> What he's written (and how do I know it's a man?) isn't an
> answer to "stale pomo babble". Or, if it is (and I'm going
> to accept the staleness of the 'babblings' for the sake of
> streamlining the argument) it's an attempt to dispute that
> staleness with yet still more staleness.
I am not saying that it is. Some of the stuff he/she wrote is simply laughable, e.g. about fixed sex role in the past (quoting from memory). I would like to know when and where such idyllic certitude existed.
But the main thrust of his/her argument is that porn, and for that matter human sexuality, is a rather complex phenomenon, socially, ethically, legally, economically. Some of it is certainly exploitative and illegal, some of it is legal but may be unethical to some, still some may be both legal and ethical but shocking, and some of it simply role playing. Clearly, some people enjoy performing sex acts for money and there is nothing wrong with it unless it is illegal - in which case the debate is not about sex but about law. There is a lot of grey areas regarding what constitutes consent, age of person capable of consent - both legally and psychologically - but this is not unique to pornography and sex. Then there is a tension between personal benefit/enjoyment and public norms or interests - which again is manifested throughout all form of social activity (employment, wealth distribution, land use, to name a few).
However, the debates about porn tends to either ignore that complexity and make sweeping generalizations or use it for selective support of the points ones want to argue. This certainly is not a rational way of approaching the subject.
If I wanted to discuss the subject, I would start with narrowing it down as much as possible and establishing some commonly accepted definitions of the key concepts. But I also tend to be of the old persuasion believing that what consenting adults do in their bedrooms is their personal matter, not to be discussed in public. The exhibitionistic dragging it into the televised sphere of pop-kultur is a marketing trick that has little appeal to me.
Wojtek