Porn and politics

[Mad Koala Bear]

Do you think that a liking for porn predisposes you to one side of the political spectrum? Speaking as a porn loving, left of centre, liberal minded, anti-racist, as inclusive as I can be, non-New Labour supporting, humanist, I sometimes feel rather on my own when certain political/race/class/world-view matters are raised on here and another well-known forum, though there are a number of fellow posters who are notable exceptions in both places. When it comes to a country's government, I would surmise that the more conservative (with a small c), or theocratic (they go together very well) it is the more likely it is to supress porn, but our own and a number of other liberal democracies are guilty of similar constaints, as evidenced by the recent 'extreme' porn legislation here or the Australian government's internet censorship coming in soon.

[Aubrey]

I'm pretty much like you, Damp. I used to be on the W0man's Hour site arguing in favour of porn, and still do so on the various sites that spun off when it closed down (hardly anyone agrees with me, but they do accept me pretty well).

The current Labout Govt's attitude to porn and sex in general is something that I find embarrassing at best (it seems to be, you can be what you like, gay, straight, whatever; but we'd sooner you didn't actually do anything about it, and certainly not talk about it, or take photographs. It would be best if you just went on parades, really). In April there will be the law making the possession of certain cartoons - cartoons! - illegal. I don't know what they think they're playing at. In Australia a Judge ruled that Cartoon characters have rights as well as real people, and I fear the same kind of absurdity is going to happen here.

I always thought I'd be too much of a pinko for Labour, but this is pretty basic stuff, isn't it? I mean, they're drawings.

I've always been a pinko, and in the 80s I used to try to be against porn, as Socialists tended to be; but you can't be liberal and want to ban things, or you shouldn't be. My problem in the 80s is that I didn't have the arguments (and the general crapness of the Sullivan mags, really). I do now.

[Mad Koala Bear]

Thanks Aubrey. However, my main point was that I find that likers of porn who post on porn boards, tend to be rather reactionary, conservative with both a small and a large C, and often belong to the hang 'em, flog 'em, send 'em home brigade. Posters on here are usually quite temperate in what they say, though still holding the above views. On the other board I frequent I am often appalled and regularly disgusted by what is said of a racist nature mostly by many regular posters who when it comes simply to matters of porn I would probably join on the barricades. So my point is, if you like porn and post on porn forums, do you TEND to be right-wing?

[Mal Hombre]

Speaking for myself I'm pretty left of centre,I don't think there's any conflict with also being an avid pornophile.

[Sharkhunter]

I'm pretty right of centre on the other hand, and I also don't think there's any great conflict with being a pornophile. Essentially I am something of a libertarian, and believe that there is a time and place for everything - which includes pornography.

For instance, I am firmly of the opinion that pornography should be for mature adults - which means that while I (as a mature adult) should be free and able to view anything that contains images of consenting adults, I would be in favour of cracking down upon anything that may fall outside of this remit.

For instance, I'd have no problem flogging and then hanging, drawing and quartering those who might dabble in the production and distribution of paedophilia; with this sort of thing I am sure that various human rights issues may well fog things up for those on the left.

[Mad Koala Bear]

I'm not saying there is a conflict, merely that my very unscientific sample would suggest that porn-liking posters on forums are more often than not on the right of the political spectrum. Nothing wrong with that. It was just a conclusion I thought others may have reached, wherever their position on said spectrum.

As for hanging, drawing etc, those who produce the material to which you allude, is one as concerned about the 1000+ children who die every day throughout the world for lack of clean drinking water? Or who those labour in sweat-shops, or whose habitat is endagered by rising sea-levels? I could go on. Should the polluters of their wells be h,d and q'ed? Should those who perpetuate the grinding poverty under which those children have to scrape a life suffer the same fate? To a large extent our western, cosumerist life-style is dependent on keeping large numbers of people in the under-developed world in poverty.

[ptx4]

Tought it would be right tendencies myself, as it's usualy goverment who comes in and says that porn is evil and turn you into communist/capitalist (as learned from this board/from experience ) and I'd imagine, that would make one think and wish towards less powerful goverment and therefore towards right as why the hell some burocrat should talk in to what are you looking at.
It has nothing to do with racism, I think - after all, most racist goverments I can think of (WW II Germany and Lenins and Stalins USSR) were quite letf of centre and I can hardly imagine how impowerful goverment can go bad on certain race.

May be its actually evenly distributed.
Just my 2 cents...

[crazybikerme]

Not sure, what about all those Tory sex scandals..................????

[scoundrel]

ptx4: I know they called themselves ''Socialist'' but even so, I think you are the first person I have ever heard describing the Nazis as ''left of centre.'' However, if you left the Nazis out of the argument as a rare and vile aberation, the main difference between a fascist dictatorship and a communist dictatorship is the colour of the uniforms. All the ideological stuff is claptrap for the ears of the proletariat. In what they actually do, lust for power is the real driver and the brutal tools for crushing opposition are just the same, regardless of whether they claim to be right wing or left wing. This has nothing to do with what they claim to stand for and everything to do with the fact that they rule against the wills of their people, through fear. Never be swayed by what they say: always measure them by what they do to other people. Usually seizing the moral high ground and denouncing moral turputude, such as pornography, is a standard divide and rule strategy equally used by left and right, though the right tend to argue it is depraved and decadent (seeking to co-opt religious types) while the left tend to denounce the exploitation of women and the misogyny of pornography, sometimes with good reasons (check out the Max Hardcore discussion thread).

[crimpo]

World War II Germany was 'left wing' - bit of education needed there...

I'm VERY left wing - opposed to authoritarianism and fundamentalism in all and any guise. I'm no fan of the likes of Max Hardcore but general porn is quite another matter.