Online Porn

[Jagged Angel]

I don't really know quite how to respond to this thread. I was in the sex industry for many years here in Australia and in Europe. I have not worked in America, but I do understand that the industry is very different to the manner in which I worked. I did not do porn films at all, but I have to admit it did cross my mind once or twice. I am glad now that I didn't because I am now a more public person, and whilst it would not ruin my career or anything, it is easier not to hear the whispers.

I have found that most people do not care that I was a stripper and sex worker, but if there was video evidence of it (i.e. porn films), I believe that would be a different story.

Cragger, I would not go so far as to blame the porn industry for the sexualisation of young females. I am not entirely certain where the blame lays - I used to think it was parents, until a friend of mine told me that it was absolutely impossible to find 'decent' (as in not sexy) clothes for her 6 year old daughter, and that the pressure to buy these clothes was huge. I don't know whether the blame lays with the clothing companies (or are they just tapping into the market), or the girls' magazines, or movies and TV... I think it is one of those all-wrapped-up-in-the-culture-of-the-times things... like flare pants and sideburns in the 70s :smile:

I don't know about the porn industry in the States, but I am able to get plenty of porn made by women for the female audience. And it's great! Yes, I do like porn, but I do not tend to like the porn made by men for men (too graphic - I like to see more of the bodies, not just body parts). And I feel that the male porn does tend to objectify both men and women.

To those people here who believe that porn is a bad thing for society and an evil of and for humans, and that the people involved in the sex industry are debased... I have no response for you right now. I feel as though I am now a marginalised person on this forum.

 

[TLight]

Sex is animalistic and just plain entertainment for some people. For some, it is completely devoid of feelings. For a lot of those people, it is about power.

Here in the US, most of the porn I've investigated has to do with power over another person. Not pleasure, not respect, not making another person feel wonderful.........it is completely about domination and power.......both for men and women in these videos.

Sex is a sacred act. How it is practiced in our culture is part of what sets humans apart from animals.

At this point, in the US, we are animals.

It is destructive for both young women, and that argument doesn't need to be made again. And I believe it is ultimately destructive for our young men........for it teaches them that their partners are objects.

The first step in allowing yourself to hurt someone, physically or emotionally, is to objectify them. Making someone an object allows the psyche to remove itself from the emotional effects of the psyche's actions.......and ultimately physical affects.

How do you think the Nazi's justified their actions within themselves and their inner sense of humanity. They made the Jews objects, not feeling people.

That said. If you choose to watch porn, I do believe their is a small portion of the industry that attempts to maintain the humanness of the interaction.

If you choose to watch or participate in the other stuff.........well, your choice, just always strive for AWARENESS within yourself of what it is doing to you.

Personally, I think it is very dangerous for a culture to indulge and even glorify the taking of a sacred act and making it animalistic and even violent. Everything I've checked out lately is pretty much violent in my opinion. I mean a man shoving it down a woman's throat as far and as hard as he can and saying demeaning things to her..............?

Come on people. This can't be good for anyone. Especially our precious children.

 

[This Ends Now]

About Porn

I am not a fan.

I have been a stripper and I can say that it is not a glamorous profession. I remember running into the dressing room one day crying b/c some guy had been insisting that the girls call him "daddy" and it triggered some flash backs. I was sure that the other girls did not understand until I saw their reactions. I asked how many had been molested? More than half. How many had been abused? All but one. Many times the dressing room was a place for girls to cry and drink or do drugs to stop feeling feelings. Many times the managers would yell at a sobbing girl to get back on the floor and make the club some money. This was not experience from one club. This was the experience from working at seven different clubs. Some are worse than others.

I worked with a girl who was also a member of a sex slave group (in addition the strip club). Apparently that stuff is very real. I liked her, but sometimes she would say things that made my hair stand on end.

Another girl I worked with overdosed in the dressing room and had to be rushed to the hospital. I don't know if she lived or not.

Another girl was slipped something in her drink while she was not paying attention. The club had to be shut down and the cops were called.

Another girl was talked into leaving with a customer. I never saw her again.

I knew several girls that did various levels of escort work. Some made money and got out while they were still semi-functional. Others fell further down the rabbit hole than I would like to describe.

One of the girls I was friends with made the mistake of agreeing to go to California for a porn shoot. She came back catatonic. I can no longer watch porn after learning some of what she went through. That's all I have to say about that.

As far as what is in store for the next generation... I don't know. I know one day my grandfather was standing in line at the post office listening to someone express concern over what we were leaving for the next generation. My grandpa said "Yeah, I was lucky growing up. My parents only left me with the Great Depression, WW2, and the Korean War."

Maybe the society getting worse / internet making it more visible issue is not an "OR" question. Maybe kids are getting into "grown up" stuff at a younger age because of magazines and music.... maybe its because kids are reaching puberty at a younger age... maybe its because 200 years ago it was "normal" to get married before your 16th birthday.... maybe its all of the above.

Sorry for the rant. This is an emotional topic for me.

Liz H.

 

[SunnyBrookFarm]

*****May Trigger - Warning *****

My first experience with porn was my stepfather showing me his porn magazines when I was 8 yrs old. I see some posts on here that are defending the industry and while I know that technically it is an "adult industry" - obviously adults are using it for their benefit and are at times including small children. Also, I know (from former friends who were involved with strip clubs etc.) that it is true that at least 1/2 of them were molested as children or sexually abused in some manner before and/or during their time as a dancer.

I am seeing on my local news - weekly that someone else (who was an upstanding citizen - noone could believe blah blah) has been found with child pornography on their computer.

It all sickens me - it causes that knot in your stomach that won't go away -

I don't want to stereotype - I realize that for some people it is not a problem and I would like to say to each his own - however, there is a dark side to it. One that I doubt I'll ever overcome.

(I apologize if I've offended anyone - I don't mean to sound angry - but.....)

 

[SunnyBrookFarm]

I want to clarify something - I don't mean my post as an insult to anyone who has ever been in the sex industry - I do understand how it happens and have had friends in the past who truly felt they had no other choice.

My post is more to point out that - young children are being exposed to porn - often by those you would least expect.

 

[Healing Survivor]

I work at a crisis shelter for teens and every day I talk to kids who are being bombarded with everything in this world out to get them. But this is what I try to remember: it's not just them, it's all of us, and we all have to work together to battle this evil; there are still kids out there who do have healthy homes and positive influences and we need to keep hope in them; and there are several programs in place (at least where I live) to help these kids cope. Of course the world IS messed up, sadly to say, but I think we have to hold on to some kind of hope in people and do our part. Hard times...

 

[cragger65]

Cragger, I would not go so far as to blame the porn industry for the sexualisation of young females...... I think it is one of those all-wrapped-up-in-the-culture-of-the-times things... like flare pants and sideburns in the 70s :smile:

I'm not sure I was blaming the porn industry for our culture, as much as noting its merging with the mainstream. I don't see it as anyone's "fault" per se, just a cultural phenomenon that North America is ripe for.

I don't know about the porn industry in the States, but I am able to get plenty of porn made by women for the female audience. And it's great! Yes, I do like porn, but I do not tend to like the porn made by men for men (too graphic - I like to see more of the bodies, not just body parts). And I feel that the male porn does tend to objectify both men and women.

Now that sounds like good porn!!! I agree with you completely, most porn has become nothing but a series of close-ups and abstractions that takes the human-ness out of the sexual experience altogether.

To those people here who believe that porn is a bad thing for society and an evil of and for humans, and that the people involved in the sex industry are debased... I have no response for you right now. I feel as though I am now a marginalised person on this forum.

I am truly sorry for this Angel, I did not bring this topic up to "poo poo" porn, merely to voice concern over what seems to be it's rampant growth due to internet access and how that will affect this generation. I'll have to be more careful of my wording.

 

[Jagged Angel]

Hi Cragger,

Yeh, I know you weren't blaming the porn industry for the culture. It is unfortunate that people do sexualise themselves and others and that this is a part of Western society - it's not just North America that this is happening in, I see it all the time here in Oz too. I just have no idea what has happened and how it has happened - I look on TV on the music video clips and all I see is women wearing next to nothing, while men look on (the men being fully clothed), I walk down the street and I see 6 year old girls dressed like... well, to be honest... sluts (complete with high heels and make up), and I wonder to myself how it got this way. Even when I was in the sex industry, I did not dress like that in public (I'm not counting the times I worked at things like bike and car shows... that's not really 'public' is it?).

As to the women's porn - it's great stuff! I've had boyfriends in the past who have said to me that they enjoy the women's porn over the men's porn because they get tired of the stupid positions and close-ups in men's porn. One can only hope that the porn industry listens!

You don't need to be more careful of your wording, Cragger. I was not actually having a go at you, and those people who believe that porn is such a bad thing have every right to express how they feel, just as I have a right to express that I do like it. I just felt what they said very personally. And that's not your fault.