Porn

[Aractus]

The mental implications and damage is too high considering what it does to people. And after seeing that first video it only goes to confirm what i think about porn.
Yes people like porn but no one thinks of the people really behind it and how those people are in their real lives.

Look it's actually true for all sex work. That's not to say that prostitution should be illegal, of course it shouldn't be, and the reason for that is that criminalising it causes far more problems. It would be like criminalising alcohol consumption - we know that prohibition doesn't work. Then you get into the question of drugs - if alcohol should be legal despite the harm it can do, why not all drugs? Well isn't being able to control the supply of pharmaceuticals important for the overall health of the public? I'd argue that it certainly is, if nothing else it reduces wastage and ensures that people get the right advice from doctors. Methamphetamine, Cocaine and Heroin are other examples too - Meth is a pharmaceutical, but the therapeutic dosages of it are much lower than what a drug user would take (let alone an addict), Cocaine isn't used medicinally, and neither is Heroin (we use Morphine which is still very addictive). Okay so would the benefits of decriminalisation outweigh the costs? It's a difficult answer if you just focus on those drugs, but then let me ask you about Tobacco.

Many people want a ban on Tobacco - but what most people don't know, but I do because I saw the numbers - is that smokers cost less on average than non-smokers to the healthcare sector. And the reason is that the live less. So putting a ban on Tobacco, not only would you then need to spend money enforcing it, but the economy would take quite a hit due to an increased demand on the healthcare sector. So what happens instead is that smokers get exploited - in my view anyway - and taxed through the nose, even though they're actually the ones saving us on healthcare cost!!

So again the health issues associated with prostitution AND pornography (that's the sex industry as a whole - adult shops that sell toys, lingerie and and porn don't count although we do call that the adult entertainment industry) include quite a number of things, and you're absolutely right about mental health. Every prostitute here in Australia is guaranteed a drug user. I've met a number of people over the years that work in the sex industry, and I've never met a person ever who has said they've encountered a "clean" prostitute (as in one that doesn't take drugs). We also have sex-trafficking, and mark my words not enough is done to prevent it in Australia. But regardless, some regulations are in place and are followed such as the mandatory use of barrier protection (condoms). That of course doesn't prevent all STI's, but it stops all the ones of major concern.

For the record I don't know if there's a requirement for Australian-produced porn or not, but it would be very difficult to argue in court that there isn't if there was a case brought against a producer. It would be the same as James Hardie asbestos - the judge would say that "because you know the health risks to the performers you are obligated to protect them from such hazards", so even if there isn't a law it would be a de-facto requirement and you would face prosecution if someone contracted an incurable STI that's preventable with barrier protection due to your negligent or indifferent attitude.

The human body isn't designed for 8-hour sex sessions either. Now the same is true for elite endurance athletes - which I've mentioned before - think about Bruce Lee for instance; what happens is they push their bodies to the point that their resting heartrate goes from the normal 80bpm to 40bpm (due to a much higher RBC count), and at that speed the heart can miss a beat or just suddenly stop. And marathon runners, cyclists, triathlon athletes, etc, today now sleep with a defibrillator attached to them so that it will zap them if their heart stops! So we do things that are bad for our body - and excessive hours spent performing sex is one of them that sex workers do.

And as I mentioned before - vomiting... well put it this way. Every time you vomit, up comes HCl (Hydrocholric acid) and it dissolves/rots your teeth, permanently. Bulimics erode their teeth. It does permanent harm to your body. Which is why your body is only supposed to do it if it faces an even greater harm.

[Little lunch]

I'll have to sit on the fence with this one...which is not a very comfortable way to masturbate.

[Nope]

Aractus, do you think the reason sex workers have a higher dependency rate is because of cultural perceptions toward sex workers or is there something about being a sex worker itself that is harmful? If society viewed sex work as just another job do you think the workers would still have the same issues?

Also, why do we view sex work as more degrading than collecting garbage or scrubbing toilets? There are a lot of jobs people do because of poverty but we don't view those jobs in the same way as prostitution or adult film work. Why not?

I guess what I am curious to know is if sex work by itself is harmful or is it harmful because of how society views sex work? Also, do prostitutes do drugs because of their jobs or do more people on drugs tend to become sex workers? My friend, for example, was addicted to drugs before she became a prostitute

[Dystopia]

Aractus, do you think the reason sex workers have a higher dependency rate is because of cultural perceptions toward sex workers or is there something about being a sex worker itself that is harmful? If society viewed sex work as just another job do you think the workers would still have the same issues?

Partially yes, but it's also due to exploitation of the sex industry

Also, why do we view sex work as more degrading than collecting garbage or scrubbing toilets? There are a lot of jobs people do because of poverty but we don't view those jobs in the same way as prostitution or adult film work. Why not?

It isn't degrading. What's degrading is abusive workplaces in the sex industry. Obviously, and I need to say this, sex working isn't the same as collecting garbage because it requires you to completely share with others your body intimacy and privacy. There aren't jobs that invade your sexual privacy more than sex working. Obviously this doesn't mean it should be banned, but it is not easy to share your sexuality with strangers that frequently, specially when in society it's common for people to aspire marriage, kids and monogamy. Basically, sexuality is something people usually keep to themselves and partners, not many people truly wish to have sex for money with an infinite number of strangers (and sometimes assholes), so obviously it is very different from cleaning toilets or picking up the trash.

I don't think it's degrading to sex work, but some sex workers are treated terribly. That's what matters.

I guess what I am curious to know is if sex work by itself is harmful or is it harmful because of how society views sex work? Also, do prostitutes do drugs because of their jobs or do more people on drugs tend to become sex workers? My friend, for example, was addicted to drugs before she became a prostitute

It depends. Some are already addicted, and prostitution is for paying drugs. Others become addicted later, this usually happens in porn. Drugs helps coping with the pain and depression. Sex work can be hard, 8 hour sessions can really cause physical pain, repeating scenes continuously makes people tired, some scenes can be truly degrading for the person performing the job and therefore cause mental issues. You know, I have nothing against cumming in the face of someone, but some people, specially women, feel terrible doing it in front of a camera. But of course they have to do it because of the money.

The physical pain goes unnoticed. Positions in porn sometimes hurt a LOT and are awkward for the camera to film everything. Sometimes the director says "stop!" and both participants must remain still no matter how much pain there is. Some parts, in particular, can be even more painful.
[/quote]


Aractus, I still want to hear on your opinion about rape or hardcore porn. I don't see why banning certain types of porn is legitimate. And it's not illegal in my country - At least I can access porn content freely without problems. In my country there's not much produced porn anyway because most actors go to America

[Nope]

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.10...PcfyfnF_C8

This thread made me curious so I googled porn industry and self image and the above study was the first in the search results. I haven't read the studies but thought that those who were interested in the topic might like to look them over.

Porn actresses were more likely to identify as bisexual, first had sex at an earlier age, had more sexual partners, were more concerned about contracting a sexually transmitted disease (STD), and enjoyed sex more than the matched sample, although there were no differences in incidence of CSA. In terms of psychological characteristics, porn actresses had higher levels of self-esteem, positive feelings, social support, sexual satisfaction, and spirituality compared to the matched group. Last, female performers were more likely to have ever used 10 different types of drugs compared to the comparison group.

Are there any other studies?

Here is an interesting article from NPR

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story...d=17044239
It sounds as if porn stars are pressured not to use protection.

MITCHELL: Well, really, the type of performances that they're doing - basically, they walk on the set and it's wall to wall sex, and the type of sexual encounters they're having are extremely high risk - much, much higher risk than when I was involved. And when I was involved, I had the choice to use a condom, the choice to do whatever sex acts I preferred. Today, anyone pretty much with a handful of Viagra and a Hi-8 camera, hey, I want to be a porn director and producer, you know? And they can literally go about this and sell these things on the Internet, so they recruit very young people.

And my concern is: Are you ready to do this? If you don't want your family to know, if you're going into the area of teaching school, really think long and hard about this because this is something that will follow you around, so be prepared for that.

SIMON: If I might try to talk about some of the health concerns because there have been HIV outbreaks, haven't there?

MITCHELL: Yes. When I founded the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation in 1998, there was actually an actor who was knowingly and willfully infecting women with HIV. And finally, I caught up with him and realized that he was going to county health clinics and getting anonymous testing, and he would put someone else's name on this test. And not everyone was testing and the tests weren't centrally located back then. Denial is the backbone of pornography when it comes to health care.

SIMON: Why not just require all actors to use condoms?

MITCHELL: Wouldn't that be wonderful? I am a clinician that serves a world that I know very, very well because I come from it, and I know the pressures that these talent members go through not to use the condoms. They're offered more money; they're told, look, these films will not sell if there are condoms on it.

---

The first study I provided a link has been discredited by some experts because it was funded, in part, by the porn industry

The US research, from Pennsylvania's Shippensburg University, the Texas Woman's University and the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation set out to disprove popular stereotypes – including the assumption that most adult film stars were abused as children or were addicted to drugs.

Sheila Jeffreys, a sex industry expert at Melbourne University, said the study, Pornography Actresses: An Assessment of the Damaged Goods Hypothesis is "sullied" by poor research and bias – having been funded in part by the industry.

Read more at http://www.ninemsn.com.au/article/857060...cvGQU8I.99

http://www.ninemsn.com.au/article/8570605?site=health

So, are there any long term studies dealing with the self esteem of porn actresses and actors?

[Aractus]

Aractus, do you think the reason sex workers have a higher dependency rate is because of cultural perceptions toward sex workers or is there something about being a sex worker itself that is harmful? If society viewed sex work as just another job do you think the workers would still have the same issues?

Well look at it this way. The single most stressful event - officially - is the death of a spouse. And divorce is not far behind it, but even more importantly is the fact that it causes very great stress in children. Doesn't matter if the parents are civil and loving towards their children, it still causes them unavoidable terrible stress. Studies have proven this. And yes you can reduce it by behaving like civilised adults, but you can't prevent it.

I would believe sex work is similar. That yes, some people (women included) do actually enjoy the work and don't get stressed and churned up by it. But at the same time those are the more intelligent women that don't work for producers like Max Hardcore and Rob Black. They mighty work for Vivid or another company that a. uses condoms as required by the law, and b. doesn't exploit their employees. But with that said, it probably doesn't apply to everyone, I would believe that even those who work for great producers many of them would still be unavoidably stressed from the work.

As for public perception - I don't think it makes a lot of difference. Some of them love media attention such as "Kacey" in the first video, and she seems to get a lot of nice comments on youtube and probably on facebook/twitter etc. from her fans/admirers, etc. I think the negative treatment in society is equalled out by the positive as it is. For porn actors anyway, probably not for prostitutes though. Prostitutes - as I said before the main reasons a woman gets into prostitution is because a. they're a drug addict or b. they're trafficked or in some way coerced into it. The main reasons that women get into porn however are, 1. coercion and 2. they come from broken families - or very poor families. And that's why it's a little different to prostitution in that many do abuse drugs, but many are not drug users either, many are in fact introduced to drugs by the industry.

I guess what I am curious to know is if sex work by itself is harmful or is it harmful because of how society views sex work? Also, do prostitutes do drugs because of their jobs or do more people on drugs tend to become sex workers? My friend, for example, was addicted to drugs before she became a prostitute

Prostitutes, generally, are drug users before they start sex work. And those that aren't are usually people who have been trafficked or coerced into prostitution. But the fact is that some women are not and do choose to do prostitution - well 90% of your customers treat you like the disposable whore, that in some way at least, you are. So those who are not needing the money for a substance abuse problem are very unlikely to want to continue doing sex work once they try it!