Discussions
What makes something pornographic?
Posted by thinkinfyou • 6/22/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: nudity, pornographic
Tell me,what makes something pornographic,and should all nudity be seen as such? I'm ready to hear your thoughts,let me have em!
User Comments
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Usually, when I comment on a thread, it becomes pornographic...-
We might be fast friends then,Agit8r!
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That was extremely funny....
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I was told that nude was only pornographic if it was in colour, so black and white nudes were considered art.
I guess the pose and the intent of the photo would be a deciding factor too.-
How about a funny picture of breasts,just breasts,no nipple touching,is that pornography?
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In my opinion no - they're just breasts, while someone could still use it to get aroused, its intent may be for a completely different reason for example breast awareness topics, breast cancer etc.
Is a photo of a woman with her breast out, preparing to feed her child considered porn?
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penetration-
See I would think the same thing,Cookingasshole!
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like HBO standards
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Cultural squeamishness
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This is a gray area. There are no set rules, it's all a matter of opinion.-
But maybe there should be,Ekim! You see I posted on my blog about my breast augmentation,I did show funny pictures of breasts(not my own),and instantly I got flagged as pornographic. I personally don't feel any set of breasts should be viewed as pornography.Everyone has breasts,and if you think about it,it's the first thing we introduce our newborn babies to,so when is the point they go from being a part of your anatomy to an example of shocking pornography?
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I think thats a bit harsh to put a flag on it - That's what I was trying to say, breasts are breasts, all women have them and as you say your intention was to educate and inform rather than using the photos to increase your traffic or to make your post intentionally pornographic.
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when there's an "act" of sexuality happening ....insert penis into *fill in the blank* lol-
Thats a new one - I've never called it a "fill in the blank" before haha
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I totally agree,loveMaegan,whatever orifice!
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@sam
sounds more like the action
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Haha that was my thinking too
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I don't know, i get this visual of a "cooking asshole" in some cultures that could be pornographic, some assholes might even find it fetching! LOl
Pornographic is subjective. (IN MY OPINE) Some people look at the human body and see beauty. Some look at men with MOOBS and really hairy nipples and see MEGA beauty. It depends on what is tasteful to you or not.
Obvioulsy rape scenes and torture sex would be deemed violent but not necessarily pornographic.
ekim941 is right to say it's a gray area.-
Yes,you're right,Surveygirl,but I think it shouldn't be anymore. I think there should be a certain amount of acceptance of other,and the human body!
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i know i got it - IT's the MUSIC that accompanys it! If its got a bumbaababum bum chickadowdow its porn LOL
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LOL! If only!!!
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It's pornographic when a sexual act is going on OR if there is a naked person in a sexually tinted situation (look, pose, actions).
A naked model holding a banana is not porn. A naked model holding a banana between her spread legs is porn.-
See I think a naked model holding a banana between her spread legs shows ,maybe she think if she eats that way she won't gain weight,TigerXtrm! LOL!
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FWIW below are some links to legal definitions.
Porngography by Region
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pornography_by_region
Pornography legal definition USA
The representation in books, magazines, photographs, films, and other media of scenes of sexual behavior that are erotic or lewd and are designed to arouse sexual interest.
legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Pornography
Child Pornography legal definition USA
Child pornography is the visual representation of minors under the age of 18 engaged in sexual activity or the visual representation of minors engaging in lewd or erotic behavior designed to arouse the viewer's sexual interest.
legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Child+Pornography
Pornography legal definition United Kingdom
Possession of Extreme Pornographic Images
www.cps.gov.uk/legal/d_to_g/extreme_pornography/
Canada - Obscenity - Criminal Code - section 163(8)
For the purposes of this Act, any publication a dominant characteristic of which is the undue exploitation of sex, or of sex and any one or more of the following subjects, namely, crime, horror, cruelty and violence, shall be deemed to be obscene.
Section 163 of the Canadian Criminal Code provides the country's legal definition of "obscenity". Officially termed as "Offences Tending to Corrupt Morals", [14] the Canadian prohibited class of articles which are to be legally included as "obscene things" is very broad, including text only written material, pictures, models (including statues), records or "any other thing whatsoever" -- that according to Section 163(8) -- has "a dominant characteristic of the publication is the undue exploitation of sex, or the combination of sex and at least one of crime, horror, cruelty or violence" is deemed to be "obscene" under the current law.
The current law states
163. (1) Every one commits an offense who
(a) makes, prints, publishes, distributes, circulates, or has in his possession for the purpose of publication, distribution or circulation any obscene written matter, picture, model, phonograph record or other thing whatever; or
(b) makes, prints, publishes, distributes, sells or has in his possession for the purposes of publication, distribution or circulation a crime comic.
"Crime comics" are stated to be books that glorify criminal activities and have at least one depiction of such criminal actions of the book's text.
Section 163.1 of the Criminal Code was enacted in 1993. It prohibits the production, distribution and sale of “child pornography,” and also makes it an offence to possess such material. Maximum sentences of ten years for its production and distribution, and five years for simple possession, are prescribed. The section contains a definition of child pornography that includes:
* visual representations of explicit sexual activity involving anyone under the age of 18 or depicted as being so;
* other visual representations of a sexual nature of persons under the age of 18; and
* written material or visual depictions that advocate or counsel illegal sexual activity involving persons under that age.
www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/PRBpubs/843-e.htm
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obscenity-
WOW! You did your homework,Timethief!
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lol ... The best place to start is never off the top of anyone's head. We all li9ve in different nations and jurisdictions. Regardless of what we may think as individuals that law in the particular country, and jurisdiction prevails.
The American one is IMO quite succinct. The representation in books, magazines, photographs, films, and other media of scenes of sexual behavior that are erotic or lewd and are designed to arouse sexual interest.
My personal test when someone tells me "this is NOT pornography" is to ask the person if they would share it with their 6 year old child or their grandmother. That usually sorts the wheat from the chaff PDQ. -
booyah! its about time timethief lay down the law:) -
After I had my breast augmentation,I did show my grandmother,and my children did help take care of me. :o)
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lol ...
Showing your breasts to your family members did not involve sexual activity or behavior that was erotic or lewd and are designed to arouse sexual interest, right? -
No,it didn't,Timethief,but do you really have any control of what someone gets aroused by?
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Is there sexual activity or behavior being depicted - yes or no?
If there is the sexual activity or behavior which being depicted, is it designed to arouse sexual interest?
There either is or is not sexual activity or behavior being depicted. That exhibiting of sexual activity or behavior is either designed (intended) to arouse sexual interest, or it isn't. -
*throws pan of water on thinkinfyou and timethief*
*subsequently gets aroused* -
Well I can honestly say that the post that got me banned,was set up to make people laugh and show an honest side of having a breast augmentation surgery. Before I had it done,I scoured the internet looking for someone telling me what to expect in layman's terms,and found near nothing.So I felt that it would be good to let people know things that your doctor doesn't tell you about. I consider myself to be a very open and honest person,and I felt maybe somebody found something good out of my post,whether it was information or laughter.
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... the post that got me banned
Banned! You were banned? Banned from where?
Every web hosting service and every social network has a Terms of Service and policies as well. If one is in doubt then it makes sense to go to the Admin of the site and ask them to make a judgment call on a draft, rather than publishing a post, and finding out the hard way that it violates the TOS.
Normally one is not banned for publishing a single post. There is a warning issued requesting that you remove the offending content, and if you take it down then it's over and you go on blogging. If you don't remove it the web hosting staff can and will remove it. If you provoke attention more than once the web host can and will delete the entire blog, and they do not have to provide you with a copy of the contents.
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Not to change the direction of the subject but HOW can pornography descriptives be SO CLEAR but sexual harrassment can be as minor as a misunderstood person with a lazy eye being deemed as leering....
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Lazy eye = looking through too many keyholes.
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I agree TFU 100%, give both sectors the rules and they BOTH can follow them, for everyone else, there's THE BLOCK
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How does the Coppertone bottle not count as kiddie porn
I mean, for crying out loud--it comes with LOTION!-
Exactly,and that ad was out in the early 80's,wasn't it?
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"Designed to arouse sexual interest" is so nonspecific. People have weird fetishes like feet...should we all keep our feet covered out of fear of arousing someone?
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wow, you must have some arousing feet to worry about that. I mean I'm no specialist, but wouldn't you think its like feet-dependant? Like ugly feet too?
(to clarify, im sure you have wonderful feet) -
You using the word nonspecific turned me on. I'm reporting you for porn. -
the name dbowels makes me uncomfortable
oh, dbowles! ...never mind ":) -
I've never had some one mistake my name for that before Agit8r. Way to be.
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I have very sexy feet,even if I do have a couple extra toes!!
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It has to show a graph of a porn. -
I've seen her feet, 8 toes on each foot with curly nails QUITE pornographic...LOL
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There is an unwritten rule, that penises are allowed to be shown on the TV, as long as it is no more erect than the peninsula sticking out of scotland on the UK map.
maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=55.516192,-5.273437&spn=1.533261,4.943848&t=p&z...
see for yourself. There is documentary standard weinis on the UK map. -
"A sodomite got excited looking at a zoology text. Does that make it pornography?"
Pornography is a creation of Puritanism. Eliminate Puritanism, and you eliminate pornography.-
Pornography is a creation of Puritanism. Eliminate Puritanism, and you eliminate pornography.
Agreed -
I agree with you,Nothingprofound~
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I found my dad's porn stash as a child, and I turned out fine... right?
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Of course not Agit8r. You will turn in to a toad in 5 seconds.
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toads turn me on. Reported!
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so long as you dont get the wrong idea about women with big 80's hair and glued on merkins. And not all woman have staples in their mid section.
Good to know -
well that explains that fetish
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If that were the case then my fetish would be pregnant woman shaving.
Yes that was the first and last time I looked at my dads stash -
lmao... that'll teach ya
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My friend once excitedly told me the most sick fetish he had come up with. I wont repeat it, but the scary thing is, there's probably a video of people doing it somewhere.
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You're right jonny - we did an experiment once where we wrote random things on a white board and applied some ideas to fetishes and did a random google search, most of which came up with pretty accurate results.
Example: Women dressed as Nazis popping balloons.
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You do, i wish i had long curly nails like you LOL...You rock GIRL! You da best!!!
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Better to turn you on with,Surveygirl!
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So again, it ends up to be what the "moral" majority (in this case puritanism decides); lets hope that our freedom of speech doesn't get taken away from us ladies and gents; look closely you'll see the freedoms going one by one...
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Scary,but true,Surveygirl!
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it does scare me seeing them set up checkpoints at trainstations and things.
Yes, knife crime is high in the uk, but people say they might be bringing it in slowly to condition us.
And ID cards. If I get a passport now, I have to pay for a UK ID card, even if I choose to opt out. Which I will.
If I want to dissapear, I'll dissapear. -
you can thank judicial activism
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It's scary that they want to impose more and more surveillance on the public, while allowing the goverment and police to work in ever increasing secrecy.
My x-men and 3000 AD comic upbringing is showing now, lol. But this stuff is crazy.
And the thing is, if they are trying to take away our freedom, what kind of life are they trying to force us to have? -
The computer ends up being a Telescreen (a la "Nineteen Eighty-four") except these track Thought Crime
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Lol. I used to refuse to accept what my worst fear would be because of that film, incase someone in the future could do a Room 101 on me.
I'd try not to let it even enter my head.
A little OCD I know.
It has to be the idea of wasps crawling into your ears/ nose.
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Thinkinfyou, you're using that avatar that makes me not want to have a comment above yours because I think you're looking up the pant leg of my avatar. Just kidding. Feel free to look up my avatar's pant leg, unless you think that would be pornographic.
There's the legal definition of pornographic, which timethief has posted links to. If you don't want to be charged with a crime then that's the minimum you have to be concerned with. But what the law says is pornographic and what an individual or corporation thinks is pornographic is something different. Pornography is in the eye of the beholder.
I saw the post that got you flagged as possibly pornographic in Blogger. I didn't think it was pornographic. And, much to my regret, your choice of pictures of breasts didn't turn me on. (Please try harder next time. I'm a lonely guy.) They were humorous, not titillating. But obviously others felt differently.
Here's the thing: Freedom of speech does not mean that everyone has to give you a pulpit at their expense. Freedom of speech does not mean you have to let everyone who wants to spout at you into your home so they can do so. If you're want to use someone else's medium to speak to the world, the owner of that medium gets to say whether they are going to let you. Blogger isn't public property.
I wouldn't have flagged you as pornographic if I owned Blogger, but I don't own Blogger.-
I just realized that you might not have been talking about Blogger. Your account seems to have been closed at EntreCard and Blogger didn't ban you the last I saw. They just made me click through a warning screen saying I might find your site offensive. I did click through.
If it was EntreCard or any other non-government service you were talking about then just replace "Blogger" above with "EntreCard" in the above comment. The point is still the same. -
I was banned from Entrecard and got a content warning from Blogger,Joel. I get where you are coming from,but I feel someone should get a chance to take down the offense (if they want to)before being blindsided by a ban.
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thinkinfyou, I absolutely agree with you. If they had any courtesy and sense of fair play they should have said, "we find this post offensive, please take it down within the next x days or we will feel obliged to cancel your account." You could have then made the choice to keep the post and lose EC or lose the post and keep EC.
But, like I said, I don't own either Blogger or Entrecard. If they want to be idiots, they, for better or worse, are free to be idiots. They own the sites. If I ever start up a site that competes with either Blogger or EC, I'll beg you to join. But don't hold your breath. I don't have any such plans. -
entrecard Terms of Service
entrecard.com/page/terms_and_conditions
excerpt:
We reserve the right to delete any account at any time for any reason. We will delete accounts that represent websites not in English, websites that are generally offensive or pornographic, websites that can be classified as spam, and any website that de-values our network in any way.
Blogger
www.blogger.com/content.g
excerpt:
Content Boundaries
Our content policies play an important role in maintaining a Googley experience for you, the users. Please respect these guidelines. From time to time, we may change our content policies so please check back here.
PORNOGRAPHY AND OBSCENITY:
* Pornography and Obscenity: Image and video content that contains nudity, sexually graphic material, or material that is otherwise deemed explicit by Google should be made private. Otherwise, we may put such content behind an interstitial.
* Pedophilia, Incest and Bestiality: Users may not publish written, image or video content that promotes pedophilia, incest and bestiality.
* Commercial Pornography: We do not allow content that exists for the primary purpose of monetizing porn content or driving traffic to a monetized pornography site.
* Child Pornography: Google has a zero-tolerance policy against child pornography, and we will terminate and report to the appropriate authorities any user who publishes or distributes child pornography. -
Well that's very sweet of you,Joel! Thank you!!
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I think anything thinkinfyou says or does is pornographic, and personally, I love it! Give me more dirty girl, give me more.-
Ah,FreakSmack,how did I know that you'd understand me!?!
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jonnydunmind- it's logical if you look at it from the "legals" point of view (or those of us who are aware of what is happening) Im not a conspiracy theorist by any means but look at what happened to our right to bear arms, look at how "heresey" is replacing actual facts in courts of law. Look at how the laws MAKE no sense at all. It sucks, but unfortunately,it's the way it is becoming now. Remember how the law raised taxes on cigarettes 158% this year? (OK, great if you're not a smoker but something of interest to you will be eradicated next)So our freedom of speech is about what we have left at this time. It's a good freedom, hope it's around for 400 more years..PS the life they're trying to force us to have? Remember this as an answer - A house divided cannot stand..How do you control someone? Force them to become dependent upon you...
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'A house divided cannot stand..How do you control someone? Force them to become dependent upon you...'
This is what scares me.
It must be pretty strange to actually see this stuff happening.
But while plants still grow, I'm pretty sure that eventually, it will all be OK again. -
@surveygirl46
I want to give you a hand with clarifying some things.
The word to use when you mean to refer to second hand information is hearsay.
A similar word, with a completely different meaning, is heresy which is an introduced change to some system of belief, especially a religion, that conflicts with the previously established canon of that belief.
Also as JoelKlebanoff has clarified above we do NOT now have, nor have we ever had a right to freedom of speech in private spaces and places like Blog Catalog, or in any other privately owned spaces or places such as Blogger blogs on blogspot subdomains. As these are private spaces and spaces their Terms of Service apply.
Also note that all web hosts have a clause in their Terms of Service that states words to the effect of "We reserve the right to delete any account at any time for any reason."
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Just keep aware that's all you need to do and don't be a dodo like me and post this OUT IN PUBLIC....LOL
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I think anything that urges us to work our reproductive instincts without productivity is pornographic. -
@Timethief - thanks for the clarification. I thought it looked like it was spelled wrong.
Also, I understand about not having the total right or right at all to freedom of speech on private spaces; I was speaking in general, sorry for the confusion.
I am aware that each of us are here as guests, and we need to abide by the host's rules and reglutions. As I stated before and probably should've clarified at the time - I was speaking in general as to our status as citizens in our country. -
@surveygirl46
lol ... The way I remember how to spell the word is to break it into two words mentally - hear and say and then write them together - hearsay.
P.S. I live in Canada.
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Gotcha:) (duh normally i'm smarter than the average bear) This is what happens when i let my brain run away with the computer keys sometimes :):)
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Yo! I'm not smarter than the average. Also, I'm thinking that sitting in front of this monitor and clacking away on this keyboard all day, day in and day out, is probably diminishing my IQ.
However, I have a business to run, contract work to do online, and an online job, so that's not going to change anytime soon.
So now I'm thinking that because thinkinfyou has lost traffic from entrecard that she needs to look at alternatives for increasing traffic to her blog. Employing these twenty five steps will increase organic traffic to any blog onecoolsite.wordpress.com/2009/01/15/twenty-five-steps-to-increase-blog-tra... -
Oh,no! That link is no good any longer! :o(
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Rock on with your bad self GF... I only aspire to what you are. I got laid off in April from cubicle work LOL. I am a massage therapist on the side (have been for 5 years)and a good one. The economy here is such that I even dropped my prices to $25 an hour; unheard of BUT it's still hard for people to come up with. But if I need it, I'm sure I can trade it for a 10 ga can of gas till the economy picks up or something. LOL
But UE was probably the best thing that ever happened to me as now I am writing again.
What I'd really like to do is eventually make a living writing. Humor is a BLAST but making money at it - well, all i can say is I have a hand full of honest to goodness followers and I'm thrilled with that fact alone. There are so many talented humor writers out there, WAY better than I, and you'd think they'd be making bank but it's a hard field - better left for fun in my book.
However, writing itself - i can do that. I have written poetry since age 7. It's like a must with me. So I have written all my life but it's my time ...NOW...Does that make sense? -
PS - Sorry Timethief, i did'nt see the rest of your message but I am reading it now:)
Thanks for the great info blog - I added it to my Stumble page.-
What I'd really like to do is eventually make a living writing.
Here's a lead for you and for thinkinfyou too.
- ContentDesk.com
"We focus on bringing traffic from several different sources instead of just focusing on search engines. We believe (and we have proven) that search engine rankings will come by using consistent and long-term strategies to build the exposure of your site."
ContentDesk is launching a blog network called the CDBlog Network. They are looking for writers who want to write for them on one of many different topics. They pay a beginning stipend (up to $800 per month depending on experience) to start, with the potential of a full-time, lucrative income for writers, who help them take their blog to the top of a market niche. They handle all the set up, domain registration and site build, all the technical issues and all the marketing.
If it doesn't pan out and/or if you have blogs you want to monetize you can check out these 20 income making possibilities I reviewed. onecoolsite.wordpress.com/2009/01/22/twenty-income-streams-for-bloggers/
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I can’t describe what is pornographic but I know it when I see it. -
he he he -
A plastic container and a ridiculous price tag as well as a coveted position on the top shelf. -
I can't add much to what so many have already written, but suffice it to say--from a legal perspective--that people confuse "obscenity" with "pornography." "Obscenity" is a legal formula. When judges determine that expression is "obscene," it is EXCLUDED from First Amendment protection, meaning that government can suppress it. As far as definitions go, "obscenity" means any expression that, taken as a whole, "appeals to the prurient interest in sex;" is "patently offensive"(judged by the community in which the expression appears); and does not have any "serious artistic, scientific, literary or social value." Thankfully our Supreme Court has interpreted this definition somewhat liberally; they do not substitute their individual judgments concerning what art or expression "has serious value." They merely ask whether, on a national level, people could find value in the expression beyond mere appeal to sexual urges.
Pornography, on the other hand, can be "obscene," but in many cases falls short. It may "appeal to the prurient interest in sex," but have some "serious value" as an "artistic matter." Governments try to ban porn as "obscene" all the time, usually without success. But private speakers--like Blogger--are not bound by the First Amendment. They can regulate speech whenever they want whenever they--as a subjective matter--find the material "offensive." It may not be "legally obscene," but that does not matter.
Leaving law to one side, we tend to associate the word "pornographic" with bad things. It reflects a value judgment more than an objective standard. There is "art," then there is "pornography." While "art" sounds "good" and "well-intentioned," "pornography" sounds "base" and "bad." Yet as Joel already said, this is a subjective judgment that touches on many, many individual moral qualms. What leads a Republican to cry out "pornography!" may lead a socialist to sigh "masterpiece." And as nothingprofound said, the quest to hunt down "pornography" as a "moral stain" has roots in Puritanism.
Is it porn? Answering that question is sort of like asking: "Is it art?" Interestingly, I have dealt with that topic quite often lately on my blog! Strange how we all think similar things... -
when visual sexual content is present, i'd say it's porn. -
When clowns make with the money shot on a horse.
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When the sexual organs of the actors are visibly excited, it's porn. -
There is something called the LAPS test. The supreme court (one of them a number of years back) came up this test.
(with a name like "LAPS TEST"...well, there is a dick joke in there somewhere)
Anyways...those assholes decided that if something has no LITERARY, ARTISTIC, POLITICAL or SCIENTIFIC shit in it...it's OBSCENE...AKA PORNO.
I think something is pornographic if it simultaneously produces awe, terror, madness AND boners.-
Literary: Reading while bonking--not porn
Artistic: Painting of people porking--not porn
Political: pics of New Gingrich "debriefing" a congressional aid--not porn
Scientific: object play while electrodes measure brain activity--not porn
good to know -
The LAPS Test is an interesting measurement, if a little subjective. But I've wondered why erotica can be sold at Barnes and Nobles, and not porn movies, given that they both have similar intended uses. Perhaps the same reason "back massagers" can be sold at Sears, as long as it isn't a phallic shape.
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Oh...I've often wondered if the Japanese girl (who is fully dressed, mind you) downs the laboratory beaker full of jizz...is THAT porn?
It's sort of comedy, really. The look on her face as the jizz moves from the glassware SLOWER than she probably expected.
She wanted to get it over with QUICK and earn her 100 yen but the jizz is thick and goopy and she actually has to sort of CHOMP on the slime rather than quaff it down.
Then she accidentally blows a mini-bubble right before the gag reflex kicks in and she urps the whole sperm-sphere onto herself while a handful of Japanese sounding men laugh (probably in Japanese since they are probably in Japan where most Japanese people who dig sperm live). -
Its all in the mind really Porn is basically whatever activity that excites you to great extreme. So nudity can be porn to people who gets excited looking at it, while others just don't get it.-
Yeah... Stevie Wonder doesn't get it
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Of course Stevie doesn't! He can't see porn... He can only participate. Heh!
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When we think about it.. -
I don't think it can be call porn until there are fluids.
Just my thought on it.-
like... Kool Aid?
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porn may be erotic or obscene and is sometimes necessary -
Depends on the person. Some people view nudity as porn, while other only consider acts of sex porn. Just depends on the culture / opinion.
Give me some examples to view and I'll give an honest opinion if its porn or not =D.
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