Fractelle, great post.

RObert, I don't understand what you mean by your comment "Why is it that so many women appear to be unwilling to accept that men and some other women should also have control over what they do with their bodies?".

Where has anyone said that men can't control what they do with their bodies? What has this got to do with the images portrayed in violent porn where women (and sometimes men) are demeaned such as in rape scenes etc.

As to other comments, no-one is telling people how they should think. We are all just spouting opinions which is what this forum is all about.

I am not proposing a blanket ban on all porn or totalitarian censorship, but I won't pretend that violent porn is not damaging nor that it has consequences such as outlined in the "Little Children Are Sacred" report and the influence rampant porn is having in some communities.

However, I do believe there has to be a limit on what is available on the Net. It is easy to insist parents should monitor what their children are doing on the Net, but frankly if you think this is even remotely achievable then let other parents in on the secret.

Often both parents are working and not home when their children come home from school or they are exposed to it at friend's home where parents may not be as vigilant about filters. Even schools have had porn slip in under the radar despite filters.

I have spoken to my kids openly about sex and about porn sites given we have a computer at home. Let's face it sex is fun and desirable. Soft porn that portrays two mutually consenting adults enjoying sex is not, I would think, going to do 'harm' but lets not get side tracked about this sort of porn as opposed to violent porn, which is what we are really on about.

Well,-data is checked and I spoke to two women.

MY conclusions?:

Pornography has NO effect on the behaviour of SOME men towards women.

Pornography CAN enhance SOME relationships.

And ;-without any shadow of a doubt;-pornography DOES and HAS influenced the behaviour of SOME men to SOME women in the most graphically violent way.

One of the women I spoke to has a permanent disability as a DIRECT result of her lack of 'understanding and cooperation'.

This was difficult to revisit. I will NOT be expanding on the above.

(You know;....given the intelligence of most on OLO, I'm surprised that we all(inclusive), go with the 'one size fits all' logic. One of these brave women wanted me to put the first two paragraphs, because she accepts that they may have validity. Given what happened to her, I admire her stance).

Ginx, I'm in complete agreement with your conclusions.

Combined with my beliefs in personal choice and stats which show that overall the rates of sexual violence have declined as access to porn has got easier I'm against increased censorship for adults access to porn.

The law (and or mental health facilities) should deal with those who use porn as a motivator for harm to others.

Pelican, one of the problems with this discussion is that we are arguing on many fronts at once and it's not always clear just how far peoples objections go.

Some may be just trying to point out problems they see with porn, others are pushing a pro censorship line. I've had the impression that some feminists contribiting to this discssuion (and in broader debate) would like to see stronger censorship of porn.

I may be wrong about that.

R0bert