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Right. In the patriarchal society the patriarchs, the Abrahams, can have many wives. That means there are many men who can not have any wives. Now if those wife

Right. In the patriarchal society the patriarchs, the Abrahams, can have many wives. That means there are many men who can not have any wives. Now if those wifeless men had access to pornography they might get the idea that they want a wife too. So it's better for the patriarchs to keep porn away from the less fortunate men who might be inspired by it to demand a rule that no man can have more than one wife.

esarbe 7y ago
Since the UK is not a patriarchal society, this comment contributes nothing. Also, to keep the peace in societies such as you described, it would probably make sense to have pornography available as outlet for repressed sexual desires.
- galaxyLogic 7y ago
  In my opinion UK is, more or less, "patriarchal society". All societies are, more or less, no? Would you agree that say Saudi-Arabia is a "patriarchal society"? I can readily agree with your point it would probably help them as a society to legalize porn but seems like they are not going to do that any time soon: https://www.quora.com/Is-porn-banned-in-Saudi https://www.quora.com/Is-porn-banned-in-Saudi Why? If they did allow it the absolute power of the ruling dynasty could be questioned in other ways and that might be the end of that dynasty.
  - esarbe 7y ago
    I'm sorry if I don't answer your questions directly but approach them from a tangent. I don't quite buy into the Patriarchy mythos. For me, this is oversimplifying how societies form and develop their structure and rules. If you want to equate "Patriarchy" with hierarchy; sure, be my guest. That's what a lot of ardent Feminists tend to do and my guess that is because it made for a convincing story if you were a privileged female member of the upper-classes of late 19th-century England. It was also probably very tempting to be able to point at any member of the opposite sex and say "It's your fault!". (At least these are my guesses why we struggle so hard to overcome the Patriachy mythos.) I don't think that this approach has much merit to it, however. To me it looks like a lot of what is considered "Patriarchy" are simply the remnants of cultural agreements that were made in a time when survival and reproduction where the predominant driver of the societal web. You don't send out your woman to battle war, they are the reproductive coin of your society. You send men to war, men are expendable. Our traditional social compact follows this logic. But it was always a compact between males and females. It was never something that Men coerced Women into. It was an agreement out of necessity. Woman live in seclusion, Men die free. Sure, you are free to call these traditional, born-out-of-the-necessity-for-survival compacts 'patriarchal'. But 'matriarchal' would be just as appropriate. So, why is pornography banned in Saudi-Arabia? Why is homosexuality considered an abomination? Howly cow, I don't know. I guess it has something to to with the tenants of the Abrahamic religion(s). Other traditional don't have that much beef with sex and sexuality. I don't think that allowing pornography would topple the regime, though it could put some strain onto the dynasty[0]. Looking forward to have a fruitful discourse! [0] https://www.yourbrainonporn.com/ https://www.yourbrainonporn.com/
TeMPOraL 7y ago
Besides this being completely irrelevant to the present-era UK, keep in mind that those societies warred a lot, which meant men died, skewing the gender balance. Provisions for polygamy worked as a rudimentary social safety net for widows. (As a general point, in my perhaps limited knowledge, weird or appalling customs from the past tend to have economic underpinnings.)
- galaxyLogic 7y ago
  Sounds like a reasonable theory to me. Any links on scholarly research into this?

esarbe 7y ago

Since the UK is not a patriarchal society, this comment contributes nothing. Also, to keep the peace in societies such as you described, it would probably make sense to have pornography available as outlet for repressed sexual desires.

galaxyLogic 7y ago
In my opinion UK is, more or less, "patriarchal society". All societies are, more or less, no? Would you agree that say Saudi-Arabia is a "patriarchal society"? I can readily agree with your point it would probably help them as a society to legalize porn but seems like they are not going to do that any time soon: https://www.quora.com/Is-porn-banned-in-Saudi https://www.quora.com/Is-porn-banned-in-Saudi Why? If they did allow it the absolute power of the ruling dynasty could be questioned in other ways and that might be the end of that dynasty.
- esarbe 7y ago
  I'm sorry if I don't answer your questions directly but approach them from a tangent. I don't quite buy into the Patriarchy mythos. For me, this is oversimplifying how societies form and develop their structure and rules. If you want to equate "Patriarchy" with hierarchy; sure, be my guest. That's what a lot of ardent Feminists tend to do and my guess that is because it made for a convincing story if you were a privileged female member of the upper-classes of late 19th-century England. It was also probably very tempting to be able to point at any member of the opposite sex and say "It's your fault!". (At least these are my guesses why we struggle so hard to overcome the Patriachy mythos.) I don't think that this approach has much merit to it, however. To me it looks like a lot of what is considered "Patriarchy" are simply the remnants of cultural agreements that were made in a time when survival and reproduction where the predominant driver of the societal web. You don't send out your woman to battle war, they are the reproductive coin of your society. You send men to war, men are expendable. Our traditional social compact follows this logic. But it was always a compact between males and females. It was never something that Men coerced Women into. It was an agreement out of necessity. Woman live in seclusion, Men die free. Sure, you are free to call these traditional, born-out-of-the-necessity-for-survival compacts 'patriarchal'. But 'matriarchal' would be just as appropriate. So, why is pornography banned in Saudi-Arabia? Why is homosexuality considered an abomination? Howly cow, I don't know. I guess it has something to to with the tenants of the Abrahamic religion(s). Other traditional don't have that much beef with sex and sexuality. I don't think that allowing pornography would topple the regime, though it could put some strain onto the dynasty[0]. Looking forward to have a fruitful discourse! [0] https://www.yourbrainonporn.com/ https://www.yourbrainonporn.com/

TeMPOraL 7y ago

Besides this being completely irrelevant to the present-era UK, keep in mind that those societies warred a lot, which meant men died, skewing the gender balance. Provisions for polygamy worked as a rudimentary social safety net for widows. (As a general point, in my perhaps limited knowledge, weird or appalling customs from the past tend to have economic underpinnings.)

galaxyLogic 7y ago
Sounds like a reasonable theory to me. Any links on scholarly research into this?