5 Myths About Porn

Following are five myths about porn that are far too frequently cited by those who wish to censor it.

1. Porn is produced by a corrupt industry.

While this may at times be true, it is a claim whose proof requires specific evidence based on research, and not simply accusations based on anecdote. And anyway, in any other industry, hints of corruption would spark public outcry for reform, not for prohibition. Nevertheless, more and more porn these days is being created by independent entrepreneurs (and philanthropists), as the popularity of amateur porn on the net can attest to.

2. Porn is degrading to women.

Never mind the fact that there is feminist porn and gay (male) porn - the latter of which doesn't even feature women. The issue of "objectification" is even more thorny because it is based on a foundation of misdirected truths and outright lies. So-called "objectification" is just one part of the normal and complicated process whereby one person experiences sexual desire for another (which is, in and of itself, harmless).

3. Porn is harmful to children.

Not any more harmful than the explicit gore and glorified ultraviolence we gleefully feed children these days - and, possibly, considerably less so. Honestly, I'd rather a child learn the process by which life is created than that by which life can be snuffed out. And as much as "teen pregnancy" is considered to be a social illness (which, in terms of metaphorical diseases, is about as prevalent - and resilient - throughout human history as mortality), it is nothing compared to the tragedy of school shootings.

4. All porn is violent.

While this is certainly true for some porn (though I don't subscribe to the belief that violent media creates violent persons), it is but a niche among the rich diversity of material available. Justifying this claim requires an absurd belief that sex is intrinsically a violent act, usually interpreted as a male committing violence against a female, which comes from the "all sex is rape" school of fundamentalist feminism that I would have thought by now had been widely discredited as a crackpot theory.

5. Porn is unrealistic.

I don't believe there is any reason why we shouldn't approach sex - as we do with everything else in the creative arts - with a sense of fantasy and performance. Nevertheless, there is such a thing as "documentary pornography", and it frequently goes by the name of "sex tapes".

Until would-be censors start arguing about different types of visual or audiovisual (I don't know why writing gets a free pass) depictions of sex (which they may or may not refer to as "porn"), in terms of what does and does not deserve to be censored, then you will know that their arguments are not only inaccurate, but insincere as well. But people who believe that sex belongs behind closed doors for the sake of their own fragile sensibilities rarely have the integrity to admit it. For doing so would seriously undermine their claim that, somehow, this censorship doesn't violate their alleged (but phony) support of free speech.