Quote:
Originally Posted by photon
Of course, with some substances there's a physiological component to the addiction, that's not really relevant here.
Addiction is the problem, you can't remove every possible addictive substance from society to fix addiction.. at least not in ours, our society values freedom of choice and expression above restricting such to benefit the minority that can become addicted.
Porn can be used moderately.
Women themselves enjoy watching it, many couples view porn together.
Let me adjust that a bit and see if it's still valid:
"The real joy of being with women is to actually spend time with them, not fantasize about them through a computer screen. In fact, you could argue that all romantic movies are dehumanizing to the extent that it clearly takes away the intimate element of human contact."
If my wife watches a romantic movie and is very moved by it, there's romantic and emotional involvement with the movie. Yet I am not threatened by that because it isn't real.
I could argue that romantic chick flicks create an unrealistic view of men and women can become addicted to an unrealistic view of men portrayed in movies to the point that they hate real men and are dysfunctional in their relationships, substituting idealized romance for the real thing.
It's the same kind of logic, but I don't think it flies in either case.
If porn is being used as a substitute for human contact then yes I would agree, but there's nothing that means that that has to be the case.
Plenty of couples watch porn together and use it as a marital aid. Watching a idealized couple on screen be really romantic with each other in situations that could never really happen doesn't damage a healthy relationship, it probably just makes the couple feel more romantic to each other. Watching an idealized couple on screen be sexy with each other is no different, in a healthy relationship where the couple are both interested, it would just make them feel sexy to each other.
If one or the other is using the porn as a substitute, then there's a problem in the relationship. The porn isn't the cause, it's a symptom. If there was no porn available then it'd be something else; infidelity, neglect while spending time with friends, whatever.
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You've narrowly defined pornography so that it is far outside of the original constraints of the debate, which is fine, because it means we basically agree.
If porn, or erotica/romance, is being used between a couple, then I would deem it healthy, More-so, it's none of my business.
Substitution is another thing and I do agree with you. However, I am not exactly sure what constitutes a symptom or a cause in this case. It's most likely a direct symptom closely corresponding to a poor lack of commitment. However, pornography addiction as substituted for healthy sexuality is most likely a very direct form of relationship abuse.
Taking this out of the context of the individual, we should always be looking out for the harmful effects of such actions on other individuals and the community as well.