L.A.'s smut empire
Discuss round three of this week's Dust-Up.
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From the Los Angeles Times
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So McDonald's point is that the production and use of porn can have negative consequences and that these consequences should be balanced against the economic benefits of the porn industry when making policy decisions about the industry. Well, duh. You can make the same point about coal, oil, shrimp, cattle, silver, cars, alcohol, television, religion, and just about anything else. I hope the Times didn't pay this guy for his brilliant analysis.
Dr Mike @ 11:12 AM PDT, Jul 3, 2008
John, all I understood was blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. All that money has clouded your judgement. There is a social problem with porn addiction. Do a study and you will see. Just because we have freedom to do anything we want doesn't mean that there won't be consecuences. You should know better than that. Or do you just sound intelligent on paper?
Jose Rodriguez @ 11:06 AM PDT, Jul 3, 2008
When husbands or fathers become obsessed with porn, as often happens, children are ignored, wives become alienated, and the family is often destroyed. Moreover, studies have documented how even nonviolent porn can trigger physical aggression in men toward women when they are already prone to such behavior. Studies have also linked the teen exposure to porn to an increase in promiscuous behavior, sexually transmitted diseases and unexpected pregnancies. Couldn't this be said about just about anything? I mean really, take out the word porn and put in "work" or "music."
MJ @ 10:56 AM PDT, Jul 3, 2008
People argue that pornography encourages sexual violence. With the internet, the availability and consumption of pornography has increased greatly, at least in the developed world. Surely we should see an explosion of sexual violence beyond anything seen before? Looking at crime statistics this doesn't seem to be the case...
Dave @ 10:47 AM PDT, Jul 3, 2008
Regarding comment 22: You are assigning a dubious causality here. I think that female bisexuality is "glamorized" because more people, of both sexes, find it (for whatever reason) sexier than watching two men. Is it "discriminatory" that a heterosexual male finds two women more appealing than two men? In order not to offend you, we now need to share your turn-ons? You tripping, mathew!
jimludwig @ 10:29 AM PDT, Jul 3, 2008
(con't) I have a strong philosophical (not religious) aversion to porn, but agree with nearly everything Stagliano says as to the impossibility and, indeed, undesirability, of strictly regulating the content of what we all concede to be personal choices: I will argue why porn can be harmful to its users and their partners, but I will never argue that anyone should be prohibited by the govt from using (or making) it. But, all economic activity is subject to some govt regulation; the question is whether porn's content may/should be regulated. Unless it's kid or animal (etc) porn, I don't see how a content-based line can be fairly drawn.
Jen @ 10:08 AM PDT, Jul 3, 2008
The questionposed above is incoherent, so the debaters are talking past each other: McDonald about the social consequences of porn but ultimately posing a personal (not government policy) question, and Stagliano about the evils of govt regulation generally and, specifically, how it must not insinuate itself into personal choices. I find both positions compelling and not inconsistent. (cont'd)
Jen @ 10:06 AM PDT, Jul 3, 2008
Why can't conservative religious whack jobs ever back up their points with science. We have porn, prove its harmful or go away. This isn't a religious argument you can win by claiming we need to have faith.
Rep. Mike @ 9:28 AM PDT, Jul 3, 2008
I like porn in all of its incarnations. It is another form of entertainment like movies, video games, and the such.
recent college grad @ 9:26 AM PDT, Jul 3, 2008
There's no way harm to end usersreal or illusoryis relevant to this particular argument. You want to get porn outlawed, hey, give it your best shot. But until that happens it'll be produced someplace, it's merely a question of where the money lands. It'd be like zoning against breweries without banning alcohol. You're not saving anyone, you're just senselessly chasing away the money.
Roger Krueger @ 9:13 AM PDT, Jul 3, 2008
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