You look at that title and think, "Oh shit, he's lost it." No, I haven't. I don't claim, however, to have no controversial opinions, because all opinions can stir controversy. Porn might be the most controversial subject out there because, well, SEX is controversial. It is what defines relationships between people, what destroys some relationships, and certainly creates curiosity. Porn is just the media representation of that in its explicit form. As a hetero male who got laid later in life than most of my peers, I got a healthy (some might say unhealthy) exposure to porn just for mere mental survival. Even as a happily married man, I've seen some merely as an educational tool.
Ah, you snicker at that, possibly chortle, maybe sneer. You think, "Yeah right, he's not getting it in the bedroom." Au contraine, I have used what I have seen often, and it brings more joy (most of the time) in the boudoir. Be assured, I will keep details of personal exploits to myself....the Ukraine has read enough of my material already!
The curiosity about sex of course is natural in our youth. We get fantasies about the ones we are attracted to eventually, but the actual picture is not that clear. The early images often came in the form of Playboy or Penthouse, where we (boys and lesbians) saw what we'd been curious about: NAKED WOMEN! My friend down the street (actually 2 friends) had dads with collections of this male gold mine. It was no wonder that I wanted to go to either place as often as I could, especially from age 10 on!
Next came the summer months, where I discovered that on our premium movie channel PRISM, late night Fridays and Saturdays featured some rahter interesting films. Well, the plots sucked and, as I later discovered, DUBBED often times. That said, the sex scenes were pretty damn fun! I had graduated from still pictures to movement! Granted, these films were not showing "close-ups" if you will (lots of T and A but nothing else), but to a 12 year old that did not matter. I wasn't Siskel, Ebert, Shalit, Lyons, or any of those twits looking for artistic value, I was looking for....for lack of a better word, release...nuff said.
Then, somehow, I found a reel movie in a box, a box that showed some FASCINATING images and I don't mean outer space!. After figuring out how to operate our soundless film projector, I got quite the eyeful. This wasn't the undetailed drivel I'd been watching on pay TV, this was close-up HARDCORE that showed EVERYTHING! I have to hand it to that 20 minute show, I finally got the mechanics of it all...I also learned that, unlike Hollywood, these weren't always the beautiful people. However, at my age, that was NOT my concern.
With all that, my mind had everything it needed for success. Well, not everything. I had the physical tool and the know-how, but not the confidence in life to make it work...actually, that idle status would continue for a while. In the meantime, I continued to gather "knowledge" through the high school and college years. At one point, while living in California, I borrowed a tape from a friend that had a lot of what I'd already seen, but in videotape aspect, not the film I'd seen. Not only that, I learned about a new technique that was at once fascinating and gross....that's right, you guessed it, the director got into the action!
No, seriously, I got an eyeful of the world of anal sex. That was a huge WHOA in my life. Now, as I was a late bloomer in a lot of things, I was probably the last American virgin boy to discover this world as well. I've also found out through serious talks amd dormitory seminars that this form of sex is the absolute dividing line where many people hit the brakes. It's a dealbreaker on dates, in marriages, relationships, as well as a common tactic in the gay world. Well, open eyes cannot be closed and forget, all part of life experience except in the Amish world....I assume.
As the Internet grew in popular use, so did the porn world. Websites grew in showing clips and whole movies. The sites even differentiated in terms of porn GENRE! If you want a milf, there's plenty there. If you want married couples, perfect! If you want midgets, you're twisted but nonetheless accommodated. Also, there are video chat rooms where if you are willing to shell out bucks, you can see people to some unspeakable acts....like cleaning the oven. Nude of course, but cleaning the oven is a foreign world to me!
So, what does this all mean in society, particularly American society? To many, porn is an absolute sin, a media form that victimizes women and children. Having lived in Vegas for some time, I am quite aware of porn's link to physical abuse, drugs, and human trafficking, a quite ugly world. Then there is a large group of curious teens who find the porn world to be educational, but that can also lead to doing things too early with disastrous results. The religious world gets weird on this topic, condemning porn as evil, though I think if some religious "leaders" made use of it, there might be less sexual abuse of innocent children going on. Then there are couples, both homo and hetero, that use porn as a pleasurable learning tool to heighten their sexual relationship.
Whatever the view, the porn world is not going away. It should probably be better regulated like other vices, but that's not my realm. Take it, leave it, comdemn it, embrace it, use it then hide it in pretend shame, whatever floats your boat. In the meantime let me say....WHOA! I didn't know you could do that with a canteloupe!
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