Does "barely legal" pornography normalize pedophilia/reinforce misogyny?

[hodayathink]

I always found disturbing how in some regular porn sites there is pornography where the actors look underage (14-18) I'm sure that they are adult actors, but is still creepy since I can't say with confidence that this is the case

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Unless you're just browsing a tube site, you probably can, since the one thing the industry is actually really, really careful about is checking the age of everyone involved in the videos that are created. NOBODY wants another Traci Lords situation. Check out "2257 laws" if you ever get a second and want to find out more.

As far as the OP, there's a difference between thinking 18 year olds are physically attractive, and having the desire to exploit the possible power dynamics of actually dating an 18 year old. So no, I don't really think it normalizes it.

 

[ArnoldJRimmer]

If you're a grown-ass man turned on by the idea of fucking a young woman whose brain isn't fully developed yet, you're pathetic. You may be entirely within your legal rights, but you're pathetic. It's not like women turn into unrecognizable old crones once they've fully matured in their 20's.

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And what if you're a grown ass woman?

 

[Hycran]

Actually, most of those averages don't correct for early deaths due to disease and high child mortality. Back then it was hard to get to your teens, but after that you probably got to live a lot longer than 31 on average.

Still, yes, it was common for women to wed at much younger ages, and they were usually expected to bear children much younger too (And with a high mortality rate for women during child birth, you can imagine how hard their, sometime shsort lives were).

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Interesting I hadn't thought of that. I'm not sure where that moves the needle with the average age of births though. I found a website which seemingly has birth data from the US in the 1940's but it would be interesting to go further back.

 

[Silvergun-Blue]

The thing that's always kind of rubbed me the wrong way with this discussion is that some women and men just look young through no fault of their own even when they're well past legal age and I feel it's really unfair to them to stigmatise the idea of people finding them attractive. The implication that people wanting to be suxually involved with them are fucked up in the head must be pretty damaging for their self esteem. Some girls are just petite and/or flat chested and they have every right to be viewed as sexually attractive as anybody else.

Now obviously the topic goes further when you add on other traits to the porn, making them wear certain clothes and adopt certain mannerisms so yeah there's a discussion to be had there. But as long as everybody involved is a consenting adult, I think it's fundamentally okay.
Like many kinks, there are absolutely lines that some people will cross unfortunately.

Now if you want something that really rubs me the wrong way it's that there are some scenes where the preamble involves the girl talking about being abused as a child to the camera and it's very clear what the intent is here "when I was X age my stepdad would....." you get the idea.
I feel a hard line should be drawn there.

 

[Skade]

Most of the time, the actresses posing as school girls are in their mid twenties. And i think everything know that.

It's more roleplay than anything. Creepy roleplay, yes. But roleplay none the less.

Honestly, i'm more creeped out by all the "step-siblings/parents" that are popping up since a few years.

 

[Biggersmaller]

And what if you're a grown ass woman?

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I'm actually showing this thread to my wife and she asked something similar.

Like sex workers, thanks to the internet -many in porn don't require anyone but themselves to safely make a living.

 

[Deleted member 3010]

What? Porn is either legal, where everyone involved is an adult and is consenting, or it's not legal, in which case it's documented abuse. There is no need to "reassure the viewer that what he's watching is 'legal" because their should be no doubt.

Porn is an act. There are women who have "just turned 19" for the past 10 years. All those people in incest porn aren't actually related.

The people looking up consenting adults having sex aren't also looking up child abuse material.

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I'm not talking about the material itself, more the wording of how said porn is titled and the audience it aims at.

I mean, Barely Legal, lol, people watching those aren't necessarily looking for adult looking people when looking for that.

 

[Dosia]

If you're a grown-ass man turned on by the idea of fucking a young woman whose brain isn't fully developed yet, you're pathetic. You may be entirely within your legal rights, but you're pathetic. It's not like women turn into unrecognizable old crones once they've fully matured in their 20's.

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Most men probably don't discriminate. 20 yo or 35, if the girl is attractive I doubt most men care.

Dating someone with that age gap is a different story.

 

[Osan912]

Porn doesn't normalize pedophilia anymore than say incest which has seen an explosion in popularity in the last decade. Real talk what HAS normalized pedophilia is religious institutions. The fact that there hasn't been a sort of ICE equivalent arresting all the priests who raped kids says that religious institutions by and large are above the law.

 

[ty_hot]

When a woman is in the mid 20s, porn call her a just "woman" (as if she were a bit old already). When she reaches 30 it is already considered a MILF. I guess those terms refer to porn with younger woman, not necessarily meaning that they are fetishizing (is this a word?) teens/underage. So it can be ok if it is just a younger woman having sex, but it is disgusting when she is in a role that clearly acts/dresses/talks like a teenager. Depends on the exact situation, basically.

 

[Deleted member 888]

Most of the time, the actresses posing as school girls are in their mid twenties. And i think everything know that.

It's more roleplay than anything. Creepy roleplay, yes. But roleplay none the less.

Honestly, i'm more creeped out by all the "step-siblings/parents" that are popping up since a few years.

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Most searched terms does indeed see teen eclipsed by stepmom/milf

The increase in hentai is more worrying. Social media is already ruining social skills for many, now we've got the rise of wanting to fuck cartoons and pillows instead of real people.

Jokes aside, hentai is where some real issues are with underage content/depictions.

 

[kiguel182]

The thing that I totally fail to understand is the rise in incest porn. Seems like a recent thing.

 

[HeavenlyOne]

If you're a grown-ass man turned on by the idea of fucking a young woman whose brain isn't fully developed yet, you're pathetic.

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Eh, the arbitrary age at which society deems a person to be an adult has nothing to do with brain development, which is generally accepted to continue until the mid twenties and even possibly the early thirties.

I think a performer acting like a naive young girl specifically to cater to men that like that is creepy, but it's no more or less creepy depending on whether the woman in question is 19 or 29.

 

[Deleted member 888]

The thing that I totally fail to understand is the rise in incest porn. Seems like a recent thing.

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Incest isn't new territory for porn. And it's not just straight porn, either. In 2009, Czech studio Bel Ami's website doubled its traffic to 1.5 million monthly users, all flocking to witness the "twincest" videos of Elijah and Milo Peters—the latest in a dozen or so pairs of actual brothers to appear in gay porn together since the 1970s. But across the board, the floodgates have opened. In 2014, incest terms started showing up in Pornhub's top searches—"stepmom" came in 4th place, "mom" in 5th—and have been popular ever since. On the front page of Gamelink you'll find new releases like Mommy Blows Best and My Dad, Your Dad: Calm Down, There Are Enough Dads for Everyone. Nearly every popular studio now features a family-style imprint too, from Team Skeet's Sis Loves Me series to Brazzers' Mommy Got Boobs.

It's like the feeding frenzy that happened among record labels after a certain style of music broke—"Get me the next Nirvana," but the horny uncle version.

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This latest trend is just a natural progression in our society's relationship with porn, according to Paul Wright, Ph.D. of the Media School at Indiana University.

"As types of pornography that were less common in the past—for example violence, this or that fetish—become more and more common and easily accessible, consumers get bored by them and need the extremity and deviance upped a notch to once again become aroused and excited," says Wright. "Few sexual acts are more extreme or deviant than incest."

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https://www.esquire.com/lifestyle/sex/a18194469/incest-porn-trend/

 

[Skade]

The increase in hentai is more worrying. Social media is already ruining social skills for many, now we've got the rise of wanting to fuck cartoons and pillows instead of real people.

Jokes aside, hentai is where some real issues are with underage content/depictions.

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I think Hentai is the reason why the step-mom/incest things is rising from. It's very common in those next to tentacles monsters.

So i suppose it's something the west "adopted" alongside hentai.

 

[Mib]

I always found it kind of weird, and the older I get, the grosser I personally find it, but I don't think it's wrong per say. At least not on a small scale.

If you're a grown-ass man turned on by the idea of fucking a young woman whose brain isn't fully developed yet, you're pathetic. You may be entirely within your legal rights, but you're pathetic. It's not like women turn into unrecognizable old crones once they've fully matured in their 20's.

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By that logic being attracted to a 23yo man or woman is creepy and indicative of poor moral character. You're taking a hardline stance to something that's a lot more nebulous and complex than you're making it out to be.

 

[StrangerDanger]

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"Barely Legal" is a clickbait descriptor broadly used for any scenario featuring a skinny white (usually blonde) woman age 18-25. It is not misogynistic in itself as being attracted to someone in that age range is a perfectly normal and well adjusted sexual tendancy.

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Idk, walking a thin line. Most of the ones I just searched in last 5 mins to see consisted of the pornstar dressing up like they are fresh from highschool. On top of it, it's full of sister, step sister, daughter, stepdaughter shit.... Would say porn 100% definitely fuels curiosity on edge of pedophilia. They know how lucrative the power of taboo/curiosity is of their audience.

 

[Silvergun-Blue]

Jokes aside, hentai is where some real issues are with underage content/depictions.

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I gotta agree with this, not just the loli shit but how incredibly focused hentai seems to be on aggression towards the female characters and even outright rape, and then seeming to "accept" it as her place.
Obviously rape fantasies are a thing, and that's fine but the sheer prevalence of this kind of thing makes it unsurprising to me how certain internet groups have such vile attitudes towards women.

 

[StrangerDanger]

I think Hentai is the reason why the step-mom/incest things is rising from. It's very common in those next to tentacles monsters.

So i suppose it's something the west "adopted" alongside hentai.

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You sure? The golden era of porn was full of invest and was fairly common trope. You can search vintage and invest and find plenty of flicks. All before the popularity of hentai....

 

[Inugami]

If you watch a random porn and it happens the actress 18, no big deal. If you are actively looking for 'barely legal' I do think it's pretty gross. The implication is straight up about looking at something nearly taboo, since the real taboo would land them in jail.

 

[acheron_xl]

The thing that I totally fail to understand is the rise in incest porn. Seems like a recent thing.

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My guess? The rise of adult children living with their parents.

 

[Skade]

You sure? The golden era of porn was full of invest and was fairly common trope. You can search vintage and invest and find plenty of flicks. All before the popularity of hentai....

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Well sure, it was indeed very common in the past. But it also saw a net decrease after that.

But the "resurgence" we see know, i think it can be tied to Hentai. Basically, the kids raised with Anime (Naruto, Pokemon, you name it) going first to Hentai to get their first porn (the familiarity of the art style) and then expecting to see similar tropes when later switching to porn with real actors.

 

[Poltergust]

This is also the case in gay porn, by the way. It feels just wrong to see the thumbnails of these videos with a guy who looks much, much younger than 18 bottoming for some man in his 40s/50s. They are always bottoms too, for whatever reason.

I never click on those, but something that did catch my eye is how surrounding videos only have views in the few hundred thousands (at best), while these videos have views of over 10 million. That actually genuinely creeps me out. These videos are sorted by how new they are, so the timeframe the videos are watched is the same as other videos that show up on the page, which really says a lot to me.

 

[Prine]

Yes it's fucking creepy

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Oh common. It's perfectly normal to find beautiful 18+ year-olds attractive, regardless of gender, (last time I checked woman can be attracted to young men too, it's not just a guy thing). It has ZERO to do with pedophilia for christ sakes, that word has lost all meaning now a days.

Are you seriously saying that people can only masturbate to porn featuring people of their age or older, otherwise it's wrong or creepy?

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More along the lines of portraying girls as pre-pubcent with a child-like naivety, being groomed to sexually pleasure an older man whom are usually in a place of trust, that particular theme being problematic.

 

[SZandeX]

I thought that the biggest tag was "Incest".

 

[StrangerDanger]

Well sure, it was indeed very common in the past. But it also saw a net decrease after that.

But the "resurgence" we see know, i think it can be tied to Hentai. Basically, the kids raised with Anime (Naruto, Pokemon, you name it) going first to Hentai to get their first porn (the familiarity of the art style) and then expecting to see similar tropes when later switching to porn with real actors.

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Aye, makes sense with the rise of those sites where anything you type is already a porn/sex depiction thing. Probably has a lot to do with kids younger age getting access to Internet now, just more availability than before

 

[ArnoldJRimmer]

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More along the lines of portraying girls as pre-pubcent with a child-like naivety, being groomed to sexually pleasure an older man whom are usually in a place of trust, that particular theme being problematic.

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What 18 year old + (more likely 25+ yo in most of these videos) model looks prepubescent?

I mean, I guess if that's what's hap=peniong I can issue with it. But I at least haven't run into anything like it.

 

[Cyanity]

It's a thin line, and I do think it's kind of gross, but if everyone involved in the production is of legal, consenting age, then there's nothing anyone can do about it.

 

[nopressure]

My gut reaction has always been it's creepy.

 

[sph3re]

Well, that's a rare sight.

 

[Deleted member 19066]

The thing that I totally fail to understand is the rise in incest porn. Seems like a recent thing.

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Iirc it was big in the 70's. I guess kinks go in and out of fashion.

 

[ResetGreyWolf]

Well, that's a rare sight.

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That balance sure is staying.

The posts in this thread make it sound like #1 would be the most voted for option, but I can understand that those who vote for #2 may not want to say it out loud.

 

[Prototype Viktor]

daddy daughter dances (purity balls)
elementary cheerleading
then op topic

 

[julian]

But teenagers look at porn too. It's an easy category to find people around their age.

 

[RedMercury]

The posts in this thread make it sound like #1 would be the most voted for option, but I can understand that those who vote for #2 may not want to say it out loud.

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Mhm, def a weird dissonance there. If you don't think it's creepy, I feel like you'd be happy to own it.

 

[BernardoOne]

Well, that's a rare sight.

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perfectly balanced

 

[Deleted member 888]

Mhm, def a weird dissonance there. If you don't think it's creepy, I feel like you'd be happy to own it.

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The call-out culture of Resetera means some will vote and not post as not to get banned/accused of something.

I didn't vote as the poll is a bit loaded. I can think something isn't for me/is pushing some boundaries to the limit, and also think it's fine to exist as it's legal.

Gross/fine are such elementary ways of properly discussing the porn industry and why humans may behave/consume as we do and when things cross from moral/ethical into illegal.

 

[Sunster]

It's creepy.

The call-out culture of Resetera means some will vote and not post as not to get banned/accused of something.

I didn't vote as the poll is a bit loaded. I can think something isn't for me/pushing some boundaries to the limit, and also think it's fine to exist as it's legal.

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People don't get banned for having unpopular opinions like this or supporting trump. They get banned when people ask about it and they get defensive and become abusive or say things they believe that actually are inherently bad.

 

[rusty chrome]

Is this even a question? It's obviously gross.

 

[Error 52]

ResetEra is cleanly divided over this, it's pretty remarkable.

Anyway, I voted no. I'm partly biased because I'm from the UK, but while I do think it's a bit skeevy, most porn is skeevy anyway.

So, uh, sure. Wouldn't seek out "barely legal" porn myself, but you do you.

 

[RedMercury]

The call-out culture of Resetera means some will vote and not post as not to get banned/accused of something.

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I don't really agree with that take. We're no different than any other forum, when people don't like something they speak up. We just thankfully tend to have more posters interested in progressive causes and fighting injustice. Besides, I don't think anyone has even engaged in that here and I tried to lay ground rules in the OP.

ResetEra is cleanly divided over this, it's pretty remarkable.

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I'm a bit surprised by the poll answers, but at the same time not really. I do think the general sentiment here among people who post is that it's gross, but I did not know there was such a large contingent under the surface that would say otherwise. I wish more of them would post to explain their position or offer a rebuttal to the article I posted, and that many people choosing to not do so is concerning to me because there is no way to tell if their position is based in male defensiveness or if they believe in, for example, pornography as harmless fantasizing.

 

[Deleted member 888]

It's creepy.

People don't get banned for having unpopular opinions like this or supporting trump. They get banned when people ask about it and they get defensive and become abusive or say things they believe that actually are inherently bad.

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Not so much for a simple opinion here, you'll often see bans escalate when someone gets angry someone else implies shit about them and they say fuck off or do something else in defence of themselves. Then you might correctly get banned for insulting a poster, but the escalation came off of some accusation about your character. Bound to happen in serious topics like this.

Just my views on why some might vote but not post/take part in a debate. I'm sure some are already looking at the poll results and the takeaway is "50% of Era are potentially paedophiles/misogynists or sexists". Because it was framed as creepy/fine in the poll, not to mention the title brought in misogyny to the question, but that is potentially a different issue from the poll question.

By not voting for creepy, the implication may be you yourself are then creepy, irrespective of any nuanced dive into porn consumption/consumer behaviour and roleplay/kinks and so on you try to share.

The accusation against Randy Pitchford was initially child porn, which then seemed to get rolled back to (legal) teen porn on a company USB. Although I've not revisited that topic since it broke on Era. I of course would rollback calling Pitchford an (accused) paedophile, unless he was in possession of child porn.

 

[melikefishnchips]

As an avid porn watcher, I always found this subset of porn to be a bit problematic mainly because too many people lean on the idea "well the actress isn't actually underage" so what? You're fetishizing over childlike behavior and norms.

The other retort i've seen is the idea that there's things about the genre they like but erroneously get linked to children. Like for example, they may be into pigtails and skirts. Okay but then why are you watching an actress wearing what effectively looks like a school uniform? Just cuz she happens to have pigtails and a skirt?

 

[Deleted member 4346]

If both performers are over the age of 18 then it's fine because it's an act between consenting adults. Period. Does it reinforce misogyny? Most popular straight porn does! I don't have a problem with it. Not my thing but if it's yours eh whatever.

 

[Thewonandonly]

I mean as a 22 year old male that's like around my age category so I feel like it's fine. If your like 45 then it might be considered weird specially the schoolgirl stuff but it's legal so why not.

 

[Ralemont]

Just to reiterate, because I don't think the article title accurately reflects the material, the substance of the article is really about the roleplaying videos where an older man blackmails a babysitter he caught masterbating, or a stepdaughter, or something of that sort. I think it's much less controversial to say such videos, while still just a fantasy, are more problematic than, say, an amateur video of a teen. Highlighted equally in those videos is not just how hot the teen is (which is often the simple, main draw of many other videos such as cam vids) but how the man is exploiting the power imbalance to get what he wants.

So I'd say those videos in particular, it's fine to say are a bit gross. I wouldn't necessarily judge someone's character for watching them since sexual fantasies often don't translate at all to real action, but there is someone beyond just "this girl is beautiful and cute" going on.

 

[Deleted member 35077]

Isn't there some stuff in Japan, or least was still few years back? Lolicon I think it was called. I think it got stomped on by authorities some time ago after been legal for decades.

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No, what Japan did was close a loophole where it allow people to own child pornography that was created before 1997. Drawings are still very much legal there, and while some states banned it here, they are the minority. This isn't like Canady where it is completely ban from the federal law and is the reason why certain manga books are ban from buying.

 

[Rhomega]

It's fine, but as I get older I stop being attracted to women that age.

 

[Thrill_house]

Nah I don't think its pedophilia or any more misogynistic than regular porn

 

[args]

lol at anime avatars telling people to feel bad about what they want to (legally) fuck. what a time