Glad you're here for me to read.

While I do have to agree that even some doctors and lawyers were, no doubt, basically forced into their professions, they will also have a far easier time leaving if they choose. Some people do try to take advantage of others, and we should work to improve the world in any way we can, but... it seems to me porn preys upon some of the most helpless people, and that the most helpless are the ones who, by definition, most need our help.

I have to add one thing that has always put me off about (most) porn: while I have the same desires anyone else has, if you really look at many of the people depicted in photos or videos, even if they are smiling, look at their eyes. So many of those people stare out with such palpable misery, it is hard to ignore. At least for me. Whatever happens to the remainder of it, I hope the miserable people who are trapped in the "industry" (a term I don't really like for something that depends, and feeds, upon human beings) will find the help they need to get out.

One interesting thing about that sentence is that its subject deliberately omits a crucial numerical modifier — one such as "all," "some," "most," or "many." As another commenter pointed out, some people are abused and exploited in virtually every profession. On the other hand, some folks believe that all people who work in the porn industry are abused and exploited. Because porn is such a fraught issue to begin with, I think many readers will mentally supply their own modifier when reacting to such a statement, and I think that's part of what leads to the muddled reactions and conversations we see and hear.

I assume you wrote the sentence that way to make a point, because further down in the post, you're careful to say that some people are harmed in the making of porn. Wouldn't it be nice if every conversation about topics that make people uncomfortable could begin with that level of clarity!

--Virginia, who once thought about trying to avoid buying products made in China for a month and couldn't even manage it for a week.

I think you can make this same darn argument for pretty much any industry. I know people who were basically forced to become doctors or lawyers, and let's not talk about the sorts of hours both those professions demand.

It's sad to say, but it's the way of the world that there are people who exploit others. Spouses in abusive marriages. Employers. Teachers and students.

If we ALL, every single one of us, worked to make the world a better place... the world would be a better place. But there would still be people who try to take advantage of others, too.

It's a fight worth fighting, though.

A company that seems to embody the paradox you wrote about is American Apparel. They're lauded for paying their seamstresses high wages, but Dov Charney, the CEO, is known for sexually harassing his employees, putting them in porn-like advertisements and trying to coerce them into sex.

I am certainly no apologist for porn but, to be perfectly frank, I have no time for anti-porn/pro-porn arguments. There are undoubtedly some really worrisome things going down in the porn industry, but I don't see the point in concentrating all one's energies and resources in trying to get it banned, or arguing against it.

Those women who are abused and exploited by their involvement in the porn industry/sex trade would be better served if we focused on trying to improve conditions for all women. They're suffering because of the patriarchal nature of society, and not just because of porn.