Reply #20: I generally agree with the article

[supernova]

in that I think porn is best viewed as a barometer/mirror of current society, rather than a cause of certain ills. Sex is a need. It may not be as immediate a need as shelter, food, and clothing, but sex is the next thing we think of after those things have been tended to, in Maslows hierarchy of needs. You could argue, and some do, that sex is present in the first three tiers.

So you aren't going to dismiss sex in your life the same way you get bored with gluing together model ships. You just can't. And anyone who can, I argue is probably cut off from themselves. Personally, I don't know that I'd want to be with a man who wasn't interested in looking at naked people.

Atman mentions, there are those who will never have sex. What are they supposed to do; lie back and think of England? I do think porn and all types of erotica provide a needed outlet. So, getting rid of it altogether is not a option.

If a person has deviant proclivities, I'd rather have that person occupying himself at home than out and about looking for prey. I think the future of virtual sex could be a real help in this regard. Rape, torture, and kill your virtual girlfriend as many times as you like. No harm done. It's hideous in the extreme, but you aren't killing real women.

As for the more unsavory aspects of the porn industry, of course it concerns me. I would much rather we have a more open and transparent porn industry that wasn't tied to organized crime and human trafficking. But would that still be porn? I don't know. Perhaps we could call it something new and healthier.

As for the article, I disagree with the author here:

Changing social attitudes doubtless have also played a role. Both young men and young women are more aware today of the boundaries between consensual and coercive sex. Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women, thinks the credit for progress against rape should go to federal funding under the Violence Against Women Act and to education efforts stressing that "no means no."

While I'm definitely glad about the Violence Against Women Act, I'm not so sure that we are all that enlightened about boundaries yet. There are still far too many assaults that sadly boil down to he said/she said arguments which solve nothing.