Azelma wrote:
Can there be negative psychological effects from porn viewing? IE: Does viewing hardcore pr0n a ton mean you'll be the next Ted Bundy?
No. If you're a kid and you see porn, the worst that can happen is you get the sex talk early. If you're into hardcore shit, it's because you decided you wanted to check it out and realized you liked it. Jerking off to dinosaurs banging zombies isn't going to make you a serial killer.
Azelma wrote:
Does it have an effect (positive or negative) on relationships with women, and how men view them? Sex drive? Sexual desires?
Chances are that if you're rubbing one out several times a day, yeah your sex drive will suffer. If you can't recognize that porn is a fantasy, then you were fucked up even before you started watching it and your relationships were likely already negative.
Azelma wrote:
Is porn, and the availability of it, hurting society as a whole?
No. Countries where porn is easily accessible (like Japan or France or Germany as Mns said) tend to have low rape rates, and society is no more harmed by porn than it was by rock and roll. Think of it this way: potential rapists are staying home and jizzing into a sock while watching porn instead of going out and sticking their dick in some poor girl.
Azelma wrote:
Do you think porn viewing has negatively affected anything in your life?
No, mostly because I don't associate with morons or puritans so everyone I know watches (or doesn't care about) porn.
Azelma wrote:
Some claim many men are "addicted" to porn (again fostered by the availability on the internet), do you believe this?
Probably. You can be addicted to some stupid shit. These people are outliers, and would probably be addicted to anything that turned them on.
Azelma wrote:
Should the government censor internet porn sites?
The government shouldn't censor the internet in any way.
Azelma wrote:
As for the female pornographic actors themselves - do you ever feel "bad" for them? Many (not all) were sexually abused in their youth - others grew up in tumultuous households and lives of stripping/poverty -- and somehow they ended up getting banged by 3 dudes for some quick cash.
Sort of what Weena said. It may not be a majority, but some porn actresses are actually just exhibitionists who really like how they look and couldn't be happier getting paid to do something everyone on the planet enjoys doing. I don't support exploitation, so if they're getting screwed monetarily, it's no good, but if there's no duress and the contracts are legit, porn all the way.
Azelma wrote:
There's some pretty rough stuff out there - what does it say about society that women (and men) would partake in such things? Should these things be legal?
Again, people should be able to distinguish between fantasy and reality. Even if I really dig plastic-bag-asphyxiation-plus-nipple-clamps-and-whips porn or some ridiculous shit like that, I'm not about to whip, clamp, choke, and subsequently fuck the still-warm corpse of my girlfriend, mostly because I'm not totally retarded.
Azelma wrote:
Religion aside - is pornography immoral?
Think we're gonna go with no on this one, Bob.