[tecwritr]

I have some questions for all of you.  What is pornography?  Why do so many people use the term when they are discussing sexually explicit books, movies, photos, etc., with the intention of making it sound dirty or disgusting?  Personally I prefer the term "sexually explicit". 

 

[Guest]

"I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that." -- Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart on "hard-core pornography"

 

[Lizzy]

I think that the def of pornography is up to each person. I know this is weird but if i saw a xxx movie i would probly call it pornography but i read the same stuff in books and i dont think of it as porn, just sex. 

 

[Lotus]

I believe pornography is a synonym for sexually explicit. If there's an underlying notion of dirtiness or disgusting with one word over the other, it's really just in the eyes of the reader.

 

[Guest]

Debbie Does Dallas = porn
2girls1cup or Saw = pornography

 

[chobitz]

Debbie Does Dallas = porn
2girls1cup or Saw = pornography

Saw = torture porn IMO which is worse than any kind of 'sexual porn'.

Torture porn IMO is ruining the horror genre *sigh*

Anyway porn is in the eye of the beholder. I for instance have a subscription to Playboy. Many would call that porn but TBH it has some of the most intelligent articles I've ever read and some great writers including Stephen King have started as contributors to Playboy.

BTW 2girls1cup is just disgusting ewww

 

[Guest]

Saw = torture porn IMO which is worse than any kind of 'sexual porn'.

Torture porn IMO is ruining the horror genre *sigh*

Anyway porn is in the eye of the beholder. I for instance have a subscription to Playboy. Many would call that porn but TBH it has some of the most intelligent articles I've ever read and some great writers including Stephen King have started as contributors to Playboy.

BTW 2girls1cup is just disgusting ewww

I agree with everything you said 100%.

Except.... most of King's early stories were published in Gallery (which is much more explicit in its pictorials) and not Playboy.

 

[ScottBooks]

... most of King's early stories were published in Gallery (which is much more explicit in its pictorials) and not Playboy.

Both of which would be really lame on Kindle.

 

[Guest]

Both of which would be really lame on Kindle.

HA!

 

[Guest]

what is 2girls1cup?  is it like ramien?

 

[Guest]

what is 2girls1cup? is it like ramien?

You don't really want to know. Trust me. But it's easy enough to google, if you can't contain your curiosity.

 

[Leslie]

You know what? I don't think this thread is contributing anything to Kindleboards. This is just me (Leslie) stepping in, not wearing a mod hat (although I suppose I always am) but really...there are definitions out there of pornography, obscenity, etc. Read the whole Lenny Bruce history, it's interesting. And the Hustler guy, too. But giving veiled references to gross YouTubes is just gross. Let's just end it, okay?

L

 

[Guest]

First of all, there was nothing "veiled" about my reference. It was open and direct. Secondly, I was using the examples I did to make a point--one which Maggie got but possibly you didn't. (?) That video and the "Saw" movies are celebrations and exhibitions of depravity and grotesquerie for their own sake. They offer absolutely nothing of any value to any reasonable person to go along with their terrible nature. I don't feel that way about most of what is traditionally labelled "pornography," much of which I enjoy. Thus to me they are much more "obscene" than is most porn.

But if you want the whole conversation stopped, I won't argue.

 

[tecwritr]

Wait a minute.  Maybe I should have titled this explicit sex instead of pornography.  The point I was trying to make, and did a very lame job of it, we can discuss religious fiction/non-fiction, spiritual fiction, Christian devotional reading, love romance and paranormal novels, etc., shouldn’t we be able to discuss sexually explicit novels?  Yes, we must watch how we discuss them but still, in my opinion, this genre is as legitimate as the others I’ve mentioned.

btw if I see a topic that isn’t my cup of tea, I don’t read it.

 

[Betsy the Quilter]

Book discussions are one thing, but sorry, haven't seen anything in this thread yet discussing books...  Your initial post did not invite people to discuss books only the definition of pornography including in "books, movies, photos, etc.," which, whatever your intent was, invites exactly the kind of responses it got....  I have to agree, a list of hot links to these visuals does not serve the purpose of Kindleboards....

Betsy

--edited for clarity

 

[tecwritr]

Sorry, but I have not mentioned xxx rated sites and would never do so. On many occasions there have been discussions about things that were not specifically about a particular book or Kindle.

The question is "Can we talk about books that are sexually explicit if we want to?" I do know that one answer will be that if they have a legitimate plot and aren't just about sex then we can.

If the answer is no then I feel that it would be censorship. In which case I could, but would not, ask you to remove:
All references to religious non-fiction because it might offend people who worship a different God or are Atheists.
All romance novels because they might offend some ones religious beliefs
etc.
etc.

btw. I have know idea what books that might be discussed.

Jim, I think I may have joined the ranks of the rebel rousers

 

[Shizu]

btw if I see a topic that isn't my cup of tea, I don't read it.

True. I don't read a lot of thread.

Just because you can post doesn't mean you can post anything. If the Mods think the topic doesn't fit in this board, then it is not. Some you agree some you don't but that is the way it is. The Mods have their idea of how this board should be and they have to moderate to keep the board.

When I had my own site and there was a post which I didn't think it goes with my site, I deleted the post. I didn't want my site to turn into something I didn't want. It was only a post but if I leave that alone, it might turn into 2 post then 3 and so on that might change the color of my site. In this case, 2 of the Mods said no... so that should tell something.

My 2 cent.

 

[Jeff]

Harvey said it well when he urged everyone to stay within the bounds of a family community so that his daughters could view this forum without seeing anything offensive.

There's already a thread here somewhere about books by D. H. Lawrence. I, for one, see no reason why Lady Chatterley's Lover couldn’t be discussed while avoiding any words that would be offensive.

(For those who may not know it, Lady Chatterley's Lover was considered to be smut in 1928.)

As to censorship, Shizu is quite right, internet domains are not public property.

 

[Betsy the Quilter]

Tecwriter--

Sorry, but I have not mentioned xxx rated sites and would never do so. On many occasions there have been discussions about things that were not specifically about a particular book or Kindle.

Sorry for the misunderstanding--I never said you mentioned xxx sites, just that that's what was being posted and what was being posted didn't serve Kboard.

.... shouldn't we be able to discuss sexually explicit novels? Yes, we must watch how we discuss them but still, in my opinion, this genre is as legitimate as the others I've mentioned....

I was pointing out no books had been discussed as yet in your thread, despite it apparently being your desire. It's certainly a legitimate genre for discussion and in fact has been discussed, though not often.

Your most recent post is much better and a valid discussion point. I think this is another case where an accurate subject line serves everyone--if we know what the topic is about, we can make an informed decision on whether to read or not....

And I guess I don't see good discussion as rabblerousing....



Betsy

 

[tecwritr]

Betsy,

Thank you.  You did a much better job of clarifying why I started this thread than I did.

Good grief.  Eighteen years in technical writing and I've forgotten how to put my thoughts into words.