Sunny Leone, po*nography and commercialization in India

I recently watched a TED talk on po*nography and it really got me thinking about India and it's po*n industry.

I've been very conflicted about Sunny Leone because of two reasons.

1) She has every right to pursue acting as any other person should. If she wants to become an actress, she deserves a chance at the very least.

2) She is a po*nstar and in many ways, I feel like she's glamorized the profession. She's very unapologetic about the fact that she did this for money. Nobody put a gun to her head...Of all the possible routes she could have taken to become rich, she chose this one?

The word po*nography is literally derived from Greek roots which mean prostitution and to record. This is a little ironic as Sunny has said that "po*n star" doesn't automatically mean "prostitute".

Is po*n really healthy sexual communication? Mainstream po*n has "rape" categories so casually added there.

In India especially, because of the conservative nature of most families, po*n often becomes the sexual education for the adolescent.

What is the impact of bringing someone like Sunny Leone to mainstream, commercial cinema?

For every one rich po*nstar like Sunny, there are thousands of girls women who get pushed to brothels, massage parlors, pushed to pimps, drugs, human trafficking.

I guess my point is ...is po*n really an embodiment of freedom of speech? Has Sunny Leone's exposure in India somehow glamorize and glorified the occupation?

I hope this topic isn't too extreme or controversial. Just trying to insinuate some healthy discussion.

mahesh bhatt promotes po*nography and prostitution in india

P*rnography is glamorized prostitution

who are we to judge, live and let live etc. etc

If p*rn harms any1,its the kids . They start seeing women as sex objects

Many so called "conservatives" are the biggest voyeurs in the country. They peep into others personal life and bedrooms. Bash up people in the name of moral policing.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngCaju1TCtc[/YOUTUBE]


Moral policing is the biggest threat to one's freedom than anything. I even know cases where husband and pregnant wife being harassed by people in public until they were convinced they're married. Sunny Leone hasn't done anything illegal.

As for the comment that kids start seeing women as sex objects, in west woman watch po*n a lot as well. So its just a matter of time and probably generational shift before same happens in India.

Live and let live. Sunny isn't doing anything illegal now and by encouraging narrow minded views, we are only giving others a change to peep into our personal lives and deny freedom. Extremists banning Sunny from malls or auto rickshaws are such small incidents.

Secondly, if we are such a conservative society why allow red street, sonagathi etc to run? Focus should be there only. Maybe they are needed for some reasons, but at least make sure no girls below 18 are there and also none are forced to do it without their consent.

P.S: My basic point is that, people can have their opinions on po*n/po*nstar, but she has every right to work in BW or any legal industry as much as anyone else. So anyone saying otherwise shouldn't be encouraged imho.

Originally posted by: MadhuriDixit

who are we to judge, live and let live etc. etc

Originally posted by: .Anamika.

I think that's a little too simplistic.

po*nography has huge implications in the real world When you watch a video about an underage girl, for example, you as a consumer create a demand on the industry for more po*nography involving younger girls.

Sunny is the side of po*n that we see, that gets commercialized. There is a hidden aspect that is so disturbing that definitely needs to be talked about. I don't mean to judge her or her decisions.

Underage po*n is banned in every country and you'll end up in jail if you're caught having it or upload it on internet.

Originally posted by: scorpio_bins

Many so called "conservatives" are the biggest voyeurs in the country. They peep into others personal life and bedrooms. Bash up people in the name of moral policing.

Moral policing is the biggest threat to one's freedom than anything. I even know cases where husband and pregnant wife being harassed by people in public until they were convinced they're married. Sunny Leone hasn't done anything illegal.

As for the comment that kids start seeing women as sex objects, in west woman watch po*n a lot as well. So its just a matter of time and probably generational shift before same happens in India.

Live and let live. Sunny isn't doing anything illegal now and by encouraging narrow minded views, we are only giving others a change to peep into our personal lives and deny freedom. Extremists banning Sunny from malls or auto rickshaws are such small incidents.

Secondly, if we are such a conservative society why allow red street, sonagathi etc to run? Focus should be there only. Maybe they are needed for some reasons, but at least make sure no girls below 18 are there and also none are forced to do it without their consent.

Originally posted by: .Anamika.

It's definitely true that Sunny isn't doing anything illegal and she's got every right to become an actress like any other woman. I'm not advocating from an extremist's point of view. I think she should have every right to visit wherever she wishes to go.

Just because people in the Western society watch po*nography, including women, I don't think it makes it right. What exactly does po*nography do to the mind? It instills the gendered hierarchy once again.

What I'm trying to question is how acceptance of po*nography occurs on the merit of freedom of speech. But what about other implications of this to young children, adolescents, creating demands for human trafficking, etc?

I can't talk about right and wrong. Its subjective. Secondly, you need to be above 18 to visit any po*n website. Yes, people can cheat, but that shows how desperate they are. The ones end up seeing are the ones seeking it. India/Pakistan leads amongst the countries that search po*n sites. So its not just west. And we don't know what % of them are women.

Sunny was born in the west and did what was legal there. And how different is it from HW stars like Shia Labeouf doing unsimulated sex in mainstream movies? Actresses like Kate Winslet and every A lister has acted naked. So doesn't those scenes have the same impact as po*n? And they are more easily available and popular. Films like Murder are made to make money using sex only.