> From: <littles(a)lycos.co.uk>
> > > Does pornographic material distort fans'
> > > minds? I very much doubt it.
> >
> > IMO that's a sticky one, though... I
> wouldn't say that pornography
> distorts anyone's mind, any more than violent
> movies (etc.) do, either. But
> if you're fed a steady diet of the stuff, with
> no corrective factor from
> other material (a healthy sexual partnership,
> a fondness for great
> literature, psychotherapy...), I think it
> might have some bearing on how you
> view reality, relationships, etc...
> >
> > I've seen this happen too often in the gay
> community.
> Why single out any one particular community?
> It happens in every community,
> throughout the whole of society, every minute
> of every day.
I think you _know_ what I'm talking about.
Reality is
> constructed for us from birth. We are 'fed a
> steady diet' of something we
> like to think of as 'reality' throughout our
> lives, whether it's nude art or
> billboard posters for jeans.
And these don't affect our perceptions? I'd like to see the social scientists on the Lyst come in on this one.
Who is to say
> that a 'healthy sexual
> partnership' is a necessary thing, or even a
> good thing, let alone a
> fondness for great literature (who defines the
> 'great'?), and the equation
> of psychotherapy as a 'corrective factor' is
> something I find very
> disturbing.
Perhaps these were bad examples... what I meant to say was that if you receive one single discourse, then your whole perception of the genre is going to be shaped around that discourse. If there are multiple discourses, then healthy debate can take place. Or, in other words:
Porn alone = no debate
Porn + other modes of expression = debate.
Now, I don't like the hardcore anti-porn people. I don't like the hardcore pro-porn ones either. But perhaps what we need is a bit more in the way of alternative modes of expression? What were those five forms of Greek love that Mistral was on about again?
> Not, however, as disturbing as sly
> insinuations of homophobia.
Neil, to accuse me of homophobia is like accusing the pope of being anti-Catholic. Let's just say when I speak of the gay community, I speak from personal experience ;)...
Shane
'Avon, you were my only friend...' -Blake