Can we do this?

Originally posted by johnnylongwoody
It's true.

Viagra is now used as commonly as coke
by men in that age group now attending
nightclubs in most western European cities.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1026523/Men-aged-18-30-Viagra-Sex-And-The-City-generation.html

http://digitaljournal.com/article/334150

Neither or those tabloid articles verify your claim that it's as common as cocaine use or that it is "the drug of choice". I don't doubt that it is regularly being misused amongst younger people.

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Prefatory quote from the song:

In olden days a glimpse of stocking
Was looked on as something shocking,
But now, God knows,
Anything Goes.

I wonder if porn would be all that it is, (including a money maker) in a society that didn't repress but instead accepted consensual sex acts of any kind (Edit: and public nudity etc.) between and among those deemed competent to consent.

I wonder if sex itself would be all that it is, in such a society.

If such things as a glimpse of stocking can be eroticized, if not to say fetishized, as a result of repressing them, I wonder about cultures that hide women away and I imagine that the men are quite easily aroused by things men in other cultures are quite blase about.

Edit: I don't mean to imply that women's and men's roles in these considerations are fundamentally different. That's a separate discussion.

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Oh, please.

Even when they choose to act in porn women are portrayed as victims or objectified. They use men as much as men use them. Get real.

Look at the TV shows and movies geared toward women. It's all about men, relationships, and sex. 'Sex in the City', 'Cougartown', 'The Bachelor/Bachelorette', 'Real Housewives of...' etc etc

They want it more than we do. They just won't admit it.

My views on girls was distorted by 1960's TV shows. I thought girls didn't want you to be 'too forward' and on the first date you were lucky to go as far as holding hands...and don't you dare kiss before the second date. Then when I did start dating, girls were extremely aggressive and some got upset if we didn't have sex the first night.

Of course, I was very good-looking when I was young.

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With all respect, maybe you could narrow down the discussion a little, taking into account the response so far.

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I caught one of my kids friends sending a porn image via bluetooth, he accidentally sent it to my phone, realised what he had done and then tried to cancel the transmission, but it was too late, it had registered on my phone. I did not approach him about it, but when i saw him he looked rather embarrassed, instead i told his friends and my kid that it was a form of self delusion making love to girls in magazines, that he should try to get a real girlfriend, they agreed, laughed and said that he was a doofer to get caught.

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One area of potentially useful discussion is the effect of porn on attitudes. Studies seem to concentrate on studying attitudes toward women, not toward men, Here's one; are there others?

quote (emphasis added):

It is a widespread belief that pornography causes negative attitudes toward women, but tests of this belief are contradictory. A large body of research has studied the effect of violent pornography on behavior, but the effects of erotica and violence have often been confounded. Thus, the relationship between pornography and attitudes toward women was assessed in two correlational studies, and the effect of (nonviolent) erotica on attitudes towards women was tested experimentally. The dependent measure was the score on a questionnaire measuring attitudes toward women and women's issues. The questionnaire possessed high reliability; factor analysis indicated a single general factor. Participants included 184 psychology students and 20 patrons at an “adult” theater. Multiple linear regressions indicated that hours of viewing pornography was not a reliable predictor of attitudes toward women in either sample. Patrons of the adult theater, who viewed more pornography, had more favorable attitudes toward women than male or female college students. In Study 3, 75 students were randomly assigned to watch four hours of erotica or four hours of psychology films over five consecutive days. Power analysis indicated a strong test. Manipulation checks showed a difference in students’ perception of the erotic nature of the videos, but attitudes toward women were not influenced by type of video.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00224498909551529

Pornography, erotica, and attitudes toward women: The effects of repeated exposure

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I feel unhappy about people appearing in the movies - it's just sad. There are young people who think it's easy money but the things they have to do destroy their lives and their future.

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If you read some of the stories they are absolutely harrowing, from being abandoned by family to being trafficked and drugged and has some rather stark statistics. Yeah, I have not seen the film but I know its a reality for some women in prostitution. I used to live below a prostitute and her pimp boyfriend, they were total drug addicts, its was really sad.

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She and the movie -- very moving.

You mentioned in the OP that you might add some comments from the BBC show as the thread progressed. If it is relevant, did they have anything to say about how the cultural repression of consensual sex among adults and illegalization of porn and prostitution (I'll lump them together as sex work), creates openings for these kind of abuses? I am wondering it they mention any studies or findings about the welfare of sex workers in places where sex work is legal and controlled*, such as some places in Europe and maybe Nevada in the US.

I'd also be interested in hearing from members who are in places like those.