> access to porn isn't new with the internet

“Ease of access” and “easy access to the most depraved shit you can think of that’s out there” is what changed. That is what is wrong and why many people feel we need to find some way to control that access.

The Internet didn’t come along until I was well into adulthood. Think about what porn access looked like in the late ‘70s and ‘80s. As a teen we were “lucky” if by some rare miracle a friend stole their dad’s Playboy, Penthouse, or Hustler and stashed it in the woods (couldn’t risk your parents finding it under your mattress) for us dudes to learn the finer points of female anatomy. In a week it would be washed out from the elements with nary a nipple to be seen. Those magazines (even hustler) was soft compared to what a few clicks can find today. Basically you got degrees of nudity back then, but we appreciated it.

Hardcore video was very rare to see as a horny teen kid in the ‘80s. Most porn movies was still pretty well confined to theaters, but advent of VHS meant (again by sheer luck) you had to have a friend whose parents happened to be in to it, who had rented or bought a video, it was in the house and accessible, all the adults had to be gone from the house so you could hurry up and watch a few minutes on the family’s one TV with a VCR. You needed to build in viewing time along with rewind time to hide your tracks.

Now…parents just leave the room for a few minutes and a willing kid with a couple of clicks could be watching something far beyond the most hardcore thing I saw as a teen.

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Eisenstein 2 days ago | parent [-]

I doubt that the porn in the 70s was less bad than the porn today. Legal CSAM was being sold openly so what makes you think that it was more tame than modern stuff?

The fact is that as difficult as it was to get, you got a hold of it and watched it. Why would 'ease of access' make any difference if you didn't have easy access and got it anyway?

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kcplate 2 days ago | parent [-]

Are you implying that perhaps 15-25 mins worth of porn video total throughout all of someone’s teenage years due to such rare access of the material would have a similar emotional and mental impact as having the ability to see that much daily for years as is possible now?

There could have been years between the opportunities we had. I don’t think you conceptualize just how infrequent the opportunity would present itself.

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Eisenstein 2 days ago | parent [-]

I'm not making any claims about mental or emotional impacts, you are. What are they?

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kcplate a day ago | parent | next [-]

A couple of comments above, you said: “Why would 'ease of access' make any difference if you didn't have easy access and got it anyway”

So exactly what is the target of the “difference” you are referring to then here? You are referencing a differential in something…if not psychological impact from the viewing of said material…what would that something be?

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Eisenstein 19 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Person 1: "People are exposed to many more chemicals now than in the 70s, and they smell worse"

Person 2: "I don't think that they actually smell worse, and people were still exposed to chemicals in the 70s, so why would it make a difference?"

Person 1: "Are you saying that the health effects of chemical exposure are lessened because they are exposed to some chemicals as opposed to a lot of chemicals?"

Person 1 is using a claim that is not proven by their statements to make Person 2 responsible for a claim they never conceded was true.

Person 2 is disputing that Person 1's mechanisms make a difference not that their conclusion is valid.

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kcplate 14 hours ago | parent [-]

Person 1: I once or twice got a small drop of a dangerous chemical on my skin in 1982

Person 2: I bathe in that same chemical for 30 minutes every single day. It’s no different than 1982. The risk of harm is the same.

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Eisenstein 10 hours ago | parent [-]

In this case Person 2 has no duty to prove that bathing in it is fine or that getting exposed to a small drop is dangerous.

If Person 1 is claiming that there are harmful effects, they are required to prove that they exist and explain why bathing in it causes those effects while being exposed to it otherwise does not.

	▲	kcplate 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Ok then, enjoy your bath. Hopefully it’s fine.

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19 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

[deleted]

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71bw 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

For instance [1]. I am speaking out of experience, as a GenZ person who has been first introduced to the entire world of sex and porn at EIGHT years old. I myself feel it has harmed my brain in ways which I'll likely never fully understand.

[1] https://eprints.qut.edu.au/217360/1/__qut.edu.au_Documents_S...