Dear OldBoy,
This is a topic where there will probably be as many views as there are people replying!
IMHO, the west's reaction to pornography is one that is changing over time, as our tolerance levels rise. I'm not going to say what's right and wrong because everyone has their own personal boundaries, but a good example of how society finds one thing unacceptable in one decade and acceptable in the next is the banning of books such as DH Lawrence's "Lady Chatterley's Lover" - written in 1928 and only published in 1960 ("The book soon became notorious for its story of the physical relationship between a working-class man and an aritocratic woman, its explicit descriptions of sex, and its use of (at the time) unprintable words" - Wiki). Films such as Last Tango in Paris were considered disgusting when they first came out but are seen as old fashioned now.
The more people are exposed to that kind of thing, the more it loses its thrill, which I think is good on the whole. It's when we take for granted gratuitous pornographic violence and force and exploitation especially of those who can't protect and stand up for themselves that the need to define and draw a boundary is important - but difficult. Also, don't forget that people who don't care about the effects they are having are producing these things for the money, sheer selfish greed. Their cynical motivation - making profit from pain - must be considered alongside evrything else.
As a westerner, I look at it this way - if you go on holiday to the south of France, for example, you will see many naked people on the beach. Ask various French women of all ages what they think of this and if they'd do it. Some will say yes, why not? It's my body and I've nothing to be ashamed of. Some will say no, it's disgusting and shameful. Others might but not if it's cold.... etc. Ask the men and they will say similar things but they just don't get aroused by naked women in this situation. It's a mindset.
In other words, some acceptance of nakedness and open sexuality is OK to a lot of westerners (where it's not a religious matter any more). They don't necessarily look at it but they don't find it exciting and can't see what all the fuss is about and feel that repressing these "innocent" forms of sexual thought is unhealthy and unnatural and leads to far worse problems. They say that covering women up tends to make men more obsessed with sex than if some bare flesh is the norm. I would say that many westerners tolerate harder porn up to a point, so long as it's kept private, but most do not tolerate (and are actively trying to get banned) practices which are harmful to vulnerable people who are exploited for profit.
B
Thankyou for your thorough response Seetee!
Lets just say that we met a few women in our hypothetical beach who said they did porn and did not find anything wrong about it. What do you think their acceptance level would be in the french society? And will their family be cool with it too?
I agree with you completely on how attitudes over sexuality have changed dramatically in the past few decades and people have become more tolerant towards it. However, when it comes to pornography, I am unable to draw the line between its legal and illegal side of things. Exploitation is going to happen in one form or another. I am unable to understand on what grounds/arguments they were able to legalize it.
ain’t really helping.