Ethical Porn

If I understand this correctly, this "ethical" label would mean that nothing bad (or at least as few as possible) could come from the product itself, in its making and distribution. That's fine, and I sure agree that, while porn will most likely survive until the end of the Internet itself (if not the end of civilisation itself in one form or the other), those who produce it must be encouraged to create, produce and distribute it in an "ethical" manner as much as possible. I guess it's hard to oppose something to be made in the best conditions available, with as little downsides and collateral damage as possible for all parties involved. It just makes sense.

The caveat is that that kind of label could potentially encourage people to keep consuming it instead of being shocked by the hard truths of 90% of the productions. Just as "gluten-free" food doesn't exist (look it up - if there's no gluten there's almost nothing left in the food that originaly contained it, what they do is lessen some of the most allergenic molecular compounds of some forms of gluten, not removing it, so in essence they're lying to us), but people that are aware of their own gluten sensitivity tend to go for that because it has a healthy ring (despite a hefty pricetag) to it. I fear that "ethical" porn could, in the mind of some "aware viewers, become more attractive that it is now. And suprise, doesnt this trend arise when we've just seen in recent years many voices raising against the porn industry? Even the Pope talks openly about it, reaching billions of people and raising their awareness. Maybe someone decided that an effective shield against that kind of publicity would be to restore the porn industry's varnish by suggesting that "quality porn" exists. I would've tried the same trick if that was my business. It could work. What's next? "medical porn" maybe, the kind that heals the soul and the body... Time will tell I guess.

Unfortunately, the effects that constitute the "dark side" that we've been exposed to aren't tied to its production or distribution. We, as end users, haven't been exploited, sold, tortured, underpaid, traficked, drugged, used and treated like animals. For all we cared/knew then, actors were highly paid and lived happily ever after. It really didn't matter to me when I was watching it, before knowing all the horrors that can be tied to it. Maybe I was overly naive then - throw me a stone and I'll accept it.

We've only exposed ourselves to some product, eerily oblivious to the conditions of its production and creation. That's all the damaged we incurred, really. Which is already a lot for many of us, to be fair. But I seriously doubt that anyone here, or in any similar community, anyone would change their mind and go like "Well, I vowed to get away from porn forever... but now that ethical porn is here, I can continue fapping in serenity, knowing that the pink steamy pixels on my screen are treated fairly". I don't think so - even though the average users, the ones that will never come to NoFap or similar, will probably someday gleefully realize that what they're watching used to be made at the borders of legality but is now as köcher as the next ethical coffee they'll buy at the shop.

 

That's an interesting topic, I would say the harm is negligible IF it was made with both peoples consent and only kept within the boundaries of the relationship, the problem with that however is that a record has been made which could be potentially used against any one of those individuals. Take the current phenomenon of 'sexting' for example which has become a problem in a lot of schools, children who have little understanding of the consequences and gravity of the content they produce seemingly between two people who are dating often gets used as part of evidence in criminal proceedings against either one of the people involved, since essentially they are producing content that is highly illegal but within the context of a relationship. The other danger being that if uploaded to any website, it could stay on the internet permanently and end up in the hands of sick individuals. These days I don't think people can afford to discount the potential of any media they record on a smart phone or digital camera to end up on the internet and be used without their consent. In isolation creating sexual content between two people (of consenting age) for their own private enjoyment as a means to nurture their passion for each other is probably harmless, but it's when that is taken out of isolation and misused where problems can arise beyond the creators control.

 

EDIT: Also, possible triggers? Let me know if the video is a no-no.

Here's a related video:

I mean, I guess I'd say yes, there is a way to "ethically" produce porn. Full consent among participants being the primary factor, as well as safety and privacy. The video I linked goes into that, how porn can not only be a "female-friendly" environment (which it generally isn't) but aesthetically-pleasing, as well. One attaches a degree of artistry and suddenly porn becomes well-shot/acted erotic short films.

While there's something attractive about this approach, I'm against it, and was left with a bad feeling in my stomach after seeing the video. In an ideal world? Yes, I guess, "ethical" porn would be fine, and there'd be an exclusive market where mature adults can responsibly handle that content. However, that is not the nature of porn as is, and any attempt to sanitize it, in my view, is an avoidance of reality. Pornography is a publication of graphic sex acts being performed by adults into which people of all ages have access. Children, too. A child stumbling across "ethical" porn is not suddenly immunized against porn addiction. It only softly opens the door. If I had an opportunity to wipe out all porn from this world, I, like you, would do it in a heartbeat. That's not the case. Yes, you're right - porn exists, and probably will continue to for a long time, if not forever. But we can fight off its darker aspects, and "ethical" porn does nothing but slightly wipe off the grime of the actual act - I wouldn't support it, personally. Porn, itself, is too morally questionable for me to link any ethical support for it, although I'm sure there are good arguments (notwithstanding its legality, too!) I'm not aware of.

It's a difficult thing, and I'm happy you brought it up. No way am I satisfied that I have you a solid answer.

 

I think you have hit the nail on the head, many of us know about escalation and desensitisation. The stuff i started out viewing when I was a young teenager was tame in comparrison to what I ended up viewing many years later. People often start things like drugs, alcohol or porn with some degree of caution 'i'll try it just this once' or 'it's ok it's not like i'm going to become an addict, i'll be careful' etc. Ethical porn is most likely a better version of porn but it's still porn.

 

This is exactly what I referred to in my first paragraph The only difference being that I really can't include myself in a "we" that should be acting on anything related to P creation/distribution. I'm currently training to be able to professionnaly help people, from education to counseling to coaching, I reckon my energy will be better used this way than trying to influence such a tentacular industry - but that's my point of view, I force no one to agree or share it.

 

This is spot on!

If there was only raw rough dirty and almost shocking stuff to watch, it would be much more morally hard to use, let alone access it for new users. There would surely be the hardcore ones, which can't be helped at first anyway. But being able to access "the good stuff" at first, discovering it with bliss and a moral high because it's closest to a true human relationship etc etc, get used to it, build plenty of neural pathways for it (which our brains won't discriminate against ethical or not) etc. Now the door is open for more, for more hardcore. We all know what escalation is - we end up watching [insert tons of hardcore triggers here, randomly arranged to describe the darkest of P niches] which is miles awway from your sexual orientation and/or moral convictions, not for the sake of what we're looking at, but for the high it procures because nothing else does anymore. This happens to everyone who uses P, at different acceleration rates, but it does : all places talking about P are full of these accounts. So in the end it doesn't really matter if what we've looked at is ethically made or not, because we won't be looking at it for very long - desnsitization will eventually happen, and the ethical stuff will be left at the front lobby while we go all out exploring all the raunchy unethical stuff that will, surely, endure. :/

 

Ethical porn exists is like saying ethical cocaine exists.

 

ethical or not, looking to other people having sex and beating yourself makes of you a looser.

 

Oh boy, this is going to be an interesting thread

My first thought is that tying how porn is consumed to the phrase 'ethical porn' is really problematic. I mean, once it is published the producers have no control over how it's used so if we consider its use tied to the phrase there is no way to be sure of anything.

Leaving that out of the picture, I'm still grappling with how I regard porn now that I've stopped consuming it and know about the pitfalls, and a few other things also to be honest. It's going to take a bit of time for me to figure that out for myself and could well change a couple of times before I settle on an opinion for a while. I'm sure the debate in threads like this one will help me get my thoughts together, so thanks for starting it Ozatm!

Here are a few more thoughts that come to mind right now. There are a lot of different types of porn out there on different media. The pictures I used to look at in Playboy and Hustler were a lot tamer and less addictive than the pretty much anything goes porn available on high speed internet today. Both the content and the media make the later less ethical IMO.

My wife and I used to really enjoy enjoy watching Red Shoe Diaries together, a soft porn drama series on TV. I currently consider that ethical porn.

Child porn is always unethical and immoral, end of story.

IMO educating consumers about the potential pitfalls of porn is required before it becomes less risky for them. Websites like NoFap are a good start, but a lot more will have to be done before a significant improvement will happen. It's going to take time.

No matter how anyone feels about porn, it is not going to go away, ever.

And that's all I've got for now. Looking forward to reading more debate!

 

Yeah, sorry if I sounded overly defensive - I guess I needed to draw a mental line in the sand

Education would be the best way to enable sustainable change indeed. I suppose, and I know lots of people share this view around here, that we are the first group of people what have suffered from the direct influence of The Massive Broadband-Internet Porn Flood, and we're all pioneering in this regard. People shaping this community will have much material to spread awareness and contribute to educational efforts, or so I hope!

While I understand where you come from by saying that, don't forget that the P cycle runs on shame as one of its major fuels - maybe it's best to avoid beating yourself (and others) up with name calling if it's an issue that's close to your heart

 

I'll watch ethical porn right after I shoot up some of my healthful heroin. I don't know why they bother with the marketing since hardcore addicts won't stop anyways.

 

How long had you been a PMO addict? cause if you stay one long enough, you will start to see the dark side in yourself and your surroundings. And it’s a ugly side, more than you will ever now right now. I don’t know how old you are but it sounds like I have been a porn addict longer than you were alive , not to be sarcastic but you play with porn long enough she’ll destroy you slowly, like a slow eating cancerous brain eating disease

 

I'm sure it's affected you that way. Porn has pretty much ruined my character, as well. However, there are people out there who "regularly" consume porn and they express little existential angst, self-destructive tendencies, etc. I don't endorse porn but I can't deny that there are those who consume it and go overboard and those who consume "responsibly" to go along with the alcohol analogy. Alcoholism destroys lives for generations. Same goes for porn. But there are "ethical" grounds to discuss on, either way.

 

It will still drain you of your life energy. Doesn't matter if ethical or not, you are giving yourself and others a reason to PMO with this "ethical P." Porn is unethical. It's about lust not love, cus you watch others have sex for money, so you lust with them. I've googled the term ethical porn wikipedia and they don't have a definition for it, because it doesn't exist. What came up was feminist pornography or women pornography, which is pretty much the same as normal porn just a little with more "passion" and "tendernes" and "oh" and you know what I'm saying. I didn't find normal P. that women aggresive, I think it's just exaggerated so that women can have another reason to be angry about men and life. !!!Personal Opinion!!! Conclusion: Don't assume porn can be good or ethical, because by putting P in a positive perspective you might involluntary cause yourself and others a relapse. Stay strong. Peace.

 

I used porn for decades before the internet was developed and that didn't become a problem for me. What was a problem for me was porn on high speed internet. I still didn't get addicted to it though. I know that now because of how easy it was for me to leave it behind a few weeks ago. After about a week I honestly didn't have any urges to get a P fix again and even in the first week any urges for P I got were very weak. I had urges to MO from triggers which were stronger, but they were also reasonably weak. The fact that I'm older may be a significant factor here, but that's just my opinion. It could be any number of things or combination of things.

Hopefully someone will research this stuff and get some real answers. The problem is good research usually comes from companies that have something to gain financially and that is going to be a tough sell for P so it could take a while.