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Utah Governor: 'Porn Is a Public Health Crisis' (cnet.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Utah Governor Gary Herbert said on his Facebook page: "Pornography is a public health crisis. The problem is rampant, yet it thrives in secrecy and silence." He emitted this thought on signing a resolution which says porn is "a public health hazard leading to a broad spectrum of individual and public health impacts and societal harms." In addition, it "perpetuates a sexually toxic environment." The resolution doesn't just stop there. It goes on to say "due to advances in technology and the universal availability of the Internet, young children are exposed to what used to be referred to as hard core, but is now considered mainstream, pornography at an alarming rate." The resolution says pornography "equates violence toward women and children with sex and pain with pleasure, which increases the demand for sex trafficking, prostitution, child sexual abuse images, and child pornography." It requests "the need for education, prevention, research, and policy change at the community and societal level in order to address the pornography epidemic that is harming the people of our state and nation." In the words of Gov. Gary Herbert, "Today's bills will start an open discussion." I couldn't agree more...
This is just the continuation of the "public health crisis" excuse to ban something people don't agree with. Smoking, Sugary drinks, guns, etc. The slippery slope continues.
If only we had a way to instruct these children about responsible sexual practices. If only we could gather children together 5 days a week in public buildings and teach them sexual education along with math, science and history to demystify sex so that porn isn't their only reference.
If only...
Another attempt by the far right to legislate its religious morality. Maybe we should call religion a public health crisis. It damages people's ability to think rationally. Porn is like any other film; it's staged. Of course, the right doesn't call action movies a public health crisis, even though they tend to contain plenty of violence; action movies don't violate their religion's morals.
That's a bold statement... If he's got proof, I'd like to see it (for free, obviously)
Science would be great here, although any limitations are going to be severely limited by both the first amendment.
I remember hearing a few years ago that the effects of internet pornography were difficult to study because it is too difficult to find a control group.
Exposure to politicians and their desires to push their own ideals on others is a public health crisis.
WE should outlaw politicians at once!
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Utah has the highest consumption rate of porn, and there really hasn't been a good explanation for it.
On the plus side, it's nice to see the religious right taking on the mantle of anti-porn crusaders again from feminist, as the you can only get so far with claims of misogyny.. Erototoxins are where its at.
Unfortunately for him, this discussion already took place in 1969 (snark), via the President's Commission on Obscenity and Pornography. Thus far, I haven't heard much in the way to contradict their findings.
And then there is that pesky free speech issue, which regardless of public health problems, the courts haven't seen fit to abridge.
I'll be the first to admit I'm dismayed at the prevalence of porn now, but simply asking people to use more discretion isn't nearly as headline grabbing as claiming porn is a health crisis.
Maybe he can look into why there is such a problem in his own state and get back to us?
There's decent science on this:
http://bigthink.com/dollars-an...
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
And not only Porn! Also:
- Videogames
- Role playing games
- Rock
- Divorces
- Sodomy
- Being black
- Heresy
- Witchcraft
- Barbarian..ism?
Utah Governor: 'Porn Is a Public Health Crisis'
Why would porn cause a pubi-
Oh, public. Never mind.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
Can't they just let it go
Given their porn usage, the thing they really can't let go is clearly "it". As it were.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
since when does feminism require proof? to them only feelings matter...
Maybe not the proof you were looking for, but porn damages the viewer. You guys should really look at the quiet epidemic of "The Great Porn Experiment" (TED Talk, free, 16 min): https://youtu.be/wSF82AwSDiU
Nobody has proof for this, because it does not exist. Even the claim that pornography is harmful to children does not have proof because it is mostly wrong and primary fueled by dark and restrictive religious ideas. The only known harm is that they may feel inadequate, but that can be counteracted by explaining to them that what they see are athletes doing a performance and that what is displayed in bodies is not average at all and that normal sex is quite a bit different.
The fact of the matter is that teenagers that are interested in it have had access to porn since forever and that those that are not interested in it (in particular younger children) simply ignore it.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
There is and from multiple sources. The problem is that it says what the prohibitionists are doing is actually quite harmful and increases rape and other problems. In addition, they often think they are on a mission from "God" (or against male dominance) and if they would admit the facts, it would not only look like they are exceptionally stupid, but outright malicious. Hence this evil and harmful crusade continues, like some other ones do.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
He's purdy much right. In fact, one of my wives swears up & down she'll be taking me to porn addicts anonymous meetings. As soon as she's old enough to drive. In about 3 years. Provided she is pregnant. Again.
The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
Naaa, that could lead to inconvenient questions who is responsible for _that_ and if fixed, it could lead to a non-distracted population that actually notices how self-centered, incompetent and evil politicians actually are.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
All indications I have show that religion in various forms is a lot worse for your health than porn will ever be. It kills every day, and if it doesn't kill you today, at least causes serious lack of judgement and deformed perception of reality.
Perhaps the Senator should reset his priorities and fix the religion issue first? The world will be a better place without religion, thank you.
To Terminate, or not to Terminate, that's the question - SCSIROB
I'm not sure if you are Mormon or Protestant, but either way I presume you hold the Bible sacred. My Bible says in I Peter 4:15-16 not to be a busybody or meddler in other people's decisions. It's sort of a well known passage because it's one of only three places that the Bible uses the word "Christian," but somehow I think a lot of people have missed what it says not to do.
Being extremely religious, I take the Bible and this passage extremely seriously. I suggest you do start doing so as well. You're making things difficult for the rest of us.
Secession is the right of all sentient beings.
They've all been restricted to some extent, with attempts made to expand the restrictions.
The way you can tell if something is actually a public health issue is to figure out if it is a cause or problems or a symptom.
The problem is that sugar is needleslly subsidized so their economic cost isn't realized in their market price. Some consumption of sugar is fine but as a society we've gone WAY beyond what is demonstrably healthy. So over consumption of sugary drinks is a public health crisis because it is a significant factor in obesity, diabetes and other conditions common in the population. Eat too much sugar and you get fat and/or diabetes and/or other illnesses. Cause and effect.
Smoking IS a genuine public health crisis. There are innumerable diseases with clear causal relationships to smoking. It's not even a debate that it is a public health issue. Smoking clearly causes illnesses
Porn is NOT a genuine health crisis. Arguments to that effect are people looking for an excuse to interject their own morality in most cases. At most it is a symptom of people who have genuine mental health issues but the porn isn't the cause. Porn doesn't cause mental health issues but mental health issue might result in porn. You won't make the mental health issue go away by suppressing or removing access to porn. Even nasty stuff like kiddie-porn does not cause mental health problems - it merely shows us where they already exist.
That is an interesting assumption on your part. On the other hand, from people I know who work at schools, there is an increasing problem of boys who don't seem to realize that girlfriends don't like being treated like porn starts and girls who think it's normal for sex to be all about the man's sexual gratification and not the woman's.
At the very least, we have a problem with porn being the only sexual education some of these kids are getting.
Honestly this is something ISIS would say.
I seem to remember some studies that suggest that porn watching among teenagers *in the US* does in fact tend to bias them towards more extreme activities likely to induce pain, humiliation, etc.
As I recall though, those same studies suggested a much more practical solution - stop treating sexuality as a taboo subject. It's arguably the single most important biological drive, and as that drive gets activated as teenagers hit puberty they're naturally going to seek out information and stimulation. In the US today, that pretty much means pornographic depictions of often dubious activities*, since depictions of healthy, well-adjusted sexuality are banned from general media, and are insufficiently titillating to be the focus of much porn.
*I should clarify that I have nothing against "dubious activities" between consenting adults. But it makes for very poor education of what a healthy baseline sexual relationship looks like.
--- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
most nudity that is porn portrays abusive behavior and feeds a need in the viewer that probably is not healthy.
People are horny whether or not they have access to porn. "Portrays abusive behavior"? In some cases sure but the porn isn't the cause, it is the result.
I've done a lot of counseling sessions with people whose relationships and lives were ruined by the persons addiction to porn.
Addiction is a real problem but it doesn't follow that porn = public health crisis because some people cannot manage their libido effectively. Alcoholism is a disease but that doesn't make alcohol a public health problem. It makes alcoholism a public health problem. See the difference? Alcohol consumed responsibly is a non-problem. Alcohol consumed to excess routinely and/or in an irresponsible manner (i.e. alcoholism) is a problem.
Seriously, this is a Mormon lawmaker trying to legislate his own morality on others. Let's not pretend there is any credibility to calling this a public health crisis because it isn't.
I have yet to do a single one where sugary drinks, for example, caused it.
And exactly how do you get to the conclusion that obesity and diabetes are conditions best treated by counseling?
I'm not sure your position is supported by recent publications. While I agree that people define "baseline" - the current concern is that teenagers are looking to porn as "what normal is." Teenagers make up their own truth in the absence of education. For example "you can't get pregnant the first time" ... etc.
I read an article recently that young women (girls) are being "trained" by young men (boys). Boys are watching porn and they expect girls to behave the same way. Girls want to be part of the in-club and are adapting - convincing themselves (for example) that oral sex isn't sex. Free to do it at will without consequence. They are not developing a healthy relationship with sex. Other forms of sex are now entering this new base-line. Forms that girls don't really want to do - but again adapt to remain in the club.
There are fears that STDs will rise because these "new" baseline forms of sex aren't considered problematic by teens - and therefore aren't protecting themselves....because of the "you can't get pregnant" line of reasoning.
My point is that teens may not be choosing their own baseline. Peer pressure is forcing unhealthy choices on them. You can't drink until 21, some states are proposing "can't smoke" until 21. Well thought out reasoning is not a skill teens have ;-)
Teaching our young what "healthy" looks like is probably the place to start. Okay - maybe parents not literally teaching them. Open the dialog and remove the taboo.
Burdens of proof do not work that way! Goodnight!
Absolutely, and I make no claim to be so. But porn is, by and large, made by and for men, and competes to be as titillating as possible to secure as much of the market as possible, and so it inevitably portrays a very lopsided picture. Go ahead and watch a bunch of it at random, with careful attention to the actors faces - they're rarely good actors after all, and their faces tend to expose their actual feelings if you're not focused on other things. The men are generally enjoying themselves, the women, considerably less frequently. And if a professional with lots of experience is expressing discomfort or distaste, it's a fair bet that it's not something the average woman is really going to enjoy. Some individuals certainly, but it's probably not a good baseline to educate children who have no broader experience to draw upon.
Keep in mind, I'm not saying do away with porn, I'm saying lets stop hiding the averages (and extremes) of what real people choose to engage in behind social taboos. And I'm not just spouting off, I have some female friends who endured some really unpleasant things in their early relationships, simply because they thought it as normal and had no idea they should be demanding better treatment.
--- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.