Hey guys. I usually just lurk on the forums, but I'm compelled to respond to the discussion here. I know this is a long post, with which many of you will disagree, but bare with me.
I'm surprised by some of the perspectives offered in this thread. Porn is harmful. This fact is supported by virtually every study concerning the topic. The porn industry does contribute to human trafficking. Not every porn star is trafficked, but some of the unnamed women you watch are not performing on their own volition. They are threatened, beaten, enslaved. This isn't a personal belief. This happens. There are testimonials from women who have had this happen to them. By watching the videos in which these women star, one creates demand for the creation of similar videos. One contributes to human trafficking.
The effects of porn on ones brain are also well documented. As your brain experiences the pornographic material, dopamine is released. Over time your brain rewires itself and begins to crave the release of dopamine through pornography. It is chemically addictive. This isn't an opinion or belief. It's scientifically supported fact.
So who cares if one is addicted to porn? What is the harm in it?
Beyond the already addressed issue of human trafficking, there are many negative effects of pornography. Porn is extremely detrimental to relationships. Fight the New Drug is obviously anti-porn. So you can expect that any of their articles will exhibit that bias. But do yourself a favor and read this article (or any number of other articles online) and pay attention to the logical progression of the studies referenced within.
http://www.fightthenewdrug.org/porn-kills-love-2/
Porn creates distrust within relationships if one member is unhappy that the other watches. Porn causes viewers to compare their real life partners to what they view on screen. Men who watch porn statistically rate themselves as less in love with their partners than men who do not watch porn. Porn use is listed as an issue in a high percentage of divorce cases. It goes on and on.
Porn can be very enjoyable, which is why it's hard to avoid reacting negatively to someone telling you it's wrong. However, I'd encourage those of you who support it to do some research on it's long term effects on:
1. the physiology of one's brain
2. the success of one's romantic relationships
3. the demand for human trafficking
4. the perception of sexuality and what is sexually normal
As some of you have stated, Porn isn't a one-gender issue. It is, however, an industry created primarily by males for the consumption of a primarily male audience. This is why statements like "porn depicts women as sexual objects" are not wrong. Statistically, men who view more porn express a preference for women who are more submissive. Porn quietly contributes to the misogynistic culture in which we live.
I could go on, but I'll likely not convince you regardless of how many studies I link and how much factual analysis I offer. Porn has many harmful effects and that is a factually supported statement. But that isn't the topic of this thread:
It is not for any one of us to decide who may or may not sponsor any given player within this community. Each player must decide for himself or herself what he or she is willing to advertise. And let's be clear — accepting a sponsorship from a company is an advertisement for them. That's why they sponsor you — to gain publicity through your notoriety.
I don't think the OP was suggesting any direct repercussions for the players who have accepted these sponsorships. My understanding of his post was that it was an appeal to the community as a whole to carefully consider who they accept as their own sponsors and an appeal to the players who are already sponsored by these companies.
I've offered a number of facts in this post, but it is only an opinion that I can offer in relation to the actual topic of this thread:
These sponsorships are potentially harmful to the smash community for reasons that have been offered by several posters before me.
TL;DR — Porn is physically and psychologically harmful to viewers and to participants in its creation. This isn't an opinion, it's a fact supported by a large and growing pool of data. However, whether porn is harmful or not harmful is not the topic of the thread. My opinion is that these sponsorships could harm the smash community through its relationship with Nintendo, as well as negatively shaping outside perception of the community.
