T O P I C R E V I E W
LilBlueSmurf
Member # 1207
posted 11-27-2001 10:26 PM
Could you imagine going to college and taking a class which would consist of watching and analysing porn? A college in Colorado is offering an English course that will include just that; porn. Some say this will broaden horizons of the students and others say it has brought on "a new low for standards of decency"
What do you think?
Lady Moonlight
Member # 384
posted 11-27-2001 10:40 PM
I think it depends on what films and other media are included, but it could be fascinating. Like the professor implies, it could lead to some really good discussion and writing about the roles and perceptions of women (and men, I might add!) in Western society.
Gaffer
Member # 2105
posted 11-27-2001 10:50 PM
That sounds like a really cool idea for a class. I would take it.About the ethics of such a class, I don't like the critic's whole "objective societal moral" thing. Decency has no definite universal definition--how can pornography lower or raise the standards of something that has no real absolute standards? I must admit I'm not overly crazy about describing the analysis of pornography as horizon broadening either (there are, perhaps, more useful things to be doing?). Oh well. I'm just picky right now.
------------------ I am not who I appear to be.
Gaffer--from under the moon backstage
BruinDan
Member # 3072
posted 11-27-2001 11:33 PM
edit[This message has been edited by BruinDan (edited 09-26-2002).]
la jaunty bohemian
Member # 5735
posted 11-28-2001 07:01 PM
I'm currently in an ethics class in college (Woo! It's sooo fun!)and we covered pornography for the first 3 weeks.It is/was one of the most enlightening classes I've ever taken.
Pornography is one of the biggest businesses out there, it has furthered technology more than any other industry (i.e. by developing methods of secure credit card transactions, video recording, virtual reality, etc.) and it currently serves as one of the major educators about sex in our society. (Thank the Maker for things like Scarleteen!)
I think any class that gives a critical look at the pornography business is highly valuable and can serve to encourage people to examine their views about gender roles and sexual activity, just like this site.
So yay for academic/educational evaluations of porn!
lgray
Member # 2930
posted 11-28-2001 07:35 PM
I agree, that if approached appropriatley it could be a very good oppurtunity (I'd take it too) I think that it's good to hear different opionons and perpectives pros/cons when discussing such the confusing topic of human sexuality, society and how porn fits into everything. I know I personally have all sorts of mixed up feelings about porn which I think mirror the mixed up messages the media/parents/societies give about sex along w/ my own undeclared feelings towards my own blossoming sexuality.
Gumdrop Girl
Member # 568
posted 11-28-2001 07:53 PM
At UC Berkeley, we have a *bunch* of classes dealing with pornography. Many are led by lecturers and professors. Some are taught by students (we have something called deCal ). A girl at my lab bench in bio 1 was an instructor for a class called "power and eros," which was about reading and writing erotica. other classes are in the women's studies, comparative lit, and film studies depts.although, having seen a fewrun of the mill silicone girls in high heels pornos, i can scarcely fathom them having any sort of literary value. such crude language they use! There is good literary erotica out there, though. I hope that comes up more in discussion that that other stuff.
------------------ I bust my arse so that I can get somewhere in life , so why am I not there yet?
smittenkitten
Member # 2297
posted 11-30-2001 01:15 AM
I'm not so sure about porn movies, but I'd love to take a class that analysed written erotica. I'd love to study the work of the Marquis De Sade.My college doesn't have anything like that, but somewhere in Aus is bound to do it.
I've never had an ethical problem with porn either, as long as it isn't paedophelia. Getting of is normal and healthy, and using porn for that purpose is as well.
Hugs & Scully, Winnie :0)
Spin
Member # 6025
posted 11-30-2001 01:50 AM
Well - We know they aren't going to be analyzing the extremely cheesy plots. P*L*U*R
------------------ Good Times :)
DC_WillowFan
Member # 631
posted 12-03-2001 03:44 PM
That seems interesting. I'd definetly take that class, and not only because of the porn (although I admit I like some of it) but also because even if it's porn, there's a lot of topics to talk about, just like a "normal" movie.I guess discussions would be great and I'm sure there would be just as much girls than boys in such class. And that only because people seem to be more open to such topics, and because women in general are less criticized about their sexuality than back then.
David
------------------ - I hope I shall be able to confide in you completely, as I have never been able to do in anyone before, and I hope that you will be a great support and comfort to me.
Anne Frank to her journal (1929-1945)
Dzuunmod
Member # 226
posted 12-03-2001 07:42 PM
Just a brief note, kids, the class has been cancelled .The higher-ups at the university say they weren't fully prepared for the onslaught of criticism levelled at them, basically.
------------------ My God can beat up your God. -Weights and Measures
[This message has been edited by Dzuunmod (edited 12-03-2001).]
Celtic Daisy
Member # 2971
posted 12-03-2001 10:40 PM
That sux, i think that would have been a really interesting class to be able to take.Aww well...maybe one day they'll be prepared for critizim(s/p?).
------------------ "where'ths my mommy?" -Shawna
Akimsa (non-violence)
~Erin~
Jeffrey
Member # 5304
posted 12-14-2001 12:00 AM
"Pornography is one of the biggest businesses out there, it has furthered technology more than any other industry (i.e. by developing methods of secure credit card transactions, video recording, virtual reality, etc.) and it currently serves as one of the major educators about sex in our society." Whoa... Is that really true (furthering technology)? I guess like everything else in this thread, technology is subjective, but honestly, do you value slightly more secure online credit card transactions more than say, the computer as a whole, or the steam engine, or whatever? And virtual reality... Eh? How did pornography make a serious footprint in that? I also doubt that pornography caused many significant advances in video technology. "Hollywood" alone, utterly dwarfs pornographic films - not just the mass market, but the fact that major blockbusters generally require far more advanced cameras, etc than any porno.
I agree that porn is a serious business, but it doesn't even compare to any of the 'economy carriers' such as computers and other electronics (now) or cotton and slaves. (industrial rev.)
lemming
Member # 33
posted 12-14-2001 10:03 PM
Just one thought, here, Jeffrey: what was the 'killer app' for the VCR? What was it, exactly, that so many people wanted to watch in the privacy of their homes? Disney animated videos? Doubt it. That's the usual cited happening, as far as porn furthering technology.
------------------~lemming, Scarleteen Advocate
this is what you get for liking it ."The best-looking boys are taken, the best-looking girls are staying inside. So, Judy, where does that leave you, walking the streets from morning till night?" --Belle and Sebastian, "Judy and the Dream of Horses"