Today’s Gazette publishers a letter to the editor by Sarah Metcalf of Northampton:
…I hear people describe porn as “sex”. But porn is not sex, if we understand sex as a relationship betwen live human beings, who usually feel for each other sparks of attraction and affection. Porn is the representation of sex in words, pictures or video for the purpose of sexual arousal. For relation, affection and human touch it substitutes crude language, bad music and acting, and pictures of naked strangers with freakish bodies. Porn trains us–as advertisements, music videos and movies have already trained us–to respond sexually to these images. It does this in a gross, unlovely, manipulative way. And to the extent that we allow ourselves to be trained to this kind of response, we diminish, and disrespect, our ability to respond to real people, with ordinary bodies, whom we know and love.
Our sexual relationships enlarge us, and bind us in the deepest, most intimate way to the human community. Porn subverts those bonds. It offers a quick, stupid central nervous system response. There is nothing liberating, personally expressive, politically daring, or interesting about this.
I don’t think the pro-porn people ever said that porn was real people or real sex. In fact, you seem to be the only people confusing fantasy and reality.
This blog is all about the real-world effects of porn on porn workers, porn viewers, and the communities around adult businesses.
Let’s check back in with Martin Amis on the physical “working conditions” of porn actresses:
“I have herpes,” said [porn actress] Chloe as she drove me to a smoker-friendly bar. “After you’ve been in this business for a while, you have herpes. Everyone has herpes…. My movies are all-condom, but condoms won’t protect you from herpes. They don’t cover the base. Sometimes when you’re doing girl-girl you’ll say, ‘Honey, I think you should go and see someone.’ It can be a very stinky scene down there….”
No fantasy that.
Right, and coal miners get black lung. Iron workers fall. Still waiting on what makes porn particularly insidious…
Coal and iron give important benefits to society. Porn, however, is mostly harmful entertainment. That means, if anything, we should hold the porn industry to a higher standard than more productive activities.
Social concern for the conditions of porn workers appears to be quite low. I’m sure if coal miners contracted herpes as a routine part of their job there would be quite an outcry.
Have you ever considered adding some videos to your blog posts to keep the visitors more entertained?
Do you care if I linked your blog article on my myspace account?