TLTR agree. Censorship of pornography remains “Censorship”

I fear the pro / anti porn debate is similar to the pro-choice / anti abortion debate.

(I know I tick the personal choice column for both). Some may even suggest, in my tolerance of pornography, I am a “Pro-porner”

I would wear such a title with pride against the alternate title of “Pro-Censor”.

Some folk here think cognitive adults, with right to elect the government of their choice, do not have the right to make viewing/reading decisions for themselves. Seeking instead for some government or religiously inclined censor to be appointed to decide for all of us.

Under our system of laws, neither “government” nor the “religiously inclined” have the authority to enter someone’s house and stop them watching or engaging with other “consenting adults” in what ever pursuit takes their fancy.

If our laws were to allow government to enter someone’s house to intervene so, we will have moved to a terrible place in which anything can be banned not only because it is morally dubious but because it might be seen as against the interests of the “censoring authority”.

The old saying “power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely” remains true.

Those who do not want to view pornography are not required to do so.

Those who support the notion that government should appoint “Censors” and “moral guardians” need to ask who will “control” the beast they seek to unleash?

I would observe, every centre of “power” works first toward two ends

1 to make its powerbase more secure, thus ensuring it perpetuates its future
2 expand the reach of its authority.

Those are dangerous opportunities to present to anyone, especially when we have seen, time and time again, how both government and religious authorities, through out the ages, have never been able to prevent the “incubation” of the morally corrupt.

And as another feminist said on the blog of Maggie (from againstpornography.org):

"...those porn apologist comments were sickening. They, the 10 rapists, have ruined that young woman's life. For what? A few hours of their own 'pleasure'? What happened in that apartment was an exact porn script, yet the porn apologists have trouble with the causal link? Will they not see this link unless the rapists start quoting porn film titles mid-rape?... It is bad enough that he is a rapist, but to organise a gang rape? That is conspiracy to commit a crime, as well as the crime itself. One point that the porn apologists miss, they claim that 'porn doesn't cause these gang rapes, it was already inherent in the individual'. Well, what an outstanding co-incidence that one rapist just happens to know nine others, nine others he trusts 'won't tell'. Logic must dictate that the chances of this many rapists knowing each other is about the same as winning the lottery -- unless of course, they have been conditioned into being rapists. The porn apologists are... anti-male. Radfems lay the blame on rape culture at the door of porn and the machismo upbringing of males. The porn apologists say "no causality between this trend of gang rapes and DIY porn, and the porn saturation. These guys would do it anyway" (sentiment gleaned from the comments). Well the increasing frequency of these gang rapes being filmed, using the porn apologist view, would indicate that there are a significant amount of 'bad apples' in the male basket... The gang rape is male bonding, over the bodies of females, to 'defeat the common enemy'. Nothing says misogyny like gang rape. Nothing says misogyny than the symbolic humiliation of bukake. I am not sure when the rest of the female population is going to wake up to rampant misogyny sanctioned by society. We are already at 1 in 4 to 1 in 3 females will be raped within their lifetimes. When does critical mass occur among females? When rape is 1 in 2, or 99% of the female population?"

Strange how ten men accused of rape all happen to know that each one of them is an innate rapist!! Even worse are the hysterical pro-porners excuses and justifications for this horrific case wherein ten men deliberately imitated violent pornographic acts just so they could 'get their rocks off!!'

This case proves once again there is most certainly a link between men's production, consumption of pornography and endemic male sexual violence being committed against women. What will it take before pro-porners and apologists for male sexual violence against accept that pornography systematically dehumanises women and teaches men and boys to view all women and girls as men's ejaculatory refuse bins.

Claiming the female author is ignorant and ill-informed is another tactic designed to deflect attention away from male accountability. The UN time and again announces male sexual violence against women is global and endemic. Does this mean the UN is ill-informed and ignorant? Of course not but there is always that last resort - denial - deny it happened, deny pornography is women-hated in its most virulent and dehumanising manner. Just keep on denying the evidence and facts.

One of the things i have learnt is to be extremely cautious about "News Stories".

The death of quality journalism - or - how to give a story Google juice

<The temptation to choose and shape stories to maximise ad revenue may be overwhelming, especially when most online media sites are still losing money or surviving on wafer-thin profit margins.>

stromy1,

<We are already at 1 in 4 to 1 in 3 females will be raped within their lifetimes. When does critical mass occur among females?>

Your figures are wrong.

I dont suppose you have read Katie Roiphe "the morning after".

<rampant misogyny sanctioned by society.>

This is the biggest load of crap out. Our society does not sanction misogyny and where misogyny exists it is not rampant. Perhaps more correctly our society sanctions Misandry, but then I suppose an expert like you has not read any books on Misandry. such as Legalising Misandry, or Spreading Misandry.

Sadly incidence similar to what happened in Brisbane or Werribee happened long before the invention of the moblie phone cameras, long before the internet became available. To blame porn for these incidences is nothing more than a red herring.

A ban on porn would lead to greater criminal involvement than there is currently, with more criminal involvement violence will increase.

What have we got here - a sorority anti-porn spamfest?

Strange that the latest registered OLO users are Breeze, Stormy1, Cloud32, eye of newt and MaggieH, and they've all posted in this thread saying virtually identical things.

Girls, the link between pornography and rape is that of correlation, not causation, no matter how much you dislike pornography and/or erotica. It's not hysterical to point that out, but it is to make the tenuous and unproven causal link that you all seem to have made remarkably similarly in your very first posts to this forum.

I am not anti-choice. I donate to a very popular pro-abortion organization where I live. Obviously, being a radical feminist in a pornified culture, I am fully aware that whenever a woman speaks out against pornography, she is hated, rejected, even called names (on other webspaces).

Pro-porners jump in, keep defending their porn over women's lives with such an outrageous fervor. The porn videos/pictures are more important than the lives of women and girls who have been coerced into sex, raped/gang-raped by some porn users. These pornographic images are seen as a lot more essential to life than women's safety to pro-porners, and porn is valued over female lives in their eyes. The "free speech" of the woman-hating propaganda material that is called pornography matters much more than the speech of the women and girls who have been, are, and will be raped and silenced. Distressing. Unfair.

I do not believe in "biological" explanation such as "if those guys did this, that just means they are 'naturally bad' people". Men who rape have been socially conditioned and influenced by patriarchal pornified culture to such behavior. I'm not saying that every single porn user becomes a rapist; I'm only saying that there is damn well a strong link between pornography and rape and there's thorough research that has been made to prove that. Rapists are not born; they are made, into a culture that implicitly condones rape in the first place (see http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0903-05.htm ).

Pornography encourages people to disregard others' pain for one's own pleasure. Why do some people have to be so cruel to believe that women and girls' lives and safety matter less than this woman-hatred propaganda material (porn) that is used by (primarily) males when they want a selfish orgasm? An orgasm at the expense of millions and millions of female human beings who are raped?

The connection to these (gang) rapes, the way they happen, the pattern clearly show the link between pornography and sexual violence against women. When are people out there going to wake up and see, eventually notice this incontestable link? ( http://www.againstpornography.org/effectsandharms.html )