Porn: the poor man's bordello

People criticise the porn industry all the time - it is fashionable, you see. It's taking up too much space on the world's servers. Some have even accused me of putting porn on my website http://www.goslitski.net but if the truth be told, it is that there is a fine line between porn and nude art. Unfortunately it depends on the fastidiousness of the viewer, or the suspicions of the accuser. Misunderstanding is probably the world's biggest bad habit. For some it serves an underhand purpose. For others it merely proves how small-minded people can be, not just in the context of porn, but from everything from politics to relationships to professional life.

Porn has been around since Homo Sapiens scrawled drawings on cave walls. I am sure Homo Sapiens scrawled everywhere but cave images have survived due to there being no weather and little or no light to erase them after thousands of years. The male of the species has always proven the more visual of the two genders, the female the more audial and yet with a keener eye for detail. However when it comes to porn, the male is the major player, both as maker and viewer. I have often wondered why this should be. If one takes a trip to strip clubs, it is noticeable that women make a hell of a lot of noise verging on the hysterical but men generally sit calmly and watch. Are men's fantasies and imaginations greater? Do women cover up their embarrassment by making fun from what has stereotypically and unjustly been a man's domain?

I think it is much, much deeper than that. Men and women have different biological setups. Women can remain turned on for longer whereas men are frightened that their libido will desert them if they let things get out of hand (so to speak). Many men therefore try not to get carried away too quickly. This can frustrate and cause men to go further in their search for greater sexual pleasure.

Rape is a sordid and demeaning act, mainly for the man. And this is why porn serves the community in its role as a sort of extinguisher of the male hormonal fire. We may all have our opinions about porn, but it has done a lot to stop this most vile of crimes. Rape is committed by all sorts of men - deluded individuals who think a woman secretly likes him; perverts whose weird and depressed personalities can't get them a serious relationship; crazed people who have a hormone imbalance; even married men who have a less fulfilling relationship. But rape is committed so frequently most of it is not reported. Women are either too scared or shocked to do anything about it or they fear nobody would believe them. Many times rape is carried out by pillars of the community, men who have such a spotless reputation, nobody would ever suspect them. This is where criminal trials should be solely based on evidence, not personalities.

Unfortunately, porn does not serve everyone's purpose, but it quells the desires of many men who could end up making criminals of themselves. With the growing ubiquity and rising use of the Internet in the last decade, porn has become so popular that some may even put rape down to its presence at one click of the mouse. I however wish to partly disagree. I am certain some see porn as an "hors d'oeuvres" to the act, or even the start of the downward spiral leading to rape, but for the vast majority it is the thing which keeps the hormonal temperature steady.

If it were controlled, or even censored, I wonder what message we would be giving out. If we take a look at countries where certain products are outlawed or seen as taboo by controlling governments, there is an almost mystical desire to have those things. The UK has some of the most draconian alcohol laws on the planet - result? More drunken teenagers than anywhere else. If the attraction were taken out of it, there would be no reason to do it. In Prague and Amsterdam, where prostitution laws are lenient, the majority of people who visit brothels are foreign tourists. On a recent visit to Maastricht, I visited a coffee shop (where the sale of soft drugs is permitted). Not one of the approximately forty people there was Dutch. I heard French, German, British and American English, Spanish, Italian and Polish speakers in there, the only non-foreign person was serving at the bar.

If you tell a child not to go in a particular room without saying why, what is the first thing the child will do? Enter the room, of course!

There is no good reason why governments should believe they know better by telling people drugs, tobacco, prostitution and alcohol are off-limits to some and not to others, just because of which country you live in. Not everyone can afford to go to a bordello either. For this reason porn serves a very important purpose not only as a dampener on some men's sexual desires, but also as a confirmation that sex is, in fact, the greatest disappointment on the planet. And this is why some men seem to be obsessed with sex: because they just don't realise that there are better pleasures in life than that, and the pursuit of permanent happiness is a far nobler deed than seeking temporary gratification.