Tom Humes

Finally, nowhere in the 230 pages is there any mention of prostitution laws. Indeed prostitution, call girls, massage parlors don’t even show up in the index. If laws banning the sale of sex toys deserve prominent coverage, one would think that laws against prostitution would at least earn an honorable mention. Unless one subscribes to the concept that the war on prostitutes is acceptable, that is. 

I don’t know the reason prostitution is left out, but it shouldn’t have been. Surely, if the phrase, “your body, your choice” means anything, it gives you the right to use your god-given body as an asset to put a roof over your head and food on your table no different from a laborer, doctor, or sports star. But, beyond that, laws against prostitution sadistically deny one of humanity’s most pleasurable and intimate communions to a class of people who are only likely to experience it through the services of a prostitute. That would include many handicapped people, those who have been maimed by war or accidents, those with serious birth defects, the home bound, the bed-ridden, and the just plain ugly (such as myself). If that doesn’t deserve mention as part of America’s War on Sex, then nothing does.

It never occurred to me but prostitution really does provide a valuable service. I personally know several people who may never experience the joys of sex because of their infirmity or handicap.

And, yes, prostitution also provides a valuable means of self-support. Perhaps Dr. Klein felt that this topic was a bit too touchy to include in his book.

Also, here’s an interview with The Hour’s George Stroumboulopoulos:

McVety keeps saying again and again that Young People Fucking is “grossly offensive.” How is it “grossly offensive???” He never explains in detail.

The movie doesn’t show anything more sexually explicit than you’d find on primetime television. Is his only bugaboo the word “fuck” in the title?

Christianity teaches that sex outside of marriage is a sin. However, many people in our society choose not to get married. Not all people are suited for marriage.

What are these people supposed to do for their entire lives? Abstain from sex? Is this even remotely a sane request?

This is the fundamental flaw in the Bible’s interpretation. The Church has no business dictating our sexual behaviour.

A man who uses porn every night, or a woman who is sexually excited only by an ex-partner, clearly has problems. Most people can attend a male or female strip show, or have an erotic daydream about an attractive colleague, and later go home and focus their sexual passion on their partner. [People make] the common mistake of stereotyping an entire category on the basis of negative subsets of it.

In fact, this is what the Church does, attacking porn, masturbation, and sexual fantasy on the basis of some negative examples. They recklessly over-generalize.

As for his point about women in porn, again, Evert presents no evidence. He just throws out these allegations without proof. I have no doubt that some of these women have experienced sexual abuse in their past, but to extrapolate across the entire group of porn actors is irrational.

His comment about “mental adultery” is risible. This is a purely subjective characterization. It is Evert’s own moral interpretation, which I do not share.

Look, what it all comes down to is this: Every human activity is subject to abuse. You can take anything too far, whether it be gambling, shopping, eating, working, or alcohol. And yet we don’t ban any of these things. People still visit casinos or play the lottery. People still shop, eat, and work. Liquor stores still operate legally. As long as people behave responsibly, we permit these activities to continue.

And so it is with pornography. Most consumers are responsible. Why should they be denied the right to enjoy porn?

If you don’t want to watch porn, then don’t. But give everyone else the freedom to choose.

We don’t need, nor do we want, the “thought police” intruding into our personal lives.

1) Men’s brains are trained to become bored with their wives. They have unrealistic expectations of women. Porn is “mental adultery.” Porn thus destroys marriages.

2) Women in porn were sexually abused in their past. Porn exploits these women.

3) Men learn to regard women as merely a collection of body parts. They don’t know how to truly love a woman.

Certainly not from school. From their parents, then? And where did their parents get their knowledge from?

The lack of understanding of sexuality is generational. Ignorance about sex is pervasive in our society. This ignorance is not helped by the Church, which imposes artificial rules of sexual behaviour, ostensibly based on moral principles.

In general, ignorance about sex creates fear of sex, and baseless fear leads to paranoia. This fear underlies nearly all opposition to porn. The subject of “erotophobia” is well-documented in the excellent book, The Politics of Lust, by John Ince.