FSC Examines 'Porn Addiction' in Public Forum

[mongo]

FSC Examines 'Porn Addiction' in Public Forum
By: Mark Kernes
Posted: 4:08 pm PDT 4-26-2005

SACRAMENTO - It was a C-SPAN moment – or should have been: For the first time in its history, Free Speech Coalition (FSC) sought out legitimate naysayers to the widely-held industry view that adult video is not addictive, and let them battle it out – verbally, at least – with sex researchers in a public forum, with invitations having been sent to everyone at the state capitol who might be interested in the debate.

The advertised event was titled "Today's 'Porn' – Entertainment or Addiction?" The players included two familiar faces – Drs. Carol Queen and Robert Lawrence, sex educators, authors and co-founders of the Center for Sex & Culture in San Francisco – and two new participants – George Collins, a self-proclaimed former sex addict with a Master's degree in psychology who holds himself out as a "Sexual Compulsion Specialist," and Al Hernandez Santana, a city planner and Fellow at Consumers Union of San Francisco, with an extensive background in public policy and healthcare.

<big snip because I wanted to get this comment by Nina Hartley in>

"I think the culture gets the porn it deserves, and ... in a deeply conflicted culture and conflicted people, of course the erotic images that we make are going to reflect this conflict. And in a culture that keeps sexuality discussions extremely underground, it is sad that people are reduced, driven, forced to look at an entertainment fantasy medium for kernels of educative moments, and it's really not a good idea, because porn is not educative; it's fantasy, it's live-action cartoon, and we should not be trying to glean from it relationship advice."

It was sane advice that deserved to be on national TV. Someday, maybe it will be.

Here is the rest of this long, really good article with quotes from both sides of the issue WARNING: from adult video news, may contain adult content http://www.avn.com/index.php?Primary_Navigation=Article...

[jukes]

1. of course NO ONE

under this regime will admit the most widespread & perhaps insidious addiction of all: the jesus jones.

absolutely serious, no joke. my one claim to fame is that i'm recognized by the federal court system as an expert witness on addiction & substance abuse. and it's my professional opinion that religion most certainly CAN be addictive.

CAVEAT before the flames billow: it isn't necessarily addictive but an addictive personality can substitute an addiction to religion for other behaviors, and practically all of society will enable it!!!

some of the most destructive fundies definitely suffer from this condition; hence, their tenacious and destructive behavior. this is a SERIOUS problem for society, mostly because denial makes it an absolutely taboo topic.

i'm going to bed now, so vent away & i'll try to remember to lazuras this thread in the morning so i can snicker at the more emotion-laden attacks or answer any substantial questions on the subject that any rational people may have.

shd be guaranteed mole-bait as well as a legitimate topic that shd be of concern to actual liberals.

[Voltaire99]

4. Nice post!

Marx presciently called it the opiate of the people, although he hardly could have had in mind our junkie nation.

Weaning America from its religion fix is a Quixotic cause, but we can contain the harm to politics and society. What's left of liberalism should stand once more against encroachment of religion upon the secular sphere. The next time Hillary or Howard show up in public to preach the gospel of appealing to the megachurch crowd, tell them to go get stuffed.

It's simple. Resist Jesus, Inc. Or succumb. No one on this board, including all of ye virtuous lambs and lambsies in the Lord, would like spending one minute in the society our holy rollers are striving to create: a hell of conformity, obedience, anti-intellectualism, persecution, and war.

[jukes]

7. i really consider

religious addiction to be the most damaging of all. entire countries have been devastated, literally, by the co-dependents of these addicts, and each addict can have THOUSANDS of co-dependents.

[JHB]

12. Of course it's more damaging...

Most other addictions are considered Bad Things, and the addicts are viewed with scorn or pity.

Only religion enjoys having a status where its percived that "there's no such thing as too much", and it usually comes with built-in "don't break the 'habit'" enforcement.

[mongo]

20. Sorry I didn't get back here last night....

But I have to take exception to the addiction model when used for things that are not addictive substances, porn, food, shoes, jebus, you name it.

I think it minimizes the problems associated with addiction to addictive substances: alcohol, cocaine, meth, heroin, opiates, etc.

Yes, some people become compulsive about porn, but actually, I haven't seen too much of it. NO ONE'S coming in to buy even $100.00 of porn a week. I have lots of regular customers, most who take advantage of the 3 for $30 special, but they tend to come in every 2 weeks or so. The few people that were coming in more often than that must burn out on it, because after a couple of months, they stop coming in.

I don't know anyone who is spending their rent money or selling their body to buy a porno - but there are plenty in this neighborhood who do so for their next rock of crack or snort of meth.

This whole shebang about "addiction" to porn is more about doing something your spouse doesn't approve of, or using porn for sexual release, because of OTHER PROBLEMS in your primary relationship.

The whole Jesus addiction (if you want to call it that) is much, much worse. More of a cult than a religion.

[NAO]

2. Whenever I see acronyms with "F" and "C" I always suspect "Family"

Christian Right groups like Family Values Coalition or Family Religion Coalition or whatever.

So it was a relief to see that this FRC was the Free Speech Coalition.

[BiggJawn]

3. And in the End, The Porn you Send....

..is equal to the Porn you take...
Nina sure has it all wrong, doesn't she?

"...we should not be trying to glean from it relationship advice."

Does that go double for that Softcore for Women called "Cosmopolitan", Nina?

That's funny...."Relationship Advice" from Ron Jeremy slamming it to Seka?
I'm starting to chuckle....Relationship advice from a jerk-off video...We may need advice, but we sure as hell aren't looking for Jenna Jameson or Jeff Stryker to "give it " to us....

[blogslut]

11. funny how

You know all the star's names. Well, the old ones anyway.

The Free Speech Coalition rules. They are perhaps the only organization that openly fights for your right to enjoy consensual, adult entertainment.

[BiggJawn]

17. Isn't it though...

Hey, you seen 2 people fucking, you seen them all. I don't thnk Sex has changed enough in the last 20 years to warrant my upgrading my meager library, Y'know (sorry, Mongo, I know you gotta eat, too!)


I'm all for the FSC. I just gotta laugh at somebody who thinks I watch jerk-off videos to get "Relationship Advice"....

[mongo]

19. Did you read the whole article?

I think the comment on relationship advice was more about earlier comments about how screwed up abstinance only sex education is and teens searching out porn for education - in the abscence of any real sex education for teens.

Some of it IS educational - as in wow, I didn't know human beings could bend that way!

Don't knock Nina, she has done some real good in the world.

[BiggJawn]

21. Yeah, but I still had to chuckle...

And now it's a kind of sad chuckle, because Porn is exactly how *I* learned to fuck.
Shoot, you think my mom sat me down and told me what "really pleases a woman"?

Fortunately, I learned those 5 magical words:
"Tell me what you Want"

[jdj]

5. all I know about this is that my mom's baptist pastor announced in church

the other day that when he went to a preacher's conference this one one of the main topics since apparently many of the "men of god" there at the conference were horribly addicted to porn.

suprise sur-f*cking-prise.

maybe if they didn't have such a front up they wouldn't be "addicted".

edit: reply to BiggJawn...I sure do enjoy hearing Jenna talk about her religious beliefs though, since she's apparently catholic and the men of god that secretly make use of her art call her "an evil human being". Boy it pisses them off to hear her talk about god.

"From my experience the people that look down upon what I do for a living are the closet perverts. Trust me, I know, I've danced for them." Jenna Jameson

[jukes]

6. interesting

one range of study of addiction is the prevalence of "cross-addiction".

prime example being a cocaine addict that drinks with coke episodes, or excessively when coke isn't available.

[jukes]

8. kick

lazuras won't stir, dammit.


"wiggle your big toe..."

[jukes]

9. made it to page two

maybe another kick: keeeYAH!

[jukes]

10. one more try

"it's ALIVE!"

[youspeakmylanguage]

13. Claiming that visual and aural images are addictive is ridiculous.

Good music inspires people to sing and dance, either with one or more persons or by themselves or with their pets. Great tragedy and drama inspires people to cry and share their feelings, either with one or more persons or by themselves by talking to their pets. Sexually-explicit material inspires people to engage in sexual activity, either with one or more persons or by themselves. NEVER with your pets.

Anyone can develop an obsession over anything. Some obsessions are relatively innocent, some are dangerous. Becoming obsessed with porn and/or masturbation leads to nothing more dangerous than some chapped skin.

[bunkerbuster1]

14. I've only been listening to one CD for two weeks. Help me!

I'm a Wire "Pink Flag" addict!

[youspeakmylanguage]

15. For me it's Morphine...

"Cure For Pain", "Yes", etc.

I guess I need help!

[bunkerbuster1]

16. been meaning to check them out for years

weren't they prominent in the "spanking the monkey" soundtrack?

[youspeakmylanguage]

18. Yes, that brought them from obscurity to cult status...

They were an incredible band. Sadly, they are no more. The lead singer, songwriter, and bassist Mark Sandman passed away on stage in 1999.

Their albums are still available in stores, and the remaining members of the band (Dana Colley and Billy Conway) have a new band called Twinemen (named after one of Sandman's side projects - a cartoon). Check out:

http://www.twinemen.com /
http://www.hi-n-dry.com/