Military's porn ban questioned

[RobRoy]

[Boomstick]

Good grief. What difference does it make? If they're buying nudie mags on base and they stop selling 'em, I think it stands to reason that they're just going to buy it off base.

Beyond that, somehow I'm guessing the people pushing these issues don't hang around soldiers too much. If you're offended by Playboy, you'd probably be offended by the company of about 50% of soldiers anyway, whether or not they had the magazine in hand! :bg:

[Mike of Quantum Muse]

You can kill and die or be crippled for life by an IED for your country, then have rehab in a rat infested ward that should have been condemned after the Korean War or suffer PTSD and never be right again, but by God we need to protect you from the sight of nekkid women!!

Got to protect our American Heroes.

From the sight of bare boobies, if not from extended deployments, bombs, bullets, and experiences proven to contribute to alcoholism, drug abuse, divorce and suicide.

Glad I'm not in anymore.

[RobRoy]

Personally, I like the concept of random and situational morality. We'll train our men and women to kill other countries' men and women, but (literally) by God we will not have smut in their packs while they're doing the killing.

[Coconut Ent]

Mike, why do people join up, anyway? Perhaps youthful idealism?

[Mike of Quantum Muse]

Mike, why do people join up, anyway? Perhaps youthful idealism?

That was part of it for me.

I was young and idealistic, and wanted to prove I was good enough to be a Marine. I also was in favor of some military operations of the time (this was the 80's, and still the cold war) and figured if I supported any intervention, the only way to do that without being a hypocrite was to joining the Marines, so I'd be in favor of sending myself, not my neighbor's kids, off to fight.

[moif]

I just wanted to shoot lots of guns...:poke:

[gilthoniel]

One thing you guys might remember is that we have women in the armed forces serving along with the men, and while I suspect most of them would not say so (gotta be tough after all) they may not care to be around material that objectifies them. For the most part, the stuff we are talking about does not objectify men.

[shadowfax]

If young people are judged to be capable and responsible enough to be trusted to treat advanced firearms and other weaponry in an appropriate manner, sometimes in extremely delicate situations or under extreme stress, isn't it a bit insulting to suggest they are too immature to buy porn rags?

And coming from religious people, this is especially questionable. isn't religion supposed to be about volunatarily making the right decisions. Just because something is against my religion, do I have the right to forbid all others to do it, including those who adhere to other religions or none at all?

[Mike of Quantum Muse]

One thing you guys might remember is that we have women in the armed forces serving along with the men, and while I suspect most of them would not say so (gotta be tough after all) they may not care to be around material that objectifies them. For the most part, the stuff we are talking about does not objectify men.

The women I deal with everyday in real life seem to cope with the availibility of porn just fine.

[RobRoy]

The women I deal with everyday in real life seem to cope with the availibility of porn just fine.

Some even like it and seek it out . . . or at least so I've been told. :poke:

[Mike of Quantum Muse]

Seriously, with what we ask of our troops, and what we expect them to deal with, we should treat them like adults. If they can make decisions about when to shoot or not to shoot people, they should be able to make decisions about whther or not to look at porn.

[EDSEL_PK]

Look. If you can sign up for military service, travl to the opposite of the planet, leaving home and loved ones behind, get shot at, risk life and lmb, eating bad food,, catching exotic diseases, suffering loust weather..all for lousy pay...I think you deserve some recreation, especially of the risque kind.

I could write 20 more pages on that topic, but the frakkin' censorship filter won't allow me to voice my real feelings.

[Coconut Ent]

I guess... what's to stop women soldiers looking at Playgirl and the like?

[RobRoy]

I guess... what's to stop women soldiers looking at Playgirl and the like?

Or Playboy! :pig:

[gilthoniel]

OK, let me try again. The military has a lot of control over what its recruits do, including not allowing them to say whether or not they are gay. The ban is against the selling of "sexually explicit material" on military bases, not against looking at it. They just don't want to condone it. Whether or not this is realistic is beside the point. They're the military - they don't have to be realistic.

[RobRoy]

They just don't want to condone it. Whether or not this is realistic is beside the point. They're the military - they don't have to be realistic.

Actually, it appears that it is the US Congress who doesn't want to condone the sale of pornography on base. The military is under fire for not complying with the intent of the Congressional ban, and have continued to sell various magazines that have been defined as pornographic. :hat: