And like I've said in other posts, the idea of what constitutes fantasy and reality is different for men and women. I state again the fact that a woman who had fantasies of group sex was reason enough to throw a conviction of gang rape out of court - and I stress - without it ever coming to trial. While you may reject the idea that the continual sexualisation of women in the media does have an affect on the way women are viewed in reality, this case is unfortunately demonstrative of the fact that a woman's sexuality will be used against her, while a man's (whether influenced by a violent media or not) won't: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/...

Also, you say that many women of America view porn - is that because of the "advice" served out by such columns suggest that this will save your relationship - or some other reason? Or have you pulled this assumption out of your arse?

The fact that you cannot imagine any scenario in which murder becomes acceptable shows a lack of imagination (for example, in "Fallout III", where governmental law has become obsolete due to an almost apocalyptic catastrophe). Even in the case outlined above - in an awesome game btw - there is still no justification for rape.

As far as I am aware, nobody on here has called for a ban.

"We are more disgusted by rape simply because it leaves a sympathetic victim" ---actually no, many rape victims suffer a stigma, which involves the discussion as to whether the victim "invited" such and abuse. For this reason, many victims do not report their violation to the police. The idea that a fantasy has no place in reality is also incredibly biased towards the abuser in this case: In England, where I live, a rape case was thrown out of court without trial because it became known that the woman in question had fantasies about having sex with multiple men. Because this was expressed, her protestation of gang rape was completely disregarded. I say, let the trial go to court, and this be used as evidence - but it wasn't. It wasn't taken to trial, because of this. Yet many posters on here are defending simulations of rape as a means of entertainment because it is not actually real - but a woman has her fantasies used against her in court with regards to gang rape. A report on this incident can be found here http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/...

I'm going to take a stab in the dark and guess that you have never been raped, Finnish man.

Hey you! Did you ever stop to think that the continued sexualisation of women may have an impact on the way in which women are viewed in real life! I'm not talking about just situations involving rape, but all the others where women are just sexual objects! the idea that a consistent representation of women in any media doesn't have an impact on the society in which that image is perpetuated is retarded! Did you never think that the perpetuation of these images also contributes to their normalisation and acceptance! Or that the representation of women as beings not solely there for sexual gratification is a rarity! Also, I hate the overuse of exclamation marks.

....nevermind...

While there are studies which show how pornographic material may contribute to a decrease in sexual crimes, there is also much research to argue the opposite - theorists and researchers such as Natasha Walter, Jean kilbourne, Andrea Dworkin, Robert Jensen and to some extent, Naomi Wolf argue that the onslaught of pornographic imagery which has become the norm in Western society has led to a continued sexualisation of women which is detrimental to equality. From women being raped to merely being ridiculously sexualised and reduced to stock characters where their main defining characteristic is their beauty and allure, women have been continually reduced to their sexual components, and some research does suggest that this leads to an increase in violent behaviour as people become not just desensitised to violence, but also because of the representation of certain people which leads to the view that they are "lesser" in some way. One study (peer reviewed in The Chronicle of Higher Education) by Meenakshi Gigi Durham says:

"Prison guards at the Iraqi facility were heavy porn users, and they saw the sexual torture of the prisoners as recreational -- "for sport, for laughs," as one Army captain admitted. The sexual scripts of pornography, especially violent porn, provided the template for the soldiers' treatment of the detainees.
...
The data on the connections between porn and violence are inconclusive: Studies indicate that violent pornography exacerbates sexual aggression only in men who already have such tendencies. Sarracino and Scott observe, "Pornography will not transform a sexually healthy man into a violent sexual abuser." But in a culture where pornography is becoming the only script we have for sex, what constitutes sexual health? Pornography is designed to generate profits; it has to stimulate its audiences in ways that constantly push the envelope, introducing new sensations and needs for arousal, some of which are sadistic, racist, or squalid.
But sexuality, of course, is so much more than a commercial enterprise. We need to find ways to conceptualize -- and live out -- sexuality that are nonpornographic, which to me means free from commercial impetus. Sexuality is, at its best, a complex, emotional, and progressive aspect of life, deeply linked with how we see ourselves and how we relate to each other. The "porning of America" takes us away from an ethical and humane understanding of the erotic physical connections that make us human."

To all the people arguing rape is an acceptable form of entertainment in videogames because you're just raping pixel-people:
. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . ,.-‘”. . . . . . . . . .``~.,
. . . . . . . .. . . . . .,.-”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .“-.,
. . . . .. . . . . . ..,/. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ”:,
. . . . . . . .. .,?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\,
. . . . . . . . . /. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,}
. . . . . . . . ./. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,:`^`.}
. . . . . . . ./. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,:”. . . ./
. . . . . . .?. . . __. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :`. . . ./
. . . . . . . /__.(. . .“~-,_. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,:`. . . .. ./
. . . . . . /(_. . ”~,_. . . ..“~,_. . . . . . . . . .,:`. . . . _/
. . . .. .{.._$;_. . .”=,_. . . .“-,_. . . ,.-~-,}, .~”; /. .. .}
. . .. . .((. . .*~_. . . .”=-._. . .“;,,./`. . /” . . . ./. .. ../
. . . .. . .\`~,. . ..“~.,. . . . . . . . . ..`. . .}. . . . . . ../
. . . . . .(. ..`=-,,. . . .`. . . . . . . . . . . ..(. . . ;_,,-”
. . . . . ../.`~,. . ..`-.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..\. . /\
. . . . . . \`~.*-,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..|,./.....\,__
,,_. . . . . }.>-._\. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .|. . . . . . ..`=~-,
. .. `=~-,_\_. . . `\,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\
. . . . . . . . . .`=~-,,.\,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . `:,, . . . . . . . . . . . . . `\. . . . . . ..__
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .`=-,. . . . . . . . . .,%`>--==``
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _\. . . . . ._,-%. . . ..`

Thank you! I can't believe this point even has to be argued.