VicariousScot Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 Ah yes, Pornography...that little devil. What brings me to make this thread, you ask? Well, I've been thinking (yes, you probably should take cover!) about Asexuality and STILL can't get my head around Pornography/sexual imagery. Now, the problem I have with porn and asexualism is that if we use the "technical definition" for Asexuality: ...asexuality (exhibiting a level of homo-eroticism comparable to a heterosexual, and a level of hetero-eroticism comparable to a homosexual: namely, little to none). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asexuality How come Pornography still gets many self-labeled Asexuals (I being one of them) aroused, at least physically? In theory, if we are indeed Asexual, surely we wouldn't have any physical response to sexual imagery, at all. The answer that normally gets thrown around is "It's just a natural reaction for someone with a sex drive", but how do you explain how Homosexuals don't get aroused by Hetero-imagery...well, as far as I know? I do define myself as Asexual because I've never met a person I was sexually attracted too, but what I want to really know is if I am subconsciously repressing something (I seriously don't think I am) and it's all psychological, because both Hetero and Homo - sexual porn gets me physically aroused. I just want to be who I am, not someone stuck behind a mental barrier. I have no interest in sex with anyone, and never see anyone I'm interested in...and that's fine, but my over-active mind just can't keep quiet about such things. Just more musings from my soap-opera of a life... Link to post Share on other sites
cait Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 I just don't understand how pornography does not turn every living being off ... it's all fake and shit. It's like you're watching some sick nasty role play going on. Or it's like a perversion to intimacy because you're not intimate with the people you're watching at all. Pornography's all gross and stuff. And phony, did I mention phony? Anyway, not to mention how horribly sexist it can very well be and often is. Anywho, beyond my total hatred for porn, I think it's fine to be "asexual"--ie. not actually desiring to experience sex yourself, and still like to be aroused by porn. It's kind of more of a mental thing than a physical thing. Yeah, you might feel it physically, but it's all because of what it does to your mind, I suppose. I guess you have more room for the imagination when you're not actually touching someone? Link to post Share on other sites
Tungsten Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 I was thinking about something like this today. While I've never been physically aroused by pornography, I have occasionally felt a slight difference in feeling in my penis when observing it (this more often occurs when I'm viewing a highly sexualized image and imagining white it might result in. I imagine things a lot.) I hypothesized that this wasn't actually an indication of attraction towards people but rather a reaction to an imagined friction against the surface of that organ- as any friction would do, regardless of the source. So I did a thought experiment, vividly imagining myself doing this... act with various people (male and female), animals, myself, objects, anything I could imagine. All created the same reaction, a slight feeling or stirring! This led me to two possible conclusions: either I was sexually attracted to everything and didn't know it, or this wasn't sexual attraction. I considered the latter much more likely, given other factors. Have you considered that perhaps it is just an imagined friction-produced effect? Of course, I have never been really physically aroused by pornography, so this could be not directly comparable, but perhaps this is a similar effect. Link to post Share on other sites
VicariousScot Posted October 11, 2007 Author Share Posted October 11, 2007 I was thinking about something like this today. While I've never been physically aroused by pornography, I have felt a slight difference in feeling in my penis when observing it. I hypothesized that this wasn't actually an indication of attraction towards people but rather a reaction to an imagined friction against the surface of that organ- as any friction would do, regardless of the source. So I did a thought experiment, vividly imagining myself doing this... act with various people (male and female), animals, myself, objects, anything I could imagine. All created the same reaction, a slight feeling or stirring! This led me to two possible conclusions: either I was sexually attracted to everything and didn't know it, or this wasn't sexual attraction. I considered the latter much more likely, given other factors. Have you considered that perhaps it is just an imagined friction-produced effect? Of course, I have never been really physically aroused by pornography, so this could be not directly comparable, but perhaps this is a similar effect. Actually...yes, you are correct on this. If I think about it like that, yes it's more the fact that I would be recieving sexual gratification from the act but I do not lust after the person, myself. Eureka :D Link to post Share on other sites
Lani Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 It's sort of like a carwreck to me. I can't look away. I'm disgusted by it, but it seems so weird and unesicery to me. I don't like children, and frankly, I think the world would be better off if we just died out. It does get me physically feeling different, but it doesn't mentally turn me on. Maybe I'm an emotionally underdeveloped fifteen year old. I think I'm just asexual. Link to post Share on other sites
Sideos Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 It's sort of like a carwreck to me. I can't look away. I'm disgusted by it, but it seems so weird and unesicery to me. Exactly. Although, porn involving ACTUAL people disgusts me horribly, yet if I read about in a book I can get aroused by it (not that I do anything apart from skip on of course!). Link to post Share on other sites
OwlSaint Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 *sings* The internet is for.... Seriously though, it could be an empathy sort of thing. Just like seeing a sad person can make you feel sad, seeing an aroused person or someone being gratified might stir up sexual feelings, even without actual attraction to the person or character. I thought the imagined friction idea had some merit, which sort of interweaves with my above theory, in maybe one person might imagine the stimulation or empathize with the sensations that the person in the porn might be having. My two cents. Link to post Share on other sites
cijay Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 How come Pornography still gets many self-labeled Asexuals (I being one of them) aroused, at least physically? How come just thinking of dill pickles makes you salivate when you're not even hungry? Link to post Share on other sites
jr1 Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 I've seen some porn in my time and always felt sorry for the "actors/ actresses" that they'd stoop to that to make money Link to post Share on other sites
jungler Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 I like sites like http://www.domai.com/ and http://www.musclegallery.com/. The pictures are very beautiful. Link to post Share on other sites
andrew_w Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 I was thinking about something like this today. While I've never been physically aroused by pornography, I have occasionally felt a slight difference in feeling in my penis when observing it (this more often occurs when I'm viewing a highly sexualized image and imagining white it might result in. I imagine things a lot.) I hypothesized that this wasn't actually an indication of attraction towards people but rather a reaction to an imagined friction against the surface of that organ- as any friction would do, regardless of the source. I often get something like that too if I see sexual images (which I mostly avoid). I know it isn't real attraction, because I also have a "pseudosexual" fetish (which isn't even remotely related to sex) that does arouse me, and the "false arousal" that I sometimes get from sexual images is basically nothing like the true arousal that I get from my fetish. I'm not really sure how similar my form of attraction/arousal is to sexual attraction/arousal (but it is probably at least somewhat similar), because the physical arousal is insignificant to me, only necessary for the "feedback loop" effect to sustain mental arousal. So I did a thought experiment, vividly imagining myself doing this... act with various people (male and female), animals, myself, objects, anything I could imagine. All created the same reaction, a slight feeling or stirring! This led me to two possible conclusions: either I was sexually attracted to everything and didn't know it, or this wasn't sexual attraction. I considered the latter much more likely, given other factors. I have sometimes done that as well, and get the same "false arousal" as from images. Your imagined-friction hypothesis does sort of make sense. Link to post Share on other sites
LeauPar Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 Pornography is gross.. :? And it looks so stupid! I watched it a little just out of curiosity and it was so pointless! To be honest, I got a bit aroused at first (which just feels disgusting) but after 10 min or so I felt so bored and sleepy I had to change the channel. How can sexuals watch these repetitions of aah and ooh forever and still enjoy it?? I really couldn't believe this is what porn movies are like. I asked a friend and he confirmed that indeed, porn is about people making out forever in different places and in different poses. And he loves it. Eh... Aren't men always proud of their "logic" mind? How can they also buy playboy every month for example? Don't all girls just look the same anyway? Think there's nothing strange about asexuals getting aroused. Arousal is one of most basic functions of human body. It can be purely physical (probably). Perhaps it feels different for sexuals and asexuals though... On the other hand, a/sexuality is emotional as well as physical. It's much more complicated than pure arousal. Link to post Share on other sites
alucard Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 that they'd stoop to that to make money that (among other things) is one of the reasons I hate the concept of money. Link to post Share on other sites
bard of aven Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 How come Pornography still gets many self-labeled Asexuals (I being one of them) aroused, at least physically? How come just thinking of dill pickles makes you salivate when you're not even hungry? Because arousal and attraction are separate phenomena. In most people, they occur together, whether for pickles or sex, and so are usually seen as the same thing. They are not. Many asexuals experience arousal without experiencing attraction (at least for people--I can't speak for pickles). Asexuals do not experience sexual attraction. Many do expeience sexual arousal, whether from porn or real 3-D people, but still have no sexual attraction, no desire to interact sexually with real 3-D people. boa Link to post Share on other sites
Usernamecolonasterisk Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 I'm not aroused by porn in the slightest. It makes me feel quite uncomfortable. Link to post Share on other sites
OwlSaint Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 How come Pornography still gets many self-labeled Asexuals (I being one of them) aroused, at least physically? How come just thinking of dill pickles makes you salivate when you're not even hungry? you just had to use that particular food, didn't you? That brings up an idea for an experiment though: think of a food you're normally indifferent or apathetic towards, think about what it tastes like, and see if that makes you salivate or feel hungry. Link to post Share on other sites
FISH' Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 Porn is quite hilarious. Slightly uncomfortable when they start getting naked, but everything leading up to that point is funny. I wish there was somewhere where I could watch the first few minutes of a porn movie, but have it stop just before they get naked. I'd find that really amusing, but I daren't google it. Link to post Share on other sites
BleedingThrough Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 It's sort of like a carwreck to me. I can't look away. I'm disgusted by it, but it seems so weird and unesicery to me. I don't like children, and frankly, I think the world would be better off if we just died out. It does get me physically feeling different, but it doesn't mentally turn me on. Maybe I'm an emotionally underdeveloped fifteen year old. I think I'm just asexual. Same here. It grosses me out but I'll keep looking. Link to post Share on other sites
Spoofmaster Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 *sings* The internet is for....Seriously though, it could be an empathy sort of thing. Just like seeing a sad person can make you feel sad, seeing an aroused person or someone being gratified might stir up sexual feelings, even without actual attraction to the person or character. I thought the imagined friction idea had some merit, which sort of interweaves with my above theory, in maybe one person might imagine the stimulation or empathize with the sensations that the person in the porn might be having. My two cents. I do think that your empathy theory holds merit--I like erotic fiction, but I don't like actual porn. Really, I think the most arousing part is reading the characters' thought processes and being told how aroused they are, and their reasons for doing such-and-such to each other. Of course, empathy only goes so far--as soon as I imagine myself in that situation, it's not attractive anymore. Link to post Share on other sites
AndAPickle? Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 How come Pornography still gets many self-labeled Asexuals (I being one of them) aroused, at least physically? How come just thinking of dill pickles makes you salivate when you're not even hungry? Great, now I've drooled all over my keyboard. Link to post Share on other sites
FISH' Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 It could be worse. Someone could type the word *YAWN* and we'd all be sleepy. Link to post Share on other sites
OwlSaint Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 It could be worse. Someone could type the word *YAWN* and we'd all be sleepy. CURSE... you.... zzzzzzz........ Link to post Share on other sites
SonnetofNaphriel Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 I was actually questioning this as well. I have never watched porn, but I assume it would get a physical reaction just because biologically, we do have sexual organs. Isn't there an area of the brain thats connected to sex? I think of it as one of those innate responses to a stimulus. Kind of like the heartbeat. We don't consciously make our hearts beat, our body does that naturally through its own system of checks and balances. Unfortunately, I've never been a very good student of Biology, despite taking an intro course last semester. So I couldn't give you specific details, but maybe its something you should look up. As for porn. Ugh. I hate porn. I personally feel its immoral and exploitive. My sociology class brought up an interesting question that pertains to pornography: Is sexual violence caused by porn, or is porn the cause of sexual violence? I think its important to notice that everything is interconnected. I think both questions could be answered with a yes. Link to post Share on other sites
Lucy Locket Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 Here's a good site on "porn myths", though I don't agree entirely with the view expressed by the webmistress. Here's one quote: Like when you’re going to the store, do you want vanilla, strawberry, or chocolate ice cream? I’ll sit down at the computer and say, “Hmm, I feel like Asian girls tonight.”--Christopher, porn user, interviewed in Pornified by Pamela Paul Charming! Link to post Share on other sites
Haunter Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 How come Pornography still gets many self-labeled Asexuals (I being one of them) aroused, at least physically? How come just thinking of dill pickles makes you salivate when you're not even hungry? Because arousal and attraction are separate phenomena. In most people, they occur together, whether for pickles or sex, and so are usually seen as the same thing. They are not. Many asexuals experience arousal without experiencing attraction (at least for people--I can't speak for pickles). Asexuals do not experience sexual attraction. Many do expeience sexual arousal, whether from porn or real 3-D people, but still have no sexual attraction, no desire to interact sexually with real 3-D people. boa Yes, that has been explained several times. Thanks for reminding the people, Bard ! :) Link to post Share on other sites
moonstar Posted October 13, 2007 Share Posted October 13, 2007 Porn definitely is an exploitation of those desperate and shameless enough who don't mind reducing themselves to animals to make a buck. Link to post Share on other sites
Amcan Posted October 13, 2007 Share Posted October 13, 2007 How come Pornography still gets many self-labeled Asexuals (I being one of them) aroused, at least physically? How come just thinking of dill pickles makes you salivate when you're not even hungry? Because arousal and attraction are separate phenomena. In most people, they occur together, whether for pickles or sex, and so are usually seen as the same thing. They are not. Many asexuals experience arousal without experiencing attraction (at least for people--I can't speak for pickles). Asexuals do not experience sexual attraction. Many do expeience sexual arousal, whether from porn or real 3-D people, but still have no sexual attraction, no desire to interact sexually with real 3-D people. boa Boa summed up what I was going to say only more eloquently. Link to post Share on other sites
Tyrnis Posted October 13, 2007 Share Posted October 13, 2007 Personally, porn doesn't appeal to me at all. This has a lot to do with what it's displaying -- which is to say, the satisfaction of the sexual impulse and nothing else. At least in what little I've seen, that's all there is to it. Male meets female, they promptly start rutting. I don't empathize with that at all, because that's something that I really can't understand -- it's just that alien to my own worldview. Some of it, too, is presentation. I find women attractive, for instance, but don't care for magazines like Playboy, because that's not attractive to me -- that's just slutty, which ruins any aesthetic appeal. If you had porn that involved a loving couple that were clearly affectionate outside of just the sex, then I might be able to empathize with it. Pretty much everyone wants to love and be loved, so I could at least relate to it on that level. I doubt even then I would find it arousing, but I at least wouldn't view it with the distaste that porn typically evokes. --T Link to post Share on other sites
OwlSaint Posted October 13, 2007 Share Posted October 13, 2007 If you had porn that involved a loving couple that were clearly affectionate outside of just the sex, then I might be able to empathize with it. Pretty much everyone wants to love and be loved, so I could at least relate to it on that level. I doubt even then I would find it arousing, but I at least wouldn't view it with the distaste that porn typically evokes.--T Excellent post. Sadly, a loving couple would be too tame. An audience seeking arousal and gratification will probably not much care for love and romance, and will more often prefer wild, risky settings where the decisions are made by the organs between the legs, not the organ between the ears or between the sternum and the spine. Link to post Share on other sites
Hallucigenia Posted October 14, 2007 Share Posted October 14, 2007 Sadly, a loving couple would be too tame. An audience seeking arousal and gratification will probably not much care for love and romance, and will more often prefer wild, risky settings where the decisions are made by the organs between the legs, not the organ between the ears or between the sternum and the spine. Who says a loving couple can't spice up their sex life by doing something wild and risky with each other every so often? Committed sex doesn't have to be tame or repetetive or any of the other mean things people say about it. Anyway, I don't do video porn (can't even stomach most TV-style sex scenes) but I'm sure there must be some varieties thereof that put some emotional energy (as opposed to just hey-let's-have-sex-now) into it. And even if there isn't - go pick up some erotic fiction. Depending on genre, that organ between the sternum and the spine can be hugely involved. Link to post Share on other sites
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