Does "barely legal" pornography normalize pedophilia/reinforce misogyny?
- Thread starter RedMercury
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Technically you're old enough to fuck at the age of consent which is as low as 16 in some states. You want to change porn to 16?
I think it's kind of messed up, but no more so than most other types of porn. It doesn't make it automatically any more creepy than other types, but it definitely has the most potential to take the jump into creepy territory...
No, but mostly because I like uniform rules and 18 seems to make the most sense.
18 is the age at which you are considered an adult according to the law. You can make your own decisions and you face adult consequences for your actions. I get that the age at which we determine "adulthood" is arbitrary to a degree, but it's gotta hit at some point and by 18 you're more or less as equipped as you'll ever be. Most 18 year old's will have a high-school level education and the ability to strike out on their own if they so choose, and yes, that includes choosing to work in the porn industry.
I find the amount of puritanical sensationalism going on in this thread to be disappointing.
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The article in the OP was written by a porn actress. Would you call her puritanical?
The problem is that 18 is hardly a hard, uniform law that informs us of adulthood. I'm not just talking about drinking at 21, I'm talking about minors being tried as an adult.
As you made the suggestion, what age would you state passes your criteria for both being an adult and being legally able to act in professional (Brazzers, etc) or amateur porn (cam sites)?
Depends on context. I don't think there's necessarily a problem with it existing as the women are of legal age and are making their own life decisions. On the other hand I know at least one dude who is only into younger girls like this and it's extremely concerning behavior, even if he has only expressed interest in 'legal' women.
Basically if you had the means you coukd live outside the mean but alot of people died super young. Women died young ans old because of childbirth. Alot to young to have a baby and some were older when they got pregnant and died due to those complications.
And dudes just died because its what young men dis back. For some war or gang or just because his super dangerous job killed him. I mean a fuck ton of people died out at sea.
Considering she's comparing people watching two consenting adults fuck to pedophilia, yes. I would describe her as puritanical to a degree.
That's not to mention all the hot takes we've been getting throughout the thread.
I have never heard of any 18 year old tried as a minor for any crime, if it does happen it's exceedingly rare. The drinking age is a separate issue entirely and I would argue that instead of raising the age of adulthood to 21 we should just lower the drinking age to 18.
"Adulthood" is a mostly subjective tem. There are people who probably act and think like adults at 16 and there are people who probably don't act and feel like adults when they're 25 (I know a few of them). The only real biological basis we have for divining adulthood is puberty, which OBVIOUSLY isn't a good fucking idea. Judging people by the standard milestones of development 18 is about as good an arbitrary age marker as we're going to get.
21 for media.
The problem lies in people just having sex. 18 for a legal age is fine but the discrepency with the legal media age brings all sorts of problems.
And lets not step into the mindfield of interracial por n because boy does that get dicey.
The way I see it is a lot of people value that nostalgic time of being a teenager and having sex for the first time so they occassionally rekindle that with porn. I don't believe it's normalizing if they viewer has a stable mindset in the first place. Also, we gotta accept that a lot of men find youth to be more attractive. Can we change that? Not sure.
That's not how that works. Infant mortality rate is the single biggest factor why life expectancy was that low. Amazing what refrigeration, modern medicine, infection control, and vaccines does for a society.
Humans have lived well into their 70s, 80s and 90s since the dawn of humanity.
1) what are you on about? Im talking about a minor-aged child being tried as an adult for a crime
2) we used to think 12 was a fine age to get married
It does seem like that if you are into smaller chested women like say Riley Reid or Alexa Grace (clearly older than 18 now), you are almost forced to look around in the teen section.
I think that a lot of people are missing the point when they say that "barely legal" is just a reference to age.
The fact that the difference between 18 and 25 even matters (when the actor is neither) is an indicator that yes, it's weird and it's a problem.
It means that the same exact individual is more physically attractive to the audience when they are believed to be younger. That's bad.
The fact that the difference between 18 and 25 even matters (when the actor is neither) is an indicator that yes, it's weird and it's a problem.
It means that the same exact individual is more physically attractive to the audience when they are believed to be younger. That's bad.
But 16 is the legal age of consent in many countries primarily because we needed to codify a legal position to protect teenagers who often become sexually active around 16. We didn't want to lock teens up having boyfriends and girlfriends at that age, and 16 in many countries sees you begin to be treated as in adult in some respects. You can vote at 16 in Scotland and get married. The porn industry is 18 in-line with adulthood for pretty much all other laws and because 16~17 is also viewed as an age where someone in a position of power can abuse you.
So how would you explain the change to 21 for actors or actresses who want to be sexually active, in a professional or work-based environment, at the ages of 18, 19 and 20? As in what evidence, data or reasoning would you give them for saying it's illegal for them to either film themselves and stream making money, or work with an employer in the adult industry?
Unfortunately a lot of the time the tone of the porn is super offputting. The barely legal label is cringey af even it's not that difficult to see why most men would find a beautiful 18-year-old appealing.
"Barely legal" doesn't just imply youth, it implies "nearly a child."
Women in their 20s still look young as hell, "Barely Legal" is a framing context with nasty implications.
Also, i think it's funny that you think men are imagining themselves to also be "barely legal" when they watch those films. They specifically get off on the age gap.
"Call me daddy."
I dunno man, it's super messy.
Just because i can identify problems doesn't mean I've thought of the answers.
I remember watching mainstream porn (i.e. not in any particular "fetish" category) back as a teenager where the girls (ranging from 18-25 I bet) had rainbow-coloured stockings, pigtails, real or fake braces, and they had sex in rooms which were deliberately decorated to resemble a child's. Teddybears, huge lollipops, pink fluffy pillows, etc. I didn't think much of it back then, but in hindsight it's creepy as hell and basically pseudo child porn for people who either don't have access to actual child porn or are pedophiles in denial. It's still around, I'm sure.
There's a lot of evidence that porn has all kinds of effects on your perceptions of healthy sex, which in turn can have an effect on the people you have sex with.
A lot of women, for example, may not be cool with you suddenly busting on their face.
It is hard to say. I think that age of consent should be more like a buffer, rather than a defined point. One day, a person isn't a child and the next day they are a fully consenting adult; that isn't how maturing works.
I think in practicality (in the US), age of consent is actually a buffer. In most states, the age of consent is 16, with some added restrictions about age of partners, etc. And it isn't until they are 18 that they have full consent over their bodies and can appear in porn, etc.
I think, generally, that's probably the way to do it. At first, people should be allowed to have sex with other, similarly mature partners. And then as they grow older and gain more ability to process and consider consent, allow them to consent to other partners and even monetize their sexuality (porn, modeling, etc.)
You have to define a point at which someone is able to consent to participating in pornography; creating porn is legal. I just don't think that specific point should be the same age that someone is first considered to be able to consent to sex. As long as the porn age isn't the same as the initial sexual consent age, I think it's okay for companies to market the younger porn stars like that.
I think in practicality (in the US), age of consent is actually a buffer. In most states, the age of consent is 16, with some added restrictions about age of partners, etc. And it isn't until they are 18 that they have full consent over their bodies and can appear in porn, etc.
I think, generally, that's probably the way to do it. At first, people should be allowed to have sex with other, similarly mature partners. And then as they grow older and gain more ability to process and consider consent, allow them to consent to other partners and even monetize their sexuality (porn, modeling, etc.)
You have to define a point at which someone is able to consent to participating in pornography; creating porn is legal. I just don't think that specific point should be the same age that someone is first considered to be able to consent to sex. As long as the porn age isn't the same as the initial sexual consent age, I think it's okay for companies to market the younger porn stars like that.
1) How do minor-aged children being tried as adults factor into this discussion at all? Are you trying to make the argument that because the criminal justice system abuses it's authority to create ad hoc designations to suit their (usually racially biased) predilections regarding the competence of a criminal we should elavate the age of adult-hood to 21? Are you arguing that age of consent/age of adulthood should be tied to a person's personal cognition/development rather than their age?
2) Yes and we used to believe that children as young as 7 or 8 should be able to work in some of the most dangerous conditions imaginable. But that's a strawman for another time...
I know I'm a bit different, but I've been looking at mags and watching movies/vids since I was 12-13 (43 now). I've never even thought just do that or even ask. I've been asked to before, but I never thought to just do or even ask.
As for the barely legal topic, it's really the only area of porn I can see women with socks on. There's just something about socked foot.
Janice isn't actually saying that, though. In general, she's an interesting performer in so much as she doesn't do porn that she feels reinforces bad societal norms in one way or another (as another example, she refuses to do interracial scenes unless the scenes are explicitly not referred to as interracial). Her arguments against "barely legal porn" are more about the power dynamic aspects of it than the "these women are too young to be making these decisions" aspect, which makes sense since she herself started performing at 18.
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...Did you read the article or twitter thread? The controversy is right there so I don't know how you could miss it.
I think it's fine. There's something to be said about how some porn fantasies can gateway to people thinking they can actually pursue their deviant fantasies but barely legal ain't it considering that's analogous with small-chested/thin girls 9/10.
Also, usual lol, at ResetEra breaking down the conversation to the usual childish worldview of <18 equals pedophilia and =>18 is a-ok.
Also, usual lol, at ResetEra breaking down the conversation to the usual childish worldview of <18 equals pedophilia and =>18 is a-ok.
inb4 "it's always the anime avatars" or whatever nonsense
I read your excerpts in the hope they reflect the article and I think the truth is a lot simpler than that. people want to jack off to attractive people.
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Well, I encourage you to read the article, Era rules state you can't copy/paste the whole thing so I can't put it all here.
The article doesn't contend that "Teen" content normalizes pedophilia. It just seems to explain and reason out its popularity. The headline itself claims that Teen scenes are "dangerous" but the actual text doesn't really express danger so much as convey the author's discomfort with scenes involving uneven power scenarios.
This content is popular because people value and find beauty in youth, and they enjoy taboo subject matter. The appeal is the fantasy of crossing one of society's lines.
This content is popular because people value and find beauty in youth, and they enjoy taboo subject matter. The appeal is the fantasy of crossing one of society's lines.
Fair enough, but you did initially supply an answer, that being changing the legal age for porn to 21. All I'm trying to illustrate is there is a difference between answering a poll on Resetera and/or just dropping in to say "you're all gross", and States actually changing laws/regulation and what the basis for it is. The porn industry is one of the most regulated industries in the world. I think some in here still carry that incorrect stereotype that it's some sort of free for all and/or a den of immoral actions forced on victims. Saying that does not mean I'm saying it doesn't have a history of massive issues, and still carries issues and abuse, but that the groundwork around legalities, such as age, STDs, consent and so on is pretty bulletproof.
You do have to think about how it can affect people, both in work and life, with the basis for making morality-based laws and importantly what evidence, reasoning, science and social studies are being used to ethically and empirically back said laws/value judgements.
While we are in the topic of human ethics right now, which doesn't always have perfect answers, or the first answer always being the right answer for eternity, thought actually has to go into things like this. Not just accusations and suggesting anyone who doesn't think like you must be immoral.
Changing the age to 21 does indeed impact adults before that age that may wish to use their sexual autonomy for monetary gain. If the sole basis for doing that is "I find it gross or problematic how porn videos are titled/roleplay with school uniforms", then a critical evaluation of that needs to be done if it's to be the basis for changing the law.
Of which I did earlier point out even 30/40-year-olds wear school uniforms, and strictly speaking, while search terms and phrasing can indeed be problematic, it itself does not allow for the age of adult film actors to be lower than 18. They can call themselves Unicorns, but they are not Unicorns, they are humans. They can say "barely legal teen" in a descriptor, but they are still a legal teen. Often in their 20's.
A lot of the onus around your own personal behaviour and what you search for is on you. I think it was you that said that earlier. I agree. Just like I agree teens can go out clubbing wearing what they want with the objective of hooking up/even getting laid. That's their freedom. If a creepy old man writes into the papers and says "All these scantily dressed teens are an outrage, how do I control myself?", well, like I'd say to the religious nutters in that leggings topic, it's all about you. It's on you. It's your thoughts and (potentially) actions. Others are allowed to be teens/young adults and have fun. You were once too, stop being a hypocrite.
But anyway, when we cross over into stating answers are needed and said answers might involve the State/law, it's a different conversation than simply throwing moral judgements at people.
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I feel this is essentially on point. While some small % of porn viewers may have some varying questionable interest in the categories. Essenrially porn plays off taboo
Imo it's a similar stupid shit like the "stepsibling"-videos.
Stupid pretense and a pretty disgusting concept..
Stupid pretense and a pretty disgusting concept..
I read the article when someone else linked to it for you in he Randy Pitchford thread. The only controversy seems to be coming from you since the article is largely an opinion piece with no data to back up the author's claims. It's all theories and feelings and beliefs.
I think 'barely legal' stuff has a hard time extricating itself from sexism, but porn is full of problematic elements so I think differentiating it comes down to a matter of degree. But for me it tends to conjure a bunch of associations to naievete and women having a 'shelf life' that definitely give me pause.
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There are over 300 people who voted and plenty here in the thread who agree it's gross. It's not just me haha
Depends on how old the person watching the porn is. I mean, im 18 and I dont think its wierd for me to be attracted to 18 year olds.
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