Customer Reviews

Online Pornography (Opposing Viewpoints)

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My mind's made up. I oppose all forms of cyber porn. This book just gave me ammunition to support my beliefs and do the review. I'm not an unbiased reader.

Somehow this was the most boring of these controversial 'opposing viewpoint' books. It's not always the issue but the arguments themselves that can be interesting. I bet the 'Sex Trade and Prostitution', and 'Building a Philosophy for Life' Opposing Viewpoints books are more interesting. It didn't help matters that most of those writing in favor of porn were lawyers, hired by this or that porn association, and their hearts didn't really seem to be in it.

One of those writing in favor of porn mentioned that there are 3 possible steps the authorities could take to get rid of it. Each choice would be too expensive or inconvenient or draconian. There is a 4th option however.

Those taking a stand Against online pornography made arguments I disagreed with. In fact their argument seemed to be women and children are being victimized by mad predators and porn feeds these predators or sets them off. I'm greatly exaggerating that point they made - they got very little into the predators themselves. It seemed to be find a victim and then rail against porn/whatever it is you are against. Using this scenario, perhaps sexual predators are the only ones who are fair game.

I'll stand up for pervs. I assume most 'sexual predators' are young men who've had affairs with underage girls a few years younger than themselves. Or the scenario (that used to be quite the rage among the in crowd) of a couple making out, and then upon being discovered, one party crying 'rape' in order to preserve their reputation/love/time free of grounding. I should point out here - the Madreviewer is not the one who wrote these pulitzer prize winners.

If you're concerned about porn, and especially online porn, your real concern should be with women and children and yes men too, watching porn. Porn itself is the insult. Did a single writer worry about children seeing porn? As opposed to the wrong adults seeing porn, who might then harm children? I'm not sure one did. One essayist did mention that porn affects the brain and the MRI scans of those who've watched. Porn also leads to more porn. That's what I've heard. To tell the truth, I watch online porn. If it wasn't online I couldn't be watching. I've already earned a few negative votes for this review but wanted to come back to it because I wonder if it's worth repeating. Half a book dedicated to opposing pornography and not a single worry that women or children might watch it, only that the wrong sort of men might watch porn and so we should restrict it.

The feminist argument, that porn is degrading to women, didn't ring true to me either, at least not in the context the authors intended. It may have been an extension of, or this argument took it as a given, that women are victims in our society. As far as porn is concerned, many viewers pay to see women whip, trample, slap them, etc. Not to mention, that for an 'equal' or consensual exchange, it's the man who is more likely to be 'paying' both in the fictional drama and for the porn itself. A man and a woman have sex, and in some cases the man must pay the woman money before hand, or a man simply wants sex with a woman, and this is seen as degrading to women, end of the story. Porn does more than degrade women, and for a some of the writers this was their argument.

It's also quite weird this fetishism of children too. I wonder if some of those 'protecting children' are children's own worst enemies sometimes? Does every child in the nation really need to believe that at any moment a stranger can't wait to snatch them up? Are there really that many real predators out there? As opposed to family members kidnapping children. If so, shouldn't there be classes on how to avoid your parents, in our wonderfully enlightened society?

One feminist mentioned that porn desensitizes men from showing a proper respect towards women (and one could say it desensitizes any viewer). The viewer no longer shows any interest in real women, or expects a partner to be like this perfect image he's seen on video.

Online porn is different than other forms of pornography. Those need the extra step of having to be ordered at the very least. Could there be a therapeutic value to porn? No one is saying there is. In movies at the end it seems like the guy, with the porn star girlfriend, ends up masterbating. Perhaps they know what we are doing at home? If there is any value or 'art' in porn, online porn seems to have no redeeming value at all. None that I can see. To be honest I don't see how anyone can be a feeling human being and not be against online pornography. The big mystery is: since Feminists and Christians both oppose porn, why do we still have it?