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Thank you for posting this. This is a topic that I've long been fascinated by but never knew anything about. I'm way in the older end of the bell curve of age

Thank you for posting this. This is a topic that I've long been fascinated by but never knew anything about. I'm way in the older end of the bell curve of age distribution of Hacker News readers, so I've personally experienced how pornography has evolved over the past thirty (or so) years, i.e., ever since I became curious about sex and turned on by naked women. And without a doubt the "hardness" and easy availability of pornography today is in a completely different universe to the sort of pornography I was consuming when I was thirteen years old. There's no escaping the fact that pornography must do _something_ to children's and teenagers' minds, in terms of expectations about sex, their own self-esteem, or whatever, and I've often wondered what these effects are. Moreover, and moving on, now that I'm a new father with a two-year old daughter, I cannot even _look_ at pornography without feeling queasy. The full nastiness of the activities, production, what obviously goes on behind the scenes, etc, hits you in the guts and is truly sickening.

nemo44x 9y ago
David Foster Wallace had some interesting thoughts on this. From my interpretation he came to the conclusion that you can't blame the pornographers. They're just responding to market demand and the market is demanding more and more deviant and salacious content. His thoughts on why the market is demanding more demeaning content has to do with the social acceptance of pornography - or at least of porno of the time you're talking about. One of the big allures of pornography is that it is "naughty" and deviant. As it becomes accepted the quest to find content that is not socially OK pushes pornographers to create it. A market gets created. To the point we are an asymptote of snuff films more or less. So that although groups that would traditionally balk at porn and forced what we'd consider even mild porn into the underground are annoying, they may be providing a service in social health in limiting progression into a darker and darker realm of pure humiliation films, faux rape films, etc. The article was titled "Big Red Son". Worth reading.
rayiner 9y ago
Is there “no escaping” that conclusion? Maybe it’s wrong for the same reason that “violent movies make kids violent” theory was wrong: people know how to distinguish reality from fantasy/entertainment.
- linopolus 9y ago
  > people know how to distinguish reality from fantasy/entertainment So you think 15-year-olds who never experienced sex know how to distinguish reality (sex with a real partner) from fantasy (porn). Where would they have the knowledge how real sex is from?
  - MarkMc 9y ago
    From talking to their friends, or older siblings, or parents about their experience. By watching non-pornographic films where sex scenes are more realistic. By reading online accounts from other teenagers or adults. By talking about it in sex ed class. By reading articles in the newspaper such as "What Teenagers Are learning from Online Porn". Moreover, the 15-year-old doesn't need to know what real sex is like in order to suspect that porn is fantasy. "Snakes on a Plane" is not treated as a documentary by people who have never travelled on a plane.

nemo44x 9y ago

David Foster Wallace had some interesting thoughts on this. From my interpretation he came to the conclusion that you can't blame the pornographers. They're just responding to market demand and the market is demanding more and more deviant and salacious content. His thoughts on why the market is demanding more demeaning content has to do with the social acceptance of pornography - or at least of porno of the time you're talking about. One of the big allures of pornography is that it is "naughty" and deviant. As it becomes accepted the quest to find content that is not socially OK pushes pornographers to create it. A market gets created. To the point we are an asymptote of snuff films more or less. So that although groups that would traditionally balk at porn and forced what we'd consider even mild porn into the underground are annoying, they may be providing a service in social health in limiting progression into a darker and darker realm of pure humiliation films, faux rape films, etc. The article was titled "Big Red Son". Worth reading.

rayiner 9y ago

Is there “no escaping” that conclusion? Maybe it’s wrong for the same reason that “violent movies make kids violent” theory was wrong: people know how to distinguish reality from fantasy/entertainment.

linopolus 9y ago
> people know how to distinguish reality from fantasy/entertainment So you think 15-year-olds who never experienced sex know how to distinguish reality (sex with a real partner) from fantasy (porn). Where would they have the knowledge how real sex is from?
- MarkMc 9y ago
  From talking to their friends, or older siblings, or parents about their experience. By watching non-pornographic films where sex scenes are more realistic. By reading online accounts from other teenagers or adults. By talking about it in sex ed class. By reading articles in the newspaper such as "What Teenagers Are learning from Online Porn". Moreover, the 15-year-old doesn't need to know what real sex is like in order to suspect that porn is fantasy. "Snakes on a Plane" is not treated as a documentary by people who have never travelled on a plane.