I love sleeping, honk-shoo is so goated.
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discussion of pornography, though nothing inherently explicit
what is with the prevalence of anti-porn anti-sex etc sentiment present even in leftist spaces (yes even here)? are we really still pretending that this stuff is bad for you in 2025, or that “porn addiction” is a real thing? anti-sex puritanism unless missionary for the purposes of procreation is not something that should be part of your ideology methinks. sex, sexual development, etc are normal healthy things that should be encouraged. weve already seen what mass sexual repression does to people and its not a good thing.
promoting fascist ideology and helping create very serious problems is a bad thing actually, and the fact that we are still encouraged to live in a panopticon where questioning your fascist beliefs even slightly can make you lose of your entire support system is a shame.
“gooner” is literally just the new “removed” in a lot of cases (which was, among other things, the word nazis used to describe people/things they didnt like) and for some reason we are just okay with this?? and if you dare point out “hey this is a bad thing actually” then people refuse to take you seriously
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Porn can be and has historically been very exploitative and oppressive. Its hard in our system to make porn thats not very exploitative and relying on the most desperate people in dire circumstances to do it - or to even get them paid appropriately for making porn at all really. I can see the argument that one could get addicted to porn but people can get addicted to pretty much anything, Im sure if it wasnt porn itd be gambling or drugs or gaming or whatever, take your pick.
I never know how to square my “sex work is work and all work is valid” and “the sex work industry is really fucked up”… Ive been to places where its legal and has been for not just decades even a century+ and theres still something fucked up about the industry over and above the usual gripes everyone rightly has about alienated labour.
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there is no argument that one could get addicted to porn because it literally does not exist. factually, objectively, scientifically is not a thing that actually exists.
similarly, “masturbation addiction” doesnt exist, and and religious (esp christian) fascists trying to make the lives of people miserable by projecting religious + non existent guilt for doing something completely natural is really annoying so can we pleaseee stop accepting their puritan bullshit
sexual repression is bad, actually. queer folk should know this at this point surely.
not gonna comment on the other stuff because it would just be repeating what kit said.
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People can get addicted to anything that releases the pleasure chemicals. The way porn addiction and masturbation addiction rhetoric have been weaponized by those pushing puritanical beliefs is wrong, especially when its used to take away people’s agency or push bigotry and misogyny. But it can be an affliction that leads people to make bad choices in life. I’ve seen it happen.
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we dont really care what youve seen or what you say, because it doesnt change the fact that is has been scientifically proven to literally not exist. thats what weve got. science says youre wrong. compulsion and addiction are two very different, distinct things. a compulsive relationship with porn is about the individual, not the porn
its like saying someone is addicted to like building legos, or (more relevant) blaming a shower for causing a “shower addiction” because they are overshowering. if someone is overshowering, there is something outside of the shower that is causing them to engage in such behavior, aka the shower isnt the problem
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If a person has a compulsion that they cannot sucessfully fight, to do something that is causing them harm, due to a runaway feedback loop in their brain, that is an addiction. Addiction is not limited to substance additions but also behavioral addictions. I get the impression that the understanding of addiction that you are working with is an outdated one that gatekeeps addiction to a very limited set of substances that directly cause physical harm. However as far as I am aware, that distinction has since been recognized to be arbitrary and unscientific.
I believe this is correct and in line with the modern medical model of addiction. Addiction is a personal affliction and not a to be used as a moral judgement of the person or their vice. Some people have perfectly healthy relationships with substances and behaviors that others find addicting.
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using “porn addiction” “gaming addiction” etc implies that these things themselves are inherently addicting, and blaming them for problems that they dont cause. if someone is looking for their next dopamine hit, literally anything can fill that hole, nobody is going around saying “reading addiction” or “gundam addiction” or “<literally anything that brings you joy> addiction”, only things that already have social stigmas are called addictions in order to push harmful puritanical worldviews. there is zero evidence that problems related to sexual urges, thoughts or behaviors are in any way linked to a “porn/sexual addiction”. as weve already said numerous times, it scientifically has been proven to not exist, so we fail to see why this is still a discussion thats happening. if you would like us to go spend time compiling a list of studies that corroborate this very information (many by sex therapists that would profit off of pretending it does exist) then we can, but only if youll bother actually reading them instead of just going “well ive seen it therefore it exists”. and if you want to show us studies that say it do exist we are perfectly fine breaking down their flaws and showing how many of them have religious ties, anti-sex worker ties, or grifting “therapists". alternatively, we can stop having a pointless discussion over objective facts.
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I think the important part is recognizing that issues with the industry and industry output are not intrinsic to porn or sex work. The issue is with the system and the industry, not the thing itself. There’s absolutely issues with worker exploitation, misogyny, racism, queerphobia et al in porn and the porn industry, but this is reflective of the hegemonic culture as opposed to being intrinsic qualities of sex work. It’s definitely more dire when this exploitation happens due to the nature of sex work, but that just makes it even more important to stand up for sex workers and workers’ rights in these industries. A total taboo around sex and sex work just inevitably leads to worse and worse exploitation.