Honest question: Why keep porn? So many of society’s worst problems are connected to or amplified by porn use and the porn industry, from pedophilia to sexual assault, to plain bad sex. Why not just make it illegal, full stop? Join my Substack chat here:
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What I've learned from this conversation is that men who like/defend porn seem not to view the women/girls on the other side of the screen as human—this sounds cliched, but literally so many of the the arguments are, "Why not ban alcohol, then?"
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In some case I think this argument is not being made in good faith, but for those who truly believe this is a fair comparison, I mean, isn't the obvious difference that alcohol is a product, and porn is people?
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It's troubling that men who like/consume porn don't think about what might be happening to the women/girls on the other side of their screen—how is this impacting her physically/mentally/emotionally?
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When I talk about 'banning' porn, I think of it in the same way I do prostitution: fundamentally, it is not ethical to buy or sell sex or to buy or sell access to other people's bodies.
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Replying to
I'm a woman who's worked in sex work for ten years - as a prostitute and producing porn - and I regret none of it. I'm pretty disturbed by people who want to tell me what I can or cannot do with my own body. What I choose to do with my body isn't any of your business.
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It becomes my business when it affects how all men treat me. I’m so glad you’re happy enriching yourself by making life worse for other women
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ah yes, because the countries where porn is banned have so much better treatment of their women
Because it has nothing to do with porn. It has to do with being dominated by religions that call women to be submissive to me, for men to have final say in the home, that a woman’s virginity to determine her value as a person, etc.
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