Quote:Eighty male students at Notre Dame University wrote an open letter in the school newspaper asking for a porn filter on the school's Wi-Fi.

"This filter would send the unequivocal message that pornography is an affront to human rights and catastrophic to individuals and relationships. We are calling for this action in order to stand up for the dignity of all people, especially women," the letter read. "The overwhelming majority of contemporary pornography is literally filmed violence against women — violence somehow rendered invisible by the context."

"Pornography is prostitution through the lens of a camera, but more abusive. It exploits the men and women involved, advances a twisted narrative about human sexuality and harms those who consume it."

Quote:Pardon my cynicism, but men bandying together to ban porn? What's the catch? My first thought is religious fundamentalists or r/nofap users.

Snippet from ‘Women of ND response to men’s request for filter’ Pornography propagates a mindset that people, especially women, are mere sex objects. Men often say they are capable of separating “real life” from pornography, and that it has no effect on how they see and treat “real women.” However, the reality is that the brain is flexible and plastic, and pornography trains men’s minds to look at women as tools — bodies to surfeit sexual desire and then be discarded. Pornography sucks the energy and will out of men to see and respect women comprehensively: mind, heart, body and soul. What we do affects how we think, how we feel and how we view others.

(Dec 26 2024, 4:32 PM)Clover  I think the fact that the men are the ones "taking the reins" while the women merely "support the men" exemplifies the conservative gender-conformity on display in these campus politics.

(Dec 26 2024, 10:22 PM)komorebi In fairness, given that men are practically the sole consumers of pornography, there's an argument to be made that men ought to clean their own damn house for a change.

(Dec 27 2024, 8:12 PM)Clover Okay, very good point! Hadn't thought of it like that.

Quote:Maybe there's something really sinister that might come out of ending prostitution and the widespread use of pornography, but right now I'm seeing mostly pluses.

(Dec 28 2024, 8:04 PM)YesYourNigel My problem is how much this gets tied with purity culture and sl*t shaming. I'll give it to Christianity that it at least has nominally equal expectations of faithfulness (which is pretty exceptional in the grand scheme of things - most cultures demand monogamy only from women under threat of violence or murder), but still the focus tends to be exclusively on the woman being in the wrong for not preserving something sacred, and men are seen as being exploited by devious women using their sexual powers against men, sth sth original sin.

The letter at least shows empathy for the women involved, but with Christians I'm always weary of this being merely a PC way of wording traditionalist views. I will say that there's a subset of Christians who seem to be into Christianity for more empathic reasons, but they're usually women. Much as I deplore liberal feminism, a lot of its ideas are a reaction to very dysfunctional Christian ideas on sex and masturbation. Except liberals decided to brainlessly go in the complete opposite direction because that favoured dysfunctional horny men.

(Dec 28 2024, 8:04 PM)YesYourNigel Sadly it's true that men's words matter a hundred times more than women's do. Men certainly dismiss other men with various kneejerk insults if they refuse to play the patriarchy game (cuck, beta, white knight, gay etc. etc.) but at least they stand a chance. Women speaking up against it is just "Duh". Men know that porn, patriarchal sex and patriarchal men are offputting to women due to the amounts of misogyny involved, so women expressing that sentiment, even if not in any ideological or openly feminist way (e.g. finding porn offputting, not wanting to have sex, feeling uncomfortable by "locker room talk" and misogynistic statements etc.) is just a given.

Women exist first and foremost as men's fantasies and not as actual living creatures, so men will always prioritise the preservation and authority over said fantasy over any reality concerning women's bodies and experiences. They will always listen to other men vs women.