Content Warning: The topic discussed is about consumption of explicit material under 18 on Tumblr (I disagree with what they said, by the way)
Context: This person was talking about children being an oppressed group in many societies around the world and the excuse some people use (protecting children) to do so.
"And many of the rules that are currently pushed for to “protect” children from evil things like checks notes porn and horror movies and serial kidnappers that do not actually exist "
“What is there to be confused by? The vast majority of teens will in some way consume porn - and always have done that. You cannot really prevent it. The best you can do is make sure that they so in a safe environment”
I think this is a trash take. Am I overreacting to this?
Edit: I reported it already for being gross. Also, for context, I am very triggered by anything related to children.
I guess you disagree with another person’s answer in this comment section. I am just unsure what to think of the answers some people have given me.
I get that. Sometimes you get a lot of varied responses and aren’t sure what to make of it all. That’s normal; a good opportunity to examine your own thoughts on a subject sometimes.
Yeah, it is a difficult subject for me to handle because of personal issues, but hearing the differing perspectives and not shying away from reading them is probably better for my mental health in the long-term. I still do not accept just giving them access to anything like what this topic was about just because it is difficult to prevent them from seeing it.
That is correct. Exposure therapy is considered the most effective therapy for a reason. Well done.
The issue is that merely exposing oneself to triggers is not good enough; it must be done in appropriate doses, which is nearly impossible on the internet, which can suddenly slap me in the face with something triggering to myself, and my trigger would thus become heightened. It is a difficult balance to achieve…
It may also be because everyone has different ideas as to what “porn” means. Does it involve real people? Is there money involved? Things like that. With a sufficiently strong imagination and/or a sufficiently varied libido, one could get off to anything whether it was created for such a purpose or not.
I have noticed, it appears like it’s not uncommon for there to be some wires crossed in discussions about porn. Something like:
Person who opposes porn: thinks everyone is talking about porn involving real people being filmed/photographed in sexual scenarios
Person who is generally more open to its existence (but may still share the opposition toward porn involving real people): thinks the discussion is about any and all sexualized material, including cartoon lewd drawings, smut writing, etc.
Like I can easily see reason to ban selling of the 1st one, to de-commodify it as much as possible and help people who might otherwise turn to it to make money, make sure they’ll never feel pressured to go for that option.
The 2nd one, OTOH, the production of it can be a much more impersonal thing. It can still be harmful in the sense of misrepresenting sex and creating unhealthy expectations, reinforcing misogyny or things of that nature, enabling overwhelming yourself with too much novel stimulation (in the high speed internet form of it). But it’s not inherently of a particular ideological bent and is more an enabler of fantasy than it is presented like a depiction of real sex. I mean, how many woman readers of Fifty Shades of Grey actually want to be in the woman’s position? None, because fantasizing about something isn’t the same as living it. Those kind of stories are not meant to be something you would actually want pushed on you. Part of understanding sexuality is understanding the nature of consenting roleplay, and the difference between a fantasy and real life. I think it is a subject that is severely under-studied due to stigma.