Watching Porn is a Moral Choice

by Letters Editor · May 23, 2013

From Wade Seale, Cape Town – The recent awarding of a licence to TopTV to broadcast three adult-content channels refers. I have often wondered about feminist groups and others who say that pornography is an abuse of women. Certainly, where women (and others) are forced to participate in the production of pornography against their will, there is abuse taking place.

But can we really say that those who participate in the porn industry out of their own free will are being abused?

Moral responsibility extends to human beings precisely because human beings have the ability to reflect on their actions in the past, present and future. This is what makes human beings moral agents. It is also why animals and human beings with atypical cognitive development are not considered moral agents: they lack the ability to rationally reflect on their actions.

If we thus categorise all participation in pornography as abusive of women in an absolute way, then we are the ones being abusive: we deny people their agency.

But this extends also to the various religious groups who object to the green-light given to TopTV. In doing so, they deny people their agency; their right to make a decision for themselves to watch pornography or not, because if pornography is not being screened (which religious groups want), then people can’t choose to watch it anyway.

Religious groups should, instead, be far more concerned with educating people about the dangers of pornography, and leave it to the informed consciences of moral agents to decide for themselves.