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Piscean women are the perfect blend of sexy and psycho.... 7 Posts 8/11
Posted - Aug 14 2011 : 11:14PM
Ok let me start by making this understatement this is not the first time the topic has come up. As a female growing up in a strict Jehovah's Witnesses household, the thought of adult movies or "porn" was considered a sin equivalent to murder. So naturally the very thought of watching and......enjoying it (heaven forbid) was scary. People who enjoyed porn were portrayed as disgusting depraved people who watched in shame and in basements. So of course even though I grew a brain stem and realized that's not true at all..that always has had some impact. Here's the thing there have been other genres of entertainment (music,games,etc) with the same stigma and because of the popularity that generated so many millions, these entities have used that money to buy enough influence with mainstream media and even politics to become accepted. So my question is why does this multi BILLION dollar industry not do the same? Yes you have your awards and some main stream attention, but why not attack the stigma? There are more actresses (yes some actors) too denouncing their past careers upon retirement not because they hated it but because the stigma is so harsh that the backlash becomes persecution. I do find some porn too much for my taste but overall I have been empowered to give and receive pleasure from it. So why not help others by using the money and influence to recreate the "porno chic" era?
^^Hi Empress, Welcome to ADT. Seems you are new, as I am relatively too. My answer to this from what I gather about the industry is that it may be worth billions overall (down from previous decade but probably still billions overall), is that it is simply too fragmented to cohesively lobby government to create influence. There's just so many aspects to adult entertainment wrapped up in those billion figures, that it's nearly impossible to band together on that scale. That figure includes porn, strip clubs, cam sites, and who knows what else they lump in there to arrive at a figure that no one can authenticate. Remember, that Hollywood may seem gigantic but overall it is controlled by a handful of studios, much like the music industry was. Video games are even more so, as (I think) their sales have outgrown Hollywood revenue now. The key would be to not just have the porn industry lobby, but get Hollywood, the recording industry, the videogame industry, all together since many of the issues cross over to each other, censorship-wise. That won't happen anytime soon however, as those industries are so insulated, that they would feel advertiser heat for dealing with the porn industry. The videogame industry might be the least likely victim of this rationalization, and hence the most favorable to working with the adult industry. That being said, the adult industry does have it's own lobbying interest, in the great group called the Free Speech Coalition (check out their website). They do lobby with government on many adult issues, regarding legal hassles and free expression rights. I am a member supporting their cause and I think they do an outstanding job with what resources they have. I do think that day by day the stigma dies a little bit more, as I have reasoned on other threads. Change happens over time, and society has a whole has opened up tremendously in their sexual views, already, so we're moving in the right direction. Until an overall cultural awakening happens however, the adult industry will be stuck fighting it's own battles. But I'm glad it's at where it's at now, compared to say a few decades ago. Lastly, I'm glad you found it in yourself to awaken to the value of porn and embracing sexuality at it's healthiest aspect. I think instead of the lobbying efforts of the industry itself, it is this awakening within each of us, that we can relay to our friends, which will further deteriorate the old stigmas of sex. Again, welcome to ADT!!
Nothing says I love you so much as a tongue in the ass. 2884 Posts 1/03
Posted - Aug 15 2011 : 6:31AM
What exactly would the porn industry be lobbying for? Acceptance is a societal thing, and sex always brings out the worst in our collective reactions. Besides, porn thrives on its maverick status and taboo nature. Everybody watches it and nobody talks about it (hardly, anyway). Repealing obscenity laws and that of victimless crimes in general would be nice, but most of that would be a state by state endeavor. Good luck finding politicians willing to go to the mat for that.
Thanks for clarifying this. The figures that get tossed around seem to be rather exaggerated, and typically account for "the sex industry." So, porn is only one piece of that pie -- there are many forms of sex work. As for the OP, welcome! In my opinion, I'm not sure total destigmatization would be good for business. Porn treads a careful line between mainstream legitimacy and marginalized illegitimacy, and this keeps the product alive. Even if they tried, total destigmatization (which would involve an overhaul of a whole culture's attitudes toward sexuality/gender etc) seems unfeasible. On the more realistic scale you're addressing, though, the most significant efforts and campaigns about destigmatizing sex work comes from prostitutes rights groups, individual porn performers (on podcasts, in essays and book chapters etc), and feminist/queer activism in general. I think this probably speaks to my prior point about studios treading that fine line. Destigmatization is probably more beneficial to individual performers and other sex workers, and like you say, the stigma is so strong (especially for women) that many of them denounce their past. Also, we should accept the fact that some performers genuinely found the experience unpleasant and have concerns about the institution itself. Their voices shouldn't be dismissed out of hand either.
