Do you think porn is ethical?

As long as it's consensual it's ethical imo.
That doesn't mean everyone has to like porn, just tolerate it.
I myself would never do porn, because it just doesn't appeal to me, but if people like to do it (pun intended) why not?

 

Unless it's done without consent or done without protection, it hurts no one and is fine.

 

There has been a lot of debate over the extent to which the industry is kind of forcing the models to become escorts outside of the industry itself. Also, there is a lot of drug abuse and many cases of (especially gay) pornstars who commit suicide lately. There is definitely something wrong happening behind the scenes, but I guess we will never exactly know what it is, unless a big scandal arises.

 

There's nothing unethical about capturing or viewing people having sex. (Provided any real people that are in it have consented and are legal)

As you said the porn industry can be unethical, though. However I think that the majority of them probably treat their performers fairly enough - at least no worse than any other business. I think the (male) gay porn producers have better conditions than straight porn producers, which always seemed very seedy to me.

The way they depict sex brings up ethical issues for me - should they be able to depict unsafe sex? Degradation? Abuse? I don't want to immediately say no because similar sorts of things come up in non-porn entertainment, so why should porn be a special case - but I also kind of want to say they shouldn't be allowed because porn does seem to have a big influence on what people do in their own sex lives.

I would say that a large portion of those cases weren't caused by them being in the porn industry. Many of the actors are already unstable when go into porn, seeing it as a last resort or similar, and they bring their problems with them rather than developing them there. That's not to say this is the case for all of them, of course.

 

Depends on the person.And of course the situation some people going through.For example if someone lacks of money and his/her life is difficult and its hard for them to survive,porn is a solace to them,instead of becoming thieves or something.(Wouldnt be better to have more pornstars instead of so many thieves?lololol)Anyway lets get serious again,for each people,ethic has a different meaning,some things ethic for them,and some things are not,some people obviously do porn because in their mind they have a different term for ''ethic''.Also dont forget the life situations as i told you before,and that some people are forced to do that because of their difficulties..

 

Most people don't want to be working wherever they are, porn or not .

But I know what you mean. They probably should be regulated to make sure the performers are "of sound mind" and are given access to support if they need it (some might already do this, I don't know).

 

Porn isn't unethical, but the mainstream porn industry is.

 

exactly, the porn industry is fucking vile

 

Porn, in its own act, is not unethical. Most (self-respecting) porn-producers have guidelines that ensure safety. It's only sex, after all, so safety (from babies, STI's and injuries) is really the most important part.
Furthermore, when it comes to potential futures, porn could be inappropriate in, say, career choice, like teaching children.

 

Sounds like more of a free market question to me. So who's being "exploited"? Do you have a job? Did you freely choose your profession? Are you a "victim" because you chose your line of work or have to go to a job every day? You don't like it? Quit and do something else.

 

by same logic would like.. mcdonalds be unethical too with drug dealings?

 

Well said. Mirrors my thoughts, so...^^This.

 

Ethical, sure, realistic, not often!

Porn is fine in my opinion, as long as it`s a respectable company that does not take advantage of in an unethical way their employees, and isn`t shady as hell. The company might be crappy, but porn as of a general is just fine. For single people, or couples who simply want to juice up their sex life a bit, porn can fulfill a need.

Also, the movies themselves variate a lot as far as standards goes, some are good, some are just grating! There`s nothing worse than seeing some overdone doll fake a sex scene so terribly that you might laugh your butt off, but that`s about the only reaction you have to it. Those I find useless, but not unethical.

Don`t even get me going on those "lesbian porn" movies where the chicks have long nails and do the "out with the wiggling tongue" moves. Gah! Those I would almost consider unethical because they might give girls the impression that doing you with long nails is sexy. It`s not, it`s scary!

But, meh, if someone enjoys sex, and want to earn some bucks making videos, I see nothing wrong with it. I do think they should be responsible and do it safe though. Condoms for all!

 

Can't really make any case against porn anymore. Every discussion of how ethical porn is seems to hinge on the mainstream porn industry, as if we're still passing around VHS tapes. The means of production are now in the hands of the people. You can basically produce your own smut blog and gain thousands of followers, all on your own accord, and that can be a tremendous confidence booster.

And because of the diverse nature of porn, you can't really make a case that it "degrades" women, either. Because 1) not all porn is straight and 2) not all porn shows women in submissive positions, as if there were something wrong with being submissive to begin with. All the porn I seem to watch anyway holds them in powerful, dominant positions over men. How about you debate how ethical it is to show people getting shot every two seconds on television rather than debate how ethical it is to film lovemaking?

 

As long as no one gets hurt. To be honest, I learned about sex from a porno.

 

I once read a great blog piece that pointed out that the two major objections to porn and sex work as abstract concepts boil down to "It's having sex for money!" from liberals and "It's having sex for money" from conservatives.

The porn and sex work debate is as much about what we as a society and individuals want sex to be about. Broadly speaking, there are people who see sex as being like fire, dangerous if not properly constrained; others see sex as having a sacred aspect, using sex for money is almost blasphemous; and there are people who see sex as morally no different from eating or driving. Obviously these views exist along a spectrum (more accurately a ternary diagram), and I'm not entirely sure where I fall, it's something I'm still trying to work out.