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Originally Posted by Grant_P
(Post 6856426)
Selfishness has no place in a relationship, this is the reason more than half the long term relationships people have fail. This doesn't mean someone is not free to do as these please, but if it's having a negative effect on the relationship or their own personal well being, then there is a problem. |
Actually, the reason most relationships fail is that couples are not honest with each other. Well, actually, it's usually money. THEN it's dishonesty. If the guy hides his love for/use of pornography until they are 1-2 years into a relationship (or until she moves in, which is often the case), then she suddenly feels violated or like she is inadequate. By that same token, if she never mentions her loathing of pornography or her use of sex toys when he leaves her unsatisfied, that would fall under a similar category, no?
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Taking this a step further, this is why escort services flourish. Accessibility to specific things that are based on urges can have lasting effects and with the growing number of problems, I would say people aren't heading in the right direction.
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Why not? Why shouldn't sex be viewed in a transactional basis like everything else is? What makes sex so special? Morality? Christian mores?
My family has an odd habit of getting into discussions at family gatherings--and several of my aunts and uncles are anthropologists. We had a very interesting discussion about a tribal village in which men cannot create children--they simply allow women to release them. As a result, there is no concept of philandery, since there is no concept of monogamy--the children of the village are the children of the village; all of the men are the fathers.
So what makes sex different, and why is transactionizing sex 'heading in the [wrong] direction?'
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If the eating chocolate ice cream is causing problems in the relationship or their personal life, I would say that it can be classified as addiction. In fact, while in med school, it is quite amazing how many people have health problems, both physical and psychological, that stems from food related issues and addictions. If a woman is eating ice cream in place of her being intimate with her man, it is crippling and I would suggest it is equally as damaging.
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I agree, if she is doing it
in place of being intimate. However, you imply that pornography replaces sexual contact with a partner. In truth, for most men, it is simply something that will allow them to take care of their needs at their own pace in their own time. I am, admittedly, a copious masturbator, and yet I have NO issues insofar as intimacy with significant others and/or people with whom I have sex. Your implication that pornography and masturbation replace intimacy with a partner is a misrepresentation.
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I'm not disagreeing with the fact the woman has a certain obligation to keep the man's interest, just as the man has an obligation to do the same. Often, the things each sex needs is different, with men primarily having sex near the top of that list.
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I'm snipping your last paragraph here 'cause this is the only part I think you and I see eye-to-eye on. Honesty is what's necessary, and I think you and I are coming at this perspective with a different idea of what an 'emotionally healthy sexual relationship' is.
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This post has nothing to do with the fact that a partner may or may not approve of the other person watching porn, but the fact that there are a lot of hidden problems that can arise with something that initially seems so harmless.
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Well...that's not totally what you said in your first post:
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Originally Posted by Grant_P
(Post 6853531)
We will assume a man in the following example:
A man is watching pornography and starts dating a girl and all is well until she moves in with him. Now, she catches him with his stash on his computer or catches him watching pornography. Some woman are okay with this but there are a lot that are not okay with it. If she's not, she will ask him to stop and if she's a good girlfriend, offer to encourage him to look more at her as she tries to satisfy his needs.
This is where it gets difficult. Of course, the guy is going to promise to delete all the material to keep his girl or wife happy. As time goes on, there is a high chance that the addiction will get the better of him and he will eventually watch some kind of pornography again. In due time, he will be caught and then things will get difficult. She will be mad that he broke his promise not to do it and things become difficult. |
Now, you said that a man would promise to 'delete the material' to keep his girl/wife happy. This is the essential problem. Not the porn itself, but the man lying to his woman. The man lying to the woman in saying that he will delete it and never use it again. Yet, he is lying because he is often being forced--"You're cheating on me if you're looking at porn!". But why do we have this view? Again, why is it that transactional sex--even with oneself--is a bad thing?
Communication is a key point in relationships, and I am a dirty old man. I cannot think of a single person I know (relatives included, sadly), who do not know this. I am upfront and honest--sex is important to me, and even if my partner and I are having a great deal of congress on a regular basis, I still have the need to relax on my own schedule, on my own time, with my long-time FWB, Palmela. Communication [of desires and needs] and Education [of the idea that sex does not need to be dealt with in a non-transactional method] are the key factors in eliminating the concept of 'addiction' related to pornography.