Yes, kids in 13 states, porn is considered a public health crisis. Utah is considered to lead the way and of course this emphasis on a non-issue is being driven by the LDS church.  Look guys, I get why porn isn’t the best thing. (I mean unless you want some great plots and acting). However, aren’t there a few things we could be putting energy to besides porn.   I mean kids are dying of measles because of parental stupidity, but we are worried about fucking porn.

There are drawbacks to realism in porn.  I mean really who gets a plumber to come out within an hour.  Obviously, there is only the prurient value of it and little or no educational or other value.  Ok we like it, but that does not make it all important and it really does not make it more important than Vaccines for children, well baby programs, adult health, Infectious disease surveillance and a myriad of other things. If you have been to Utah, the major cities have a huge pollution problem that is not addressed at all and yet porn is a crisis?

Yet, along comes the Deseret News with an article about how Utah has been an example of fighting pornography.  The D-news is owned by the LDS church. The article is here.

“Children are at greatest risk as research shows such exposure affects their developing brains and shapes their sexual templates,” the center’s website says, explaining its campaign to get the help of government, corporate and opinion leaders in addressing the problem. It also says pornography is “potentially biologically addictive.”

Which is just short of false reporting.  There are no links to porn and addiction.  It is a made-up condition with no basis in research for folks in the counseling trade to make money off like it is a real addiction.  Which is bolstered by the next comment:

Governing took a more measured view, with Quinn reporting that there are “not many” studies on pornography’s impact. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doesn’t have a formal stance on it, and watching it isn’t considered addictive behavior by the American Psychiatric Association,” Quinn wrote. (bold is mine)

The reason there is no “formal stance” on porn and “not many studies” done on it, is because the public health system is already overtaxed with real problems, not problems from your moralistic view.

Researchers from Brigham Young University have found that viewing pornography can result in “increased moral disengagement,” with consumers of porn more likely to engage in unethical behavior in business settings.

Dude, smart phones cause “social/moral disengagement” and are more likely to cause an accident because they are used in a car.  All in all, it is enough bullshit that if you dried it out it would fertilize the Sinai. In the end it is a lot of bullshit. (Did I say that yet?)

To be fair, porn does portray sex in a manner that may not be correct.  Many porn films depict sex without barrier protection or other forms of consent.  From this standpoint this can give a naïve mind the idea that sex in this manner is normal.  What we are worried about here in Utah is spreading baby batter without using it to make a baby. Once again a moral view, not realistic.

The important take-away from porn is not the morality, it is much more about the lack of safer sex and consent and yet those are not even mentioned in the article.

The article also goes along the idea of some kind of BS with Photoshop, which to me is a non-starter.   So, in the end, no real issue, except with morally uptight folks.

Public health needs to solve real problems. It needs to deal with a population that seems less and less likely to vaccinate your children.  Less means to care for infants or a population that has no idea how to care for infants.

We still don’t really have “the talk” in this country about sex, so ok that would be better than porn and the crisis that kids learn about sex from porn is a problem.  The problem being that you are a crappy parent.

If you want to impose all these restrictions on abortion and family planning, maybe you should realize that you should take care of the kids in front of us too.