youporn.com (and the downfall of mankind)

by Aaron Crary
Last year, while attending Con Law class with my most favorite teacher at the law school, Jimmy MacDonald, some issues were brought up that sparked my interest. While partaking in our whirlwind ride of the first amendment, we got onto the topic of pornography and the possible evils that stem from its proliferation.
There was a comment made by a class member in an attempt to tout some of pornography’s evil attributes: “Hitler”, this nice but misguided sole offered up before her pears, “before putting his troops into battle showed them pornography.” This claim, as fascinating as it may be, represents one of the arguments forwarded in class as to why pornography is evil.
There were two major arguments brought up that I can remember. The first argument represents the belief that pornography increases violence and aggression among society. The second belief put forth being that pornography degrades the status of women.
To start by addressing this former claim, I myself can’t rationalize how pornography increases violence or aggression. To me, the fact that a bar full of young college females can pacify even the biggest meat head would be proof to any Freudian that sex quells man’s most aggressive instincts. I mean, sex (or the possibility of sex) just does not make me angry or want to fight. There is really something liberating and relaxing about taking care of the male urge in all of us.
Which leads me to wonder how an army full of soldiers would have faired had they actually been shown porn before fighting. Rather than going out and fighting, had the men been watching porn I think they would have spent most the day putting their feat up, smoking cigars and drinking a beer instead.
Similarly, if they had porn already, they would have no reason to leave and fight someone, that is, unless of course Poland or some other nation had taken and hidden their porn.
Likewise, I find it hard to rationalize the view that pornography degrades the status of women. Again, it seems to me that pornography does quite the opposite.
Imagine if you will the common situation where a guy sitting at his computer, pants at his ankles, studiously watching every movement of that female image on his monitor screen as if this woman is about to tell him the secret of life. No, that’s not demeaning. That’s flattering. That woman is a star; a porn star; one to be worshiped.
No, I will tell you the problem with porn today. The problem is the impact porn has on our male productivity. For instance, the website youporn.com, which allegedly brings in over $100,000 a month in advertising (www.wickipedia.org; courtesy of my good friend and fellow 3L member Will Fletcher) makes porn so available that you never have need to see the same video twice. And these such options are so powerful they can arouse the curiosity of even the most focused of men.
This makes it hard to function from day to day. Precisely the reason I do not have internet at home, with your computer in you lap you have countless hours and hours of new porn everyday at your fingertips. It is very difficult to refrain from this gift that has been handed to all of us. Thus, instead of the normal daily productive cycle many of us are used to, time and time again we revert back to see what new reward is in store for us.
So, yes, porn is evil, but not for any constitutional reason. The evil is that men are finding very little time to do other things during the day than watch porn. And until men can find balance among this mine field youporn.com and many of its sister cites have now presented us with, woman may be getting the upper hand us all, leaving men in the dust.