Porn Survey: 'Not black and white'

Our ambiguous attitude to pornography was reflected in the January 08 malehealth snap survey. Although most respondents - 98% of whom were male - thought it was 'generally healthy' (56%), a significant minority of more than one person in three (34%) disagreed. Many people also thought it damaged relationships between men and and women and exploited women.

Respondents were divided over the question of exploitation - 47% thought it exploited women while 45% thought it didn't. The rest didn't know. Some 39% also thought pornography exploited men.

On relationships, 44% thought porn could damage relationships between men and women - 42% disagreed.

The real confusion came over crime. While 34% thought porn made sex crime more likely and 25% thought it did not, the majority (41%) said they did not know.

In general, younger men - under 35 - were more likely to think that porn damaged relationships and made crime more likely.

Here are some of the many comments we received. Sorry, there's not room to print them all. Check out the links on the right to fidn out how addictive porn can be and read about some guys who feel under its spell.

Gives men an outlet

Don't really think it's so black and white as your survey suggests. Probably the truth is that porno gives frustrated men an outlet for a fantasy wank or two when there are no women in their lives who will provide better sex or even a relationship. Do think its slightly seedy tho' and does to some degree tarnish both men and women but not always creating lasting damage. Maybe that's just an imposed conscience speaking. It can be fun.

Other legal activities increase crime too

It might increase in some cases sex crimes but then drink also can do this as well. I enjoy reading porn stories.

Women's attitudes to porn have changed

I taught human sexuality, in higher eduction, in the UK for many years. One of the topics was pornography its uses, abuses and effects. The classes were predominantly female, 90% or so. I noticed a shift in attidute of the years from negative even hostile to more accepting (although not totally so). Pornography was also seen as being 'hip' and 'cool' with no adverse reactions on the viewer or on society. It was increasingly seen as a way of reducing sex crimes. Now I have no way of validating this information as the sessions were merely discussion groups but the trend to acceptance or tolerance was certainly obvious to me.

Gay porn more equal

I believe that gay pornography is probably less exploitative than hetero porn because viewers and viewed share the same desires and fantasies, whereas straight men and women do not, and the women end up pandering to male desire. Gay porn is more equal.

Porn destroys

Pornography is just like a drug, it has no benefit other than momentary pleasure. It is hard to get rid of it and it destroys families and relationships.

It's about sex education

Impossible to answer this in the terms stated. 'Pornography exploits ... ' Well sometimes it does but it shouldn't. People exploit each other in all kinds of ways. Teaching good sexual relationships would include pornography as a legitimate expression of the fantasies we all have and a valid approach to pleasure. Your questions sound like hegemonic value judgements.

Need to question the 'normalisation' of porn

I think it's great you are raising this issue. Most men's magazines are totally saturated with pornography and rely on it to sell more magazines but I doubt their editors have really questioned whether it is harmful or not. There seems to be a general normalisation of pornography and strip clubs in this country without many people questioning the effect this has on society. It's also common for shops to sell magazines with 'soft-porn' on lower shelves where small children can easily see them which I think is really irresponsible.

Clear link to rape

There is such a clear link between porn and the way in which women are treated in society, and viewed as sexual objects, leading to higher levels of rape etc...

Can I trust my addicted boyfriend?

My boyfriend is addicted to porn and we are working very hard to try to make him healthy again. I worry about what it has done to him long term and if we will ever get over it. His actions are so hurtful to me and have caused me to look at him as though he has no respect for love or women. He has also made me feel that I am not attractive enough. He is full of secrets and kept this problem to himself for too long. I am not convinced that he has the commitment to get better, but if he does I just hope that I can trust that he has changed for good.

People can tell reality and fantasy apart

I think whether porn is damaging or not is more a function of the user's basic personality than of the material itself. Statistically, I would think that the majority of users are savvy enough to know that what goes in a porn movie does not necessarily endear itself to their normal sex partner - much like kids know instinctively that if you pass a cat through a sieve (as in Tom & Jerry), it won't somehow snap back to oneness a few seconds later. Too much is made of the "exploitation" of women - for the most part they do it because they want to and get paid for it - the producers of porn are exp[loiting men and their need for something more than mundane sex. All the above excludes, of course, child porn, snuff movies and "rape-flix" - the producers of which should have their cojones boiled in vinegar!

LSD put me off porn

I first encountered a pornographic image when someone left a heterosexual fellatio photograph near our scout encampment. I'd never seen anything similar, and eventually stuck it on a barbed wire fence after we (the scouts) had all checked it out. Clearly, my choice to leave it for others to find, yet to mutilate the image on the fence, reflected inner conflict. Porn was a rarity in the 1960s UK, but a friend asked me to bring hime some magazines back from Amsterdam in 1971. I felt ashamed to be feeding what I thought was an unhealthy craving, but I also felt titillated by the cover image that I could see through the plastic-wrapped bundle of magazines. Thankfully, the day I was to deliver the magazines (at a rock concert) was the day I first took LSD. When I looked at the images while "tripping", the utter absurdity of pornography set me howling with laughter. It just had *no humanity* and was completely daft. I threw it away, relieved.

It's not too late to tell us what you think...