people (mostly men) get sexual gratification from the photos in the catalog, but I don't think you could make the argument that those models are prostitutes, could you?

Playboy and Penthouse have traditionally fallen under the definition of "pornography," but it would be hard to label everyone who has ever appeared nude in those magazines as a prostitute.

The video of Pam Anderson and Tommy Lee is perhaps the best-selling porn video of all time, right? Is Pam a prostitute? Is Tommy?


Let's say you modeled underwear as a young boy and some pervert got off on it...are you a whore?


If you have ever made money from "selling" your body in a sexual nature, are you a prostitute?


Prostitution is the direct sale of a person's body for the sexual gratification of another person. Porn (in ALL of its forms) is the sale of the IMAGE of sexuality for the sexual gratification of another person.

tronvillain

99Percent:
From the conversations I have had I am under the impression that requiring someone be sober in order to get a tattoo was more about how it impacts the process (alcohol increases bleeding and makes the process more difficult and less effective) rather than about a person's decision making ability, though obviously it could be both.

dangin

And it's not like they make you blow to test your blood alcohol level before they ink you. Lot's of wasted people get tats. Hence many of the stupid tats people get. (Have you seen the tattoo parlors at a spring break destination spot, c'mon)

But to Odemus:

Everyone pays for it. You pay for it. all relationships have commerce, whether it be support, finance, emotional trading, or cash for sex.

You are not going to succeed in making your point because your point is too weak to be made. Sex makes the world go round. And even if porn is prostitution, so what? I don't think there is anything wrong with it no matter how you label it.

If prostitution were all legal and regulated, there would be less disease, less guilt, less damage to the women involved. It wouldn't raise an eyebrow. People like you are not the solution, you create the problem.

Harumi

Odemus,

You make it sound like being a prostitute/whore is a bad thing. May I ask, besides giving some silly morally superior reason, why you think this way?

Harumi

I'm glad I crack you up. I crack me up all the time too.

Despite my deconversion (it really wasn't much. I was a Buddhist, and well, Buddhists aren't exactly the type of people to get stuck on sin, but there was enough, particularly the high horse of morality feeling), I still haven't gotten rid of any inhibitions, and I have a feeling that it isn't because of religion, but my nature.

Sex is fun to talk about. It gives me the giggles, and seeing porn also gives me the giggles (probably because I'm still immature). Of course, I don't get the giggles if I'm surfing online at school and suddenly a naked woman pops out. That could get me a suspension after all... Anything beyond talking gives me the willies, and sends me screaming. I still tremble at the thought of holding hands, and kissing is just...urgh, not going there.

Before my deconversion though, although I might not act or show it, I was probably the most snottiest, morally smug person there ever was. My reasons for not wanting sex was no more than the fact that I wanted to be "better than everyone else". Now, it's because I have a boyfriend who's living long distance and I don't want to cheat on him. If we ever stay together long enough, we've agreed that we'll try...

Now that I'm an atheist, I couldn't give a damn what someone else does with his/her body, so long as there's no mental (that's for you Loren ) discomfort and the consent was mutual. Whores, I don't have a problem with. It's just another job, and one of the oldest that ever existed.

Thank reason that I'm not an atheist. If I was still religious, I might be another snot-nose, and you hardly need that, do you?

[edited because I can't spell]

Jamie_L

Well, I suppose I'll chime in on this thread, as I have what may be a new perspective (new to the thread, anyway).

First, a general comment: I love the internet. You meet all kinds of people and form first impressions off of their personalities, not off of appearance, profession, etc. I read posts by COAS for a while without even realizing her gender, much less knowing her involvement in the porn industry. I developed respect for her from her posts without having to stumble over potentially prejudicial obstacles. Gotta love this place.

Now, on to me.

I have basically accepted the fact that I am a pornography adict. I'm not "practicing" in a significant way, but I'm an adict in the same way that a reformed alcoholic is still an alcoholic. I simply have a behavioral tendancy to be unable to control my activities WRT pornography.

I went through a bad period once where it came close to interfering with my life in a serious way. Fortunately, my particular case is benign enough that willpower alone allowed me to get past it, and there were no repurcussions outside my personal wellbeing. I've identified my personal triggers that send me over the edge, and I keep a tight watch over those. I've been much happier since getting control.

My experience initially left me with an extreme distaste for the pornography industry. However, I'm slowly coming to the realization that the problem is my own. In recent years I've adopted a fairly liberal attitude towards personal choices. Things like drugs, gambling, alcohol, etc. are all things that can be used safely and enjoyable, and though risks of addiction may be involved, people should be free to take risks they deem acceptable. People who are less subject to problems than me should be free to do whatever makes them happy.

So, even though I'm stuck with my own baggage, I recognize now that it's my baggage. No reason to saddle anyone else with it. I'm not necessarily ashamed of who I am - it's just my brain chemistry. Add it to the list of ways my genetics limit me.

So, after putting aside my knee-jerk reaction, it's fascinating to read about COAS's experiences. It's reassuring to know that people can have a healthy interaction and involvement with pornography. I'd hate for everyone to be saddled with my shortcomings.

On a different note: why all the recriminations over prostitution? Sure, a porn star isn't a prostitute and vice versa, but prostitution is as legitimate as pornography, as far as I'm concerned. Personal choices that don't hurt other people should be just that: personal choices. Abuse should be rooted out wherever it is found, but people who pay for sex or sell sex to other individuals should be free to do so. There is certainly a similarity between pornography and prostitution, in that sex and money are involved in both, but there are plenty of differences. But even if there are similarities, so what? Why should prostitution have such a stigma that everyone has to be indignant and say "I'm NOT a prostitute?"

It's not like they're calling you a politician or anything.

Anyway, I say live and let live. More power to people who want to be involved with pornography. Like anything else in life: be safe. Be smart. But above all, have fun. After all, what other purpose is there in existence?

Jamie

Harumi

Reproduce? Keep our species from becoming extinct?

I rather like the action that involves in beginning that job.

Shake

Before I say anything about myself, let me first commend COAS and LadyShea for their open honesty and unique insights that most of us really know about from what we see in the media. (Which is obviously mistaken and misrepresented.) It's also good to see that you both have such healthy views of yourselves and what you've done with your lives! I applaud you both!!!

Forget a ladder for Odemus, he needs a parachute! DNFTT!

We are sexual beings, and it's OK if you enjoy it ... you're supposed to! I suspect even True Christians (TM) actually enjoy sex! (Gasp! Say it isn't so! )

The above being said, on to me. I almost let porn hurt my marriage, but only by attempting to hide it from my wife. She said my dishonesty about viewing it was more hurtful than the viewing of it. In fact, now we, who have also been married 7 years, find that porn is a great way of getting things going sometimes! There are times when she'll just ask me to talk to her about what I've been looking at online, which really gets her going (because she knows it excites me)! I believe that porn can be a healthy part of a sexual relationship if both partners can communicate what they like, what makes them uncomfortable, and how much they need or want to use it. I would still surf for it daily if I had the opportunity, and I don't mean necessarily the hardcore stuff.

I also don't see how saying that I fully support porn, but I don't want it out in the open at public stores, are incompatible viewpoints.

Again, I wish I had some thumbs-up smilies for you, COAS and LadyShea! You're my heros! (Heroines?)

Odemus

I wonder how many of you are willing to send your own daughters off to California to star in the next gang bang movie. Seriously, who here has every intention of teaching their own children that being a porn actor is an acceptable lifestyle?

I'm not on a moral high horse. That is unless having morals makes you an equestrian. So what if I happen to think pornography is having an increasingly negative impact on our society and world at large? I think a common sense look at the industry would tell you that. So what if I think that pornography (hard core) is exactly the same thing as prostitution. Go pick up a freaking dictionary.

I've got a daughter to raise in this over sexed society where looks are prized far more than intellect. So what's a fella to do?

livius drusus

Raise her the way you want to raise her and show some respect to people willing to engage in a discussion with you regardless of how you feel about the larger societal issues surrounding their professions.