I posted this on some forum somewhere, and I've been told that I should share it with a few more people. So here it is, my anti-porn rationalization, albeit in a very loose sketch.
Also, yes, I realize that some of you are under the impression that that bitch Ms. Stereotypical hasn't gotten her due. Oh, but she will! Mark my words! With a big orange highlighter! Hopefully, she will be a running theme in this blog. Now, on with the show.
There are many different reasons for being anti-porn. Some of them, in my view, are valid and good. Some of them are questionable. And SOME of them are downright scary and misogynist. In my anti-porn opinion, here are some of the best reasons for being anti-porn:
Because most women in porn would prefer to leave porn if they could.
Because it is very difficult, if not impossible, to tell if the women in porn are acting under coercion or being raped on camera.
Because porn desensitizes our culture to violence against women.
Because supporting the small percentage of women who CHOOSE and are VERY HAPPY about being in porn OVER the much larger percentage of women who are treated like human condoms is very sheltered and bourgeois and privileged and, frankly, naive.
Now HERE are some of the merely "okay" reasons, "second tier" if you will, for being anti-porn:
Because porn helps create and enforce a limiting sexual script that people engaging in sexual activity try to emulate -- in other words, the false sexuality of pornography becomes the kind of sexuality that people having "real" sex idealize.
Because people, particularly women in porn, orgasm easily and are always pleased with whatever goes down, which can lead to people not having a damn clue about how real sex works or functions as well as getting frustrated or angry if real sex doesn't work exactly like porn sex.
Because people can get addicted to pornography and voyeurism in general, making "real sex" with another person less to not at all desirable.
Because women in porn come readily available in different sizes and hair colors and so forth, so a person can easily find the woman of his desire right then and there -- in other words, women are a commodity, and finding the perfect woman through porn is easy, leaving real life women with the impossible task of trying to measure up.
Now here are the SHIT reasons, reasons I WOULD NEVER USE, and if someone is anti-porn because of these reasons, I don't give a damn if they do agree with me about the "ends," the "means" so aren't justifiable:
Because sex is holy and should be between only two people.
Because women should be protected and not leered at.
Because sex should be for baby-making only.
Because porn makes a man lose his "energy" through spilled semen which makes him less of a man and less likely to take on the world with manly strength.
Because women in porn are stupid fucking whores, and whores are bad.
Because if you start masturbating to porn all the time, then you won't want to have sex with your wife and will look for someone else. (Note: this is different from the more general "reasons" listed above, namely, the using porn INSTEAD of sleeping with your partner, not using porn as some kind of catalyst to finding ANOTHER real life woman to screw. Unfortunately, a lot of spurned partners are anti-porn for this more specific reason, because they blame porn for their husband's infidelity. However, I would say that 98% of the time, the porn just made a bad situation worse.)
I think "second tier" stuff is a lot easier to attack than the "first tier" anti-porn reasoning because first tier focuses more on women as a community and the second tier stuff is more specifically personal. My focus on anti-porn ideology came largely through my working with the domestic violence and sexual violence community. Therefore, I happen to think that the violence against women angle is the strongest. I don't think it's possible to get rid of the violence against women perpetuated WITHIN porn and encouraged OUTSIDE of porn, therefore, I am anti-porn.
And yes, I think it's pretty important for us to be clear WHY we are anti-pornography. It isn't just the Christian fundamentals who get lumped in with us, it's a whole mess of other people who dislike porn for reasons that are a lot harder to take seriously. I would like to see the anti-porn community down-playing second tier reasoning for first tier.