Porn (again)
06 August 2007
I read this interesting article quoting feminist Naomi Wolf who herself quotes from the Bible!
Wolf's original article here
Thanks Craig for the link
tags christian, ministry, ministry tips
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I think that Naomi Wolf quotes from the Bible because she apparently has become a Christian (I believe of a slightly mystical persuasion?) I remember reading something about it but don't recall all the details
I had a quick look and read some stuff to that effect on wikipedia. Might be worth having a look at.
The original article is outdated. Porn is wrong, but the internet is not full of "perfect" women. It's full of ordinary women of every shape and size warts and all, and they are all taking their cloths off. For what reason I don't know. They are not even making money, there are too many of them, even from Hobart. It must be a confidence thing for women these days to do a nude photo shoot, which is perhaps another issue. This whole thing has many dimensions.
OK, anon. But typical porn "stars" -- the famous ones whose names even I know, unfortunately -- are facelifted, breast-implanted, waxed, tanned, collagen-injected, etc., within an inch of their lives. That's the big picture. Moreover, I think Wolf's point stands, regardless of the exceptions to the "porn girl" rule.
It's a really interesting article.
Maybe in the 80's there were a small group of porn "stars" making videos out the back of Hollywood. But I suspect these days they would be a very small minority, compared to the number of housewives getting their cloths off. Add to that all the webcam girls in eastern europe and the Hollywood porn star is almost forgoten. My point is, porn does not show "perfect" women, in fact it maynot even be what men want.
I'm not so sure that 'ordinary' is ordinary any more.
I think that all you have to do is look at the pictures women put up for their profiles on myspace, facebook etc and it's clear that it is no longer normal to look ordinary. I know, it's normal to want to put up a pretty pic, but I think that the way women present themselves changing. I can only extrapolate from the non-porn world of internet interaction, but I'm guessing these are probably pretty hot housewives! (or at least, are trying to be hot)
Also, some of the recent press coverage about the damage of internet porn to relationships seems to indicate that part of the problem with it was that it is different from the everyday world, that guys with addictions were no longer satisfied with normal relationships.
I think the response is missing the main point of the article: Naomi Wolf wrote the article in response to the main Christian objection to porn in the 70's: that it will cause widespread objectification of women, leading to greater instances of rape and sexual assault. This is the "porn myth" that hasn't actually happen: check the statistics and instances of rape have actually decreased since porn became widely available.
One interesting atheist comment I read on the original article: that for thousands of years it's been about men lamenting that no woman 'wants' them (e.g. finds them attractive)... now it looks like things are coming full circle!
Guys get addicted to porn for a few reasons I think:
1. Loneliness. Quite simply some guys feel that they cannot find a good partner, at which point they start moving to porn. Not sure of a good solution to this one.
2. It's simple. Women cause a myriad of issues to happen to a guy, and sometimes it seems simpler (and more attractive) to watch a porn video - no attachments, no emotions, just pure sex.
3. Unsatisfied. Some married guys just might feel unsatisfied with their sex lives (from all pre-marriage books I've read this can be a real and serious problem) and turn to porn for their 'thrills'.
Either way, you're kidding yourself if you think porn is a new problem. Before that there was magazine porn, and then before that prostitution was the big deal.
So what's the solution? Marry our men and women off young? Maybe not. But it is certainly more desirable than burning with desire. The trouble is that most young guys burning with desire can't get a girlfriend in the church, and so they either turn to non-Christian culture if they can (seen this happen), or porn (more likely, as it's easier).
I can't think of a way to address these causes and get our young people away for porn. I say people because women becoming addicted is apparently also becoming an issue. So if anyone has a solution to help young people deal with their addiction that isn't just "porn is bad", I'd be interested to know what it is. How could I go about counseling someone with such an addiction, and address these root causes?
So maybe we can start a christian dating service. lol
"can't get a girlfriend in the church" Seams especialy hard when your not allowed to look outside your denomination.
Jonny: Are you BSJ in disguise?
Bron: I'm thinking that, instead of "guys with addictions were no longer satisfied with normal relationships", it is instead that guys have addictions because they are not satisfied with their normal relationships. I suspect this might be the answer for at least some people.
great post Jolly. i recently did a talk to year 11 and 12 boys on porn and have read a fair bit about it.
i think one of the saddest things here is that sex is being distorted into something that its not. while God created sex to be enjoyed (which i hope many people do), he also created it to strengthen the bond within a marriage relationship and to make kids.
not being married i can only go on what i've discussed with friends. but the intamcy and vulnerability assosicated with sex can and should only be sustained in a marriage relationship. pornography promotes sex as relationship-free. in my opinion, this completely erodes one of the core functions of sex - to nurture and strengthen the marriage relationship.
the fact is our culture teaches us that we deserve instant gratification. if you want something, go get it!!! think of fast food, credit cards, the convenience of mobile phones. you don't have to cook, you don't have to save, you don't have to wait until you get home to make a call.
porn is exactly the same. you don't have to wait until you get married. you don't have to work hard on developing a strong relationship. you can get it when you want as long as you want.
its a sad state of affairs when a guy would rather look at porn and masturbate then have sex with his wife.
i'd imagine a far more rewarding sexual relationship is one where you work hard at a relationship, enduring the tough times, making sacrifices and serving your spouse. isn't this real intimacy?