Charleston, A Sussex Farmhouse, Was The Home Of Duncan Grant And Vanessa Bell And A Country Retreat For

Tarot 101: The Story of the Major Arcana

If you’re new to tarot, you might not know that the twenty-two cards that make up the Major Arcana tell a story. Known often as “The Fool’s Journey”, this story shows the movement from each card starting with The Fool and ending with The World. This story is meant to be a metaphor for life and growth as a person. Knowing this story will help you better understand tarot and may also help you remember the purpose of each card in the Major Arcana. Here is that story (featuring some of the Major Arcana from the Linestrider Tarot by Siolo Thompson).

The Fool

The story opens with The Fool. This card represents naivety and the impulsivity that comes with inexperience. The Fool is an innocent and unaware of the hardships that may lay before them. 

The Fool is born.

The Magician

While The Fool becomes some of the cards that follow it, The Magician is one that appears as a secondary character in The Fool’s story. The Magician is a mysterious card. Connected with the conscious, he teaches The Fool how to impact the world. 

The Fool’s eyes are opened to magic.

The High Priestess

Around the same time The Fool meets The Magician, The High Priestess also comes into play. A mysterious individual connected to the unconscious, she is the mother of creative action. With her guidance, The Fool has agency to act on the world in a way unique to them as an individual.   

Together, The Magician and The High Priestess strike a balance – on one hand potential and on the other creation.

The Fool’s creativity is sparked.

The Empress

Following his growth after meeting The Magician and The High Priestess, The Fool enters the care of the Empress and The Emperor. The Empress is a motherly card. Connected to nature, she provides The Fool with support. Even though they are more aware of themselves and their abilities, The Fool still has a long journey ahead.

The Fool is guided by their mother, nurtured to move toward whatever calls them.

The Emperor

The Emperor is the second half of this parental duo. The father, The Emperor is a force of authority. He gives The Fool structure to guide them forward. This structure gives The Fool access to knowledge about the patterns of the world, the way things work, and how rules affect them and who they are.

The Fool’s father shows them structure.

The Hierophant

Moving away from their parents, The Fool, now out in the world encounters The Hierophant. Now, seeking education, The Fool finds in The Hierophant knowledge about belief systems, religions, and ideologies and how they function in the world around them. The Hierophant is connected to the arcane and enlightens The Fool in the ways of culture and identity. 

The Fool enters the world.

The Lovers

Now, indoctrinated into the ways of the world and society, The Fool is entering their teenage phase. This is when, for many, feelings of love and sexual attraction become a priority. Until this point, The Fool focused only on themself, and their interactions with the other characters were self-serving. 

The Lovers present them with a new milestone, not just love and relationships, but also receiving outside opinions. Even when they are not interacting with another person romantically or sexually, The Fool needs to be able to find harmony in the ways their individuality meshes and interacts with others’.

The Fool battles with harmony of the self and love.

The Chariot

Going through the trials set before The Fool by The Lovers, they eventually make their way to adulthood. Now, The Fool has a grasp of their own creativity, a sense of their place in the world, and understands the value of those around them. The Fool feels as though they are on a path to triumph.

The Chariot comes to stand in the way of this. Connected to the ego, The Chariot has a larger control over his presence in the world than The Fool does. The challenge here is for The Fool to find satisfaction in their own successes. Here, The Fool learns to have self-confidence. 

The Fool finds their confidence.

Strength

As they navigate adult life, The Fool finds that there are ups and downs, as many rocks in their paths as there are flowers. They learn to draw on Strength to hone their abilities to be patient, tolerant. Strength supports many aspects of their life both physical and emotional.

The Fool finds physical and emotional strength.

The Hermit

With all the knowledge The Fool has gained to this point of their adult life, they begin to return to the question we often ask during our childhood—“Why?” In a search for answers, The Fool begins to look for knowledge within. The Hermit is who The Fool becomes at this stage of introspection.

The Fool seeks solitude and the knowledge to be found there.

Wheel of Fortune

After time spent looking at the way the world works and their place in it, The Fool has begun to notice patterns and cycles in the movement of the world. Some of this The Fool now understands as the way of life. Others they attribute to fate.

The Fool watches the world, the way it spins and how everything happens for a reason and with some cause.

Justice

With a better understanding of the cause and effect nature of the world around them and the way that there things both controllable and uncontrolled, The Fool now looks backward. It is time to understand the ways they have had an impact on the world and take responsibility for their actions. They know now that Justice weighs on everyone, and The Fool must decide which way to tip the scales.

The Fool sees their impact on the world.

Hanged Man

Justice has made The Fool prone to excessive control over their place in the world. As much as withdrawing before helped them gain more knowledge, trying to puck deeply at everything they do holds them back. When The Fool lets go, lets things happen as much as making them happen, their world is changed. They hang freely in the balance of life and decision.

The Fool is freed and martyred.

Death

With knowledge about themselves and love and the patterns and cycles of life and justice and fate, The Fool begins to take time to dissect themselves once again. This time, the introspection is productive. The Fool undergoes change, letting go of habits and unnecessary worries. This dramatic change is hard, and letting go is even painful at times, but The Fool emerges transformed.

The Fool sheds themselves.

Temperance

Even though The Fool has changed and has learned, their movement through life is still fairly erratic. Temperance teaches The Fool to seek balance and hold onto it. They do not need to move back and forth between happiness and practicality. They can find harmony and fulfillment.

The Fool finds equilibrium.

The Devil

Despite Temperance’s guidance, The Fool continues to stray ignorantly from one obsession to the next finding freedom in some places and despair in others. They are not the same person they began their life journey as, but they are still not strong enough to resist the attraction of the material things The Devil offers.

The Fool is tempted by ignorance and obsession.

The Tower

The Fool is trapped under the influence of his baser instincts and The Devil’s penchant for creating hopelessness. In The Tower of their despair, The Fool finds themselves surrounded by a chaotic landscape inside and within themselves. Only a great cataclysmic event will destroy The Tower and free them.

The Fool is trapped.

The Star

A blast causes The Tower to crumble in a violent moment that leaves The Fool shaken and scared. The light of The Star shines brightly down. Everything has been lost, but The Star gives The Fool hope.

The Fool finds hope.

The Moon

Even with hope, The Fool is not returned to a state of pure peace. The Moon, always half in shadow, provides inspiration for the imagination, and the illusions it causes confuse The Fool and show them that they are still lost.

The Fool learns that not everything is as it seems.

The Sun

When The Sun rises in the wake of The Tower’s destruction, The Fool can see their illusions and fears in a new light. Good things are attainable. It is time for The Fool to start reaching for them again.

The Fool finds their feet.

Judgement

The Fool is new. After all the trials and journeys they have faced, they can see clearly and know now that Justice weighs heavily on all, but they must be able to forgive themselves for their actions and move forward toward their true purpose and what is most fulfilling to them.

The Fool reassesses their life to this point.

The World

In the final stage of a The Fool’s journey, they leave behind the ruins of the Tower and renter The World. With an entire life behind them and all the opportunity possible ahead of them, they become part of The World, reveling in their accomplishments and knowing that they have the strength to survive and, more importantly, that their journey never truly ends.

The Fool dives headfirst into life.

More Tarot 101: Welcome to Tarot / The Story of the Major Arcana / Card Keywords / Choosing a Deck /  Practice Makes Perfect / Bonding with Your Deck(s)  / An Introduction to Court Cards / Methods of Reading Court Cards / Using Personality Types to Understand Court Cards / Tarot Journaling

good things to pay attention to more often

the color of trees

clouds and how they look different throughout the day

the different colors the mornings can have. sometimes it’s an orange hue and sometimes pink and sometimes it’s too misty to tell

pretty color schemes in random places (the trees and your neighbors wooden patio and the color of their car)

the states of the vehicles passing you by, dents and scratches and the different trinkets suspended from their rearview mirrors

the sound of silence

the shadows the lights cast in your home, like how sunset looks different than sunrise, and the shadows the sun casts look different than those of your lamps and candles

pretty details in buildings and houses like certain types of windows or doorknobs or archways

the movement of things in the wind. flags, leaves, flowers, people’s hair and coats

Online Grimoire

not claiming any of these posts just an organizational thing for myself! all credits given to the original posters

cleansing

apartment cleansing ritual

pine cleansing wash

doorstep cleansing

home cleansing brew

very deep home cleansing

protection

wall of thorns property protection

protection amulet

home protection steam spell

room bay leaf protection

rowan cross

samhain

yule

imbolc

ostara

beltane

lavender loaf

litha

ideas for litha

blessings

candle spell

litha bath

5 card tarot spread

the baking sun 5 card spread

summer rays spread

sun oil

Litha orange honey cake

honey cupcakes

herbal cookies

lemon lavender cookies

buttermilk bread

lavender thyme chicken

a couple litha drinks

herbal fruit tea

recipes with vegan alternatives

breakfast idea!

lemon syrup

lughsanda

mabon

spirit work

spirit work masterpost

tarot

healing tarot trick

dates in the major arcana

reading with just some of the deck

minor arcana tarot timing

court cards tarot timing

fools journey and major arcana meanings

very good tarot tips

tarot numerology

yes or no major arcana

yes or no wands

yes or no swords

yes or no pentacles

yes or no cups

spreads

new love

misc

magick for different days of the week

mentally ill witchcraft

low energy charming

sachets

sachet for school

anxiety sachet

motivation sachet

princess sleep sachet

drinks

mental reboost

easy energy

energy drink spell

strength coffee

lemon cayenne energy potion

herbs

herb interactions with medications

spells

rain incantation

storm energy

solar charged

energy incantation

energy candle spell

memory/finding lost things spell

peaceful environment spell

face wash spell

stay with me friendship spell

bath/shower

energy bath

energy scrub

full moon milk bath

what matters most about your interests is that they make you happy. whether other people find them productive is irrelevant. you don’t have to produce anything. you are not a machine. your interests aren’t for others. your interests are for you. do what makes you happy.

Writer’s Paradise Masterlist

As a Writer it’s my goal to help and uplift other writers and future Authors alike so here’s a Masterlist of resources I’ve compiled for you to use for your writing!

If you know any sites or have any recommendations for me to add, my asks/submissions are open!!

I’ll update these as I further my journey & research into becoming an Author one day, please reblog this to help your fellow writers!

Organization, Advice, and Research

Hiveword - A website with multiple writing resources available such as planning, index cards, articles with advice, name and character generators, and research capabilities. The free account offers the essentials such as scenes, characters, and plotlines.

Storyteller’s Roadmap - A website that helps you plan, write, and revise a story thoroughly. It including guides to write specific descriptions along with a thesaurus, templates and worksheets, an Idea Generator and more.

Helping Writers become Authors - A website in a blog style format with multiple articles and resources including writing mistakes, novel outlining, story structures, as well as character arcs and many more.

UK resources for writers - A website with resources for learning how to write with free and paid courses, writing opportunities, and more for writers in the UK.

Creative Writers Academy - A website with free classes guiding a step by step through the publication process.

Reedsy - A blog style website that includes Articles about publication and centered around learning how to publish a book with many tools and generators for writing.

Poets and Writers - A website for Writers and poets with resources like publishing your writing, finding your community and more.

Research Links for Writers - An HTML site with multiple links and resources for writers spanning upon multiple genres, subject matters, and history.

The internet public library - A website encyclopedia for essays and academic papers.

Writing realistic Injuries - A website with a list of different types of injuries and how to write them out including, impacts, and the effects of them.

RanGen - A website for writers with writing challenges, resources, and generators for things like personalities, characters, poisons, writing prompts, etc.

Ivy Tech Library - A library database website with a lot of resources for research including folklore and by region.

How to write a story by Creativepromptsforwriting on Tumblr - A different Masterlist with many more resources about writing, staying motivated, certain plots, etc.

Self Publishing

A step-by-step Video about Self Publishing - A video by Gilliain Perkins explaining her process of how she self published her Best Seller Novel.

How to format your book yourself through word - A video by Natalia Leigh with a step-by-step process on how she formats her manuscript. Her video covers: Page Size, Margins, Line spacing, Indentation, Chapter Styles, Page Numbers, and Headers.

Strategies for Marketing your book - A video made by iWriterly she explains 34 different strategies that can be used to market a book (while marketing her book lol!) and includes a downloadable checklist of these strategies

Masterclass How to copyright a book in 7 steps - An article guiding step by step how to properly copyright a self published book.

Fiverr - A freelancing website where you can find someone to make your illustrations, covers, and even get editors as well as someone to voice or make an audiobook for you.

Up Work - A freelancing website  where you can find someone to make your illustrations, covers, and even get editors as well as someone to voice or make an audiobook for you.

Beta Books - A website for Beta Readers can read your book and return their feedback. It lets you sort and filter your feedback by reader, chapter, or keyword, to get your book done.

Docucopies - A printing service website with a short guide about self publishing, buying copyright, and ISBN references and sites, all while including printing services (10% off of orders over 350$)

The Book Patch - A book printing service which includes Print-On-Demand services or cheap printing services allowing for smaller quantities. The Book Patch does not offer expensive publishing package, and keeps book publishing costs to a minimum.

Affordable Book Printing - A website with book publishing services including printing books but also formatting e-books, Cover Design, as well as Marketing and more

Generators & AUs

Random AU Generator - A website that generates AUs randomly.

Fantasy Name/Realm Generator - A website that generates random fantasy names.

Random Name Generator - A website that generates random names based on the options chosen with the ability to choose by region and gender.

Service Scape Writing Prompt Generator - A website that generates in depth writing prompts as chosen by the genre selected.

Writing Plot Generator - A website that generates plots based upon your selections of genre, title, etc.

Art Breeder - A website that can use a series of images to generate photos or the perfect character for your story.

Anti Porn Masterpost (feel free to reblog and add)

HEAVY TRIGGER WARNING: mentions of rape, violence, abuse, sadism, masochism, torture and more. Reader discretion is advised.

Porn Culture and The Industry

There are over 68 million daily searches for pornography in the United States. Thats 25% of all daily searches (IFR, 2006).

The sex industry is largest and most profitable industry in the world. “It includes street prostitution, brothels, ‘massage parlors’, strip clubs, human trafficking for sexual purposes, phone sex, child and adult pornography, mail order brides and sex tourism – just to mention a few of the most common examples.” (Andersson et al, 2013)

Pornhub receives over 1.68 million visits per hour. (Pornhub, 2013)

Globally, teen is the most searched term. A Google Trends analysis indicates that searches for “Teen Porn” have more than tripled between 2005-2013, and teen porn was the fastest-growing genre over this period. Total searches for teen-related porn reached an estimated 500,000 daily in March 2013, far larger than other genres, representing approximately one-third of total daily searches for pornographic web sites. (Dines, 2013)

Internet porn in the UK receives more traffic than social networks, shopping, news and media, email, finance, gaming and travel. (Arthur, 2013)

Several recent studies have found that teenagers around the world report using porn to gain information about real life sex (Lauzus et al, 2007) (Wade et al, 2005) (Flood, 2009) ( Giordano & Ross, 2012)

Across the board it has been found women watch less porn than men.

17% of women admit to struggling with pornography addiction (Internet Filter Review, 2006)

Condoms are only utilized in 10.9% of top rated scenes (Bridges and Wosnitzer, 2007)

Every 39 minutes a new porn film is created in the United States.

20% of American men admit they access pornography at work.

13% of women admit to accessing pornography at work (Internet Filter Review, 2006)

70% of all Internet porn traffic occurs during workdays (9am – 5pm) (Sex Tracker, 2012)

The porn industry makes more money than Hollywood. (US Statistics)

The porn industry makes more money than The National Football League, The National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball combined and more than NBC, CBS, and ABC combined. (IFR, 2006).

The porn industry has larger revenues than the top technology companies (Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo, Apple and Netflix) combined (IFR, 2006).

13,000 adult videos are produced annually, amassing over $13 billion dollars in profit. By comparison, Hollywood released 507 movies and made only 8.8 billion (Bridges and Wosnitzer, 2007).

Free websites comprise between 70-80% of the adult material online, typically used as “bait” for pay websites, guiding viewers to premium pay services.

90% of free porn websites and nearly 100% of pay porn websites buy their material rather than create it themselves.

Porn, Youth and Child Abuse

Children as young as 11 years old are regularly accessing hardcore gonzo pornography (IFR, 2006). Following first exposure, the largest consumer group of internet pornography is boys between the ages of 12-17.Approximately 20% of all internet pornography is child sexual abuse. (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 2013).

A recent study found that seven out of ten youth have been unwillingly exposed to pornography in the United States (Carroll et al, 2008).

The fastest growing demand in commercial websites for child abuse is for images depicting the worst type of abuse, including penetrative sexual activity involving children and adults and sadism or penetration by an animal (Internet Watch Foundation. Annual Report, 2008).

In a study of arrested child pornography possessors, 40 percent had both sexually victimized children and were in possession of child pornography.

Child pornography has become a $3 billion annual industry (Top Ten Reviews, 2005).

69% of all victims in child abuse images are between the ages of 0 and 10 years old. (IWF, 2008)

A New Zealand Internal Affairs study suggests that there is an association between viewing child pornography and committing child sexual abuse (New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs. Internet Traders of Child Pornography: Profiling Research. By Caroline Sullivan. October 2005. January 10, 2006).

Approximately 55% of street girls engage in formal prostitution (Department of Justice, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section. Accessed October 31, 2007).

Child prostitutes serve between two and thirty clients per week, leading to a shocking estimated base of anywhere between 100 to 1500 clients per year, per child. Younger children, many below the age of 10, have been increasingly drawn into serving tourists (Department of Justice, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section. Accessed October 31, 2007).

Youth who look at violent x-rated material are six times more likely to report forcing someone to do something sexual online or in-person versus youth not exposed to x-rated material.

Internet pornography was blamed for a 20 percent increase in sexual attacks by children over three years.

Nearly 80 percent of unwanted exposure to pornography is taking place in the home (79 percent occurs in the home; 9 percent occurs at school; 7 percent other/unknown; 5 percent at a friend’s home).

Kids experience unwanted exposure to sexual material via: - A link came up as a result of an innocent word search (40 %) - Clicking on a link in another site (17 %) - A pop-up (14 %) - Other (13 %) - Misspelled web address (12 %) - Don’t know (4 %) - Pictures involving animals or other strange things (10 %)

American children begin consuming hardcore pronography at an average age of 11

Four out of five 16 year-olds regularly access pornography online

In 2008, more than 560 college student responded to an online survey: - 93% of boys and 62% of girls were exposed to pornography before 18 - 14% of boys and 9% of girls were exposed to pornography before 13 - 69% of boys and 23% of girls have spent at least 30 consecutive minutes viewing Internet pornography on at least one occasion - 63% of boys have done so more than once, and 35% of boys have done so on more than 10 occasions. - 83% of boys and 57% of girls have seen group sex online - 69% of boys and 55% of girls have seen same-sex intercourse online - 39% of boys and 23% of girls have seen sexual bondage online - 32% of boys and 18% of girls have seen bestiality online - 18% of boys and 10% of girls have seen rape or sexual violence online - 15% of boys and 9% of girls have seen child pornography

When a child or adolescent is directly exposed to pornography the following effects have been documented: - Lasting negative or traumatic emotional responses. - The belief that superior sexual satisfaction is attainable without having affection for one’s partner, thereby reinforcing the commoditization of sex and the objectification of humans. - The belief that being married or having a family are unattractive prospects. - Increased risk for developing sexual compulsions and addictive behavior. - Increased risk of exposure to incorrect information about human sexuality long before a minor is able to contextualize this information in ways an adult brain could. - Overestimating the prevalence of less common practices (e.g., group sex, bestiality, or sadomasochistic activity)

Porn and its Psychological Effects

In 1982 and 1984, Dr. Dolf Zillmann and Dr. Jennings Bryant conducted an experiment with 80 male and 80 female college-age participants.101 These were divided into three subgroups, and each group was shown 4 hours and 48 minutes of media over a six-week period: (1) the “Massive Exposure Group” was shown 36 non-violent pornographic film clips; (2) the “Intermediate Exposure Group” was exposed to 18 pornographic film clips and 18 regular films; and (3) the “No Exposure” control group was shown 36 non-pornographic film clips. - A direct correlation was noticed between the amount of pornography one viewed and one’s overall sexual satisfaction. Participants from the Massive Exposure Group reported less satisfaction with their intimate partner, such as their partner’s physical appearance, affection, and sexual performance. Researchers concluded, “consumers eventually compare appearance and performance of pornographic models with that of their intimate partners, and this comparison rarely favors their intimate partners.” - Those exposed to more pornography attached more value to casual sex (i.e. sex without emotional involvement). - When asked if minors should be protecting from seeing pornography, 84% of the No Exposure Group, 54% of the Intermediate Exposure Group, and 37% of the Massive Exposure Group said yes. - Porn seemed to condition participants to trivialize rape. Participants were asked to read about a legal case where a man raped a female hitchhiker and then recommend a length for the rapist’s prison sentence. Males in the No Exposure Group said 94 months; the Massive Exposure Group said 50 months (nearly half that of the No Exposure Group). - Participants were asked to rate their overall support for women’s rights. Both men and women who were in the Massive Exposure Group showed significant drops in support compared to the No Exposure Group. There was 71% male support in the No Exposure Group compared to 25% in the Massive Exposure Group and 82% female support in the No Exposure Group compared to 52% in the Massive Exposure Group. - When asked how common or popular certain sexual activities were in the general population — activities like anal sex, group sex, sadomasochism, and bestiality — the percentages given by the Massive Exposure Group were two to three times higher than the No Exposure Group. - The Massive Exposure Group was far more likely to believe women fit the stereotype of the women they see in pornographic films — that is, “socially non-discriminating, as hysterically euphoric in response to just about any sexual or pseudosexual stimulation,and as eager to accommodate seemingly any and every sexual request.” - Additionally, two weeks after they stopped seeing videos, all participants were given an assortment of pornographic and non-pornographic films to watch in private. Those who were exposed to more pornography were significantly more likely to want to watch hardcore porn.

In a 2002 study, 71 male undergraduate students were divided into 3 groups. Each group watched 10-11-minute video segments: a sexually-explicit and degrading film, a sexually-explicit educational film, and a non-sexual film. Later the men were placed side-by-side with a woman in a seemingly unrelated social experiment. - Viewers of the sexually-explicit film displayed more dominance and anxiety, ignored contributions of their partner more often, touched their partner for longer periods of time, and averted their partner’s gaze more compared to viewers of the non-sexual film. - Viewers of the sexually-explicit and degrading film spent longer periods of time averting their partner’s touch and gazing at their partner’s face, interrupted their partner more, advanced to touch their partner more, and made more sexual references compared to viewers of the sexually-explicit film.

In 2005, a study of youth between the ages of 10 and 17 concluded that there is a significant relationship between frequent porn use and feelings of loneliness and major depression.

Gary R. Brooks, Ph.D., describes what he observes as a “pervasive disorder” linked to the consumption of soft- core pornography like Playboy. He mentions five main symptoms of this: Voyeurism: An obsession with looking at women rather than interacting with them. This can apply to far more than pornography, including any consumption of the “sexuality-on-tap” culture in which we live; media glorifies and objectifies women’s bodies, thus promoting unreal images of women, feeding male obsession with visual stimulation and trivializing other mature features of a healthy sexual relationship. Objectification: An attitude in which women are objects rated by size, shape and harmony of body parts. Sexual fantasy leads to emotional unavailability and dissatisfaction. Validation: The need to validate masculinity through beautiful women. Women who meet centerfold standards only retain their power as long as they maintain “perfect” bodies and the lure of unavailability; it is very common for a man’s fantasy sexual encounter to include a feeling of manly validation; it is also common for men to feel invalidated by their wives if they have trained their minds and bodies to respond only to the fantasy advances of their dream girl. Trophyism: The idea that beautiful women are collectibles who show the world who a man is. Pornography reinforces the women’s-bodies-as-trophies mentality. Fear of True Intimacy: Inability to relate to women in an honest and intimate way despite deep loneliness. Pornography exalts a man’s sexual needs over his need for sensuality and intimacy; some men develop a preoccupation with sexuality, which powerfully handicaps their capacity for emotionally intimate relationships.

“Prolonged exposure to pornography, it must be remembered, results in both a loss of respect for female sexual autonomy and the disinhibition of men in the expression of aggression against women.” - Dr. James B. Weaver.

Porn and Addiction

10% of adults admit to having an addiction to online pornography (IFR, 2006).

In a survey of 63 wives of self-identified sex addicts: - 70% met most criteria for a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. - 75% discovered evidence of compulsive or addictive sexual behaviors themselves (as opposed to a planned disclosure on the part of a husband). - 71% demonstrated a severe level of functional impairment in major areas of their lives. - Length of marriage at disclosure and number of prior traumatic event exposures were the best predictors increased trauma symptoms.

“[M]odern science allows us to understand that the underlying nature of an addiction to pornography is chemically nearly identical to a heroin addiction.” - Dr. Jeffrey Satinovet

“Pornography triggers a myriad of endogenous, internal, natural drugs that mimic the ‘high’ from a street drug. Addiction to pornography is addiction to what I dub erototoxins—mind altering drugs produced by the viewer’s own brain.” - Dr. Judith Reisman

Porn, Violence and Rape

88.2% of top rated porn scenes contain aggressive acts principally spanking, gagging, and slapping, while 48.7% of scenes contained verbal aggression, primarily name-calling. - In 70% of occurrences, a man is perpetrator of the aggression; 94% of the time the act is directed towards a woman. - Only 9.9% of the top selling scenes analyzed contained behaviors such as kissing, laughing, caressing, or verbal compliments. - Open-hand slapping occurs in 41.1% of scenes. - Sex depicted in porn movies generally focuses on men’s sexual pleasure and orgasm, rather than equally that of women’s (Bridges and Wosnitzer, 2007)

Porn scenes have sexist and racist themes through out. Websites often contain menus where users can select genres of women’s ethnicities, body types, and ages. There are also choices such as “amateur,” “interracial”, and the ever popular “teen” category. Men and women who are anything other than white are represented in stereotypical and demeaning ways.

Studies show that after viewing pornography men are more likely to: - report decreased empathy for rape victims - have increasingly aggressive behavioral tendencies - report believing that a woman who dresses provocatively deserves to be raped - report anger at women who flirt but then refuse to have sex - report decreased sexual interest in their girlfriends or wives - report increased interest in coercing partners into unwanted sex acts (Bridges, 2006) (Yang, Gahyun, 2012).

In a meta-analysis of 46 studies published from 1962 to 1995, comprising a total sample of 12,323 people, researchers concluded pornographic material puts one at increased risk of: - developing sexually deviant tendencies (31% increase in risk) - committing sexual offenses (22% increase in risk) - accepting rape myths (31% increase in risk)

Among perpetrators of sex crimes, adolescent exposure to pornography is a significant predictor of elevated violence and victim humiliation.

In a study of 30 college fraternity members on a small liberal arts campus, the displayed images of women (in posters, screensavers, calendars, pin-ups, and advertisements) were analyzed for their frequency and degrading nature. There was a significant association between the average degradation ratings of the images and the student’s rape-supportive attitude scale (RSA)

In a study of 187 female university students, researchers concluded early exposure to pornography was related to subsequent “rape fantasies” and attitudes supportive of sexual violence against women. Researchers believe pornography consumed at a young age contributes to women being socialized to accept sexual aggression as a sexual/romantic event.

In 2004 data was collected from interviews with 271 women participating in a battered women’s program. Pornography use by their partner significantly increased the odds of women being sexually abused by their abusers. When their abuser used both alcohol and pornography, the odds of sexual abuse increase by a factor of 3.2.

Arrested prostitution clients are twice as likely to report having watched pornographic movies over the past year than a national sample.

Japanese males were divided into three groups and each exposed to different types of home video pornography: a positive rape film (where the female expressed pleasure), a negative rape film (where the female expressed pain), or a consenting sex film. Those who viewed the positive rape film were significantly more likely to state that women could enjoy rape and higher percentages of rape cases are invented by victims.

In a study of 804 Italian adolescents, ages 14 to 19 years old, viewing pornography was correlated to both active and passive sexual violence and unwanted sex.

“Women are represented as passive and as slavishly dependent upon men. The role of female characters is limited to the provision of sexual services to men. To the extent that women’s sexual pleasure is represented at all, it is subordinated to that of men and is never an end in itself as is the sexual pleasure of men. What pleases women is the use of their bodies to satisfy male desires. While the sexual objectification of women is common to all pornography, women are the recipients of even worse treatment in violent pornography, in which women characters are killed, tortured, gang-raped, mutilated, bound, and otherwise abused, as a means of providing sexual stimulation or pleasure to the male characters.” - Helen Longino

Research indicates that 25% to 30% of male college students in the United States and Canada admit that there is some likelihood they would rape a woman if they could get away with it. (Briere and Malamuth, 1983)

In a study of high school males, 50% of those interviewed believed it acceptable “for a guy to hold a girl down and force her to have sexual intercourse in instances such as when ‘she gets him sexually excited’ or ‘she says she’s going to have sex with him and then changes her mind’” (Goodchilds and Zellman, 1984)

“I went to a porno bookstore, put a quarter in a slot, and saw this porn movie. It was just a guy coming up from behind a girl and attacking her and raping her. That’s when I started having rape fantasies. When I saw that movie, it was like somebody lit a fuse from my childhood on up… I just went for it, went out and raped.” Rapist interviewed by Beneke, 1982

The following statements were made by women testifying at the Hearings on Pornography in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1993 (Russell, 1993a). - Ms. M testified that, “I agree to act out in private a lot of the scenarios that my husband read to me. These depicted bondage and different sexual acts that I found humiliating to do…He read the pornography like a textbook, like a journal. When he finally convinced me to be bound, he read in the magazine how to tie the knots and bind me in a way that I couldn’t escape. Most of the scenes where I had to dress up or go through different fantasies were the exact same scenes that he has read in the magazines.” - Ms. O described a case in which a man ‘brought pornographic magazines, books, and paraphernalia into the bedroom with him and told her that if she did not perform the sexual acts in the “dirty” books and magazines, he would beat her and kill her’ - Ms. S testified about the experience of a group of women prostitutes who, she said, ‘were forced constantly to enact specific scenes that men had witnessed in pornography…These men… would set up scenarios, usually with more than one woman, to copy scenes that they had seen portrayed in magazines and books. [For example, Ms. S quoted a woman in her group as saying:] “He held up a porn magazine with a picture of a beaten woman and said, ‘I want you to look like that. I want you to hurt.’ He then began beating me. When I did not cry fast enough, he lit a cigarette and held it right above my breast for a long time before he burned me.” - Ms. S. also described what three men did to a nude woman prostitute whom they had tied up while she was seated on a chair: “They burned her with cigarettes and attached nipple clips to her breasts. They had many S and M magazines with them and showed her many pictures of women appearing to consent, enjoy, and encourage this abuse. She was held for twelve hours while she was continuously raped and beaten.” - Another example cited by Ms. S: “They (several Johns) forced the women to act simultaneously with the movie. In the movie at this point, a group of men were urinating on a naked woman. All the men in the room were able to perform this task, so they all started urinating on the woman who was now naked.”

Non-violent heterosexual porn often becomes ‘too boring’ and leads (commonly) men to seek out more ‘interesting’ and ‘exciting’ types of pornography: often including abuse and rape. (Zillman and Bryant) (Briere and Malamuth)

Porn and Relationships

[At] a gathering of the nation’s divorce lawyers, attendees revealed that 58% of their divorces were a result of a spouse looking at excessive amounts of pornography online.

According to the Journal of Adolescent Health, prolonged exposure to pornography leads to: - An exaggerated perception of sexual activity in society - Diminished trust between intimate couples - The abandonment of the hope of sexual monogamy - Belief that promiscuity is the natural state - Belief that abstinence and sexual inactivity are unhealthy - Cynicism about love or the need for affection between sexual partners - Belief that marriage is sexually confining - Lack of attraction to family and child-raising

According to sociologist Jill Manning, the research indicates pornography consumption is associated with the following six trends, among others: 1. Increased marital distress, and risk of separation and divorce 2. Decreased marital intimacy and sexual satisfaction 3. Infidelity 4. Increased appetite for more graphic types of pornography and sexual activity associated with abusive, illegal or unsafe practices 5. Devaluation of monogamy, marriage and child rearing 6. An increasing number of people struggling with compulsive and addictive sexual behavior

In a survey of women (and some men) who experienced serious adverse consequences from their partner’s cybersex involvement: - In 68% of the couples, one or both lost interest in relational sex: 52% of showed a decreased interest, as did 34% of partners. - Partners commonly reported feeling hurt, betrayed, rejected, abandoned, lonely, isolated, humiliated, jealous, and angry. - Partners often compared themselves unfavorably to online images. - Partners overwhelmingly felt that cyber affairs were as emotionally painful as offline affairs.

Porn and Sexual Dysfunction

“I have also seen in my clinical experience that pornography damages the sexual performance of the viewers. Pornography viewers tend to have problems with premature ejaculation and erectile dysfunction. Having spent so much time in unnatural sexual experiences with paper, celluloid and cyberspace, they seem to find it difficult to have sex with a real human being. Pornography is raising their expectation and demand for types and amounts of sexual experiences; at the same time it is reducing their ability to experience sex.” – Dr. MaryAnne Layden

Porn and Sex Trafficking / Sexual Slavery

There are [an estimated] 12.3 million people in forced labor, bonded labor, forced child labor, and sexual servitude at any given time; other estimates range from 4 million to 27 million (Trafficking in Persons Report. Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, 2006).

Each year sexual traffickers lure, coerce, trick, drug, kidnap, and sell millions of vulnerable women and children into the multi-billion dollar sex trade. In their daily lives victims of sexual trafficking endure unspeakable acts of physical brutality, violence and degradation including rape by so-called customers and pimps; undergo forced abortions; acquire drug and alcohol dependencies; live in fear of their lives and in fear for the lives of their family and friends; suffer acute psychological reactions as a result of their extreme physical and emotional trauma; and contract sexually transmitted diseases which all too often bring life-long illness or hasten death. If they survive, the physical, psychological and spiritual impacts of these experiences on victims are devastating and enduring (Initiative Against Sexual Trafficking, Accessed October 31, 2007).

UNICEF reports that across the world, there are over one million children entering the sex trade every year and that approximately 30 million children have lost their childhood through sexual exploitation over the past 30 years (Commercial sexual exploitation position statement. UNICEF UK. 2004, January 28)

From fiscal year 2001 through fiscal year 2005, the Civil Rights Division and United States Attorney’s Offices filed 91 trafficking cases, a 405% increase over the number of trafficking cases filed from fiscal years 1996 through 2000. (U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division. 2006, February).

$19 Billion generated annually on the street from human trafficking (Christine Dolan, The Global Coalition to End Human Trafficking NOW).

Porn, Prostitution and Health Risks

Foremost among the health risks of prostitution is premature death… by far the most common causes of death were homicide, suicide, drug and alcohol related problems, HIV infection and accidents - in that order. (Canadian Medical Association Journal. 2004, July 24).

The Average Life Expectancy of a Porn Star is 36.2 years

Chlamydia and Gonorrhea among performers is 10x greater than that of LA County 20-24 year olds.

66% - 99% porn stars have Herpes, a non-curable diseases

Porn performers experience higher rates of infection (20%) than general public (2.4%)

Only 17% of performers use condoms in heterosexual adult films.

In 2004, only two of 200 adult film companies required the use of condoms.

Porn Performers and Abuse

“[Porn actresses] have high rates of substance abuse, typically alcohol and cocaine… [many] have to be drunk, high or dissociated in order to go to work.” – Dr. MaryAnne Layden

“ [Porn actresses] have high rates of… depression and borderline personality disorder.” – Dr. MaryAnne Layden

“The drugs we binged on were Ecstasy, Cocaine, Marijuana, Xanax, Valium, Vicodin and alcohol.” - Porn actress Erin Moore

“Guys are punching you in the face. You get ripped. Your insides can come out of you. It’s never ending. You’re viewed as an object — not as a human with a spirit. People do drugs because they can’t deal with the way they’re being treated.”  - Tanya Burleson, formerly known as Jersey Jaxin,

“( In pornography) our bodies are being stripped, exposed, and contorted for the purpose of ridicule to bolster that “masculine esteem” which gets its kick and sense of power from viewing females as anonymous, panting playthings, adult toys, dehumanized objects to be used, abused, broken and discarded.”  - Susan Brownmiller, 1975

“In one case, a man who said he had participated in over a hundred pornographic movies testified at the Commission hearings in Los Angeles as follows: “I, myself, have been on a couple of sets where the young ladies have been forced to do even anal sex scenes with a guy which [sic] is rather large and I have seen them crying in pain” (Diana Russel, ‘Pornography as a Cause of Rape’)

“Women and young girls were tortured and suffered permanent physical injuries to answer publisher demands for photographs depicting sadomasochistic abuse. When the torturer/photographer inquired of the publisher as to the types of depictions that would sell, the torturer/photographer was instructed to get similar existing publications and use the depictions therein for instruction. The torturer/photographer followed the publisher’s instructions, tortured women and girls accordingly, and then sold the photographs to the publisher. The photographs were included in magazines sold nationally in pornographic outlets”  (Diana Russel, ‘Pornography as a Cause of Rape’)

“This industry is full of people that hate - literally HATE women.” - Julie Meadows, former porn star

“I got the shit kicked out of me. I was told before the video - and they said this very proudly, mind you - that in this line most of the girls start crying because they’re hurting so bad … I couldn’t breathe. I was being hit and choked. I was really upset, and they didn’t stop. They kept filming. You can hear me say, ‘Turn the fucking camera off,’ and they kept going.” —Regan Starr, on the filming of “Rough Sex 2.”  Quoted in Martin Amis’ “A Rough Trade”

“Over the course of my porn career I have been belittled and treated like a piece of trash more than I could have ever imagined in a lifetime I would. I wasn’t a woman in any of these directors eyes, I was nothing to them. The male talent at times were nice, but sometimes, they were horrible. I’ve had men choke me, slap me, thrust me so hard until I couldn’t walk and this would happen even after I would tell them to stop. They have no respect for women.” - Erin Moore

“My first scene was one of the worst experiences of my life. It was very scary. It was a very rough scene. My agent didn’t let me know ahead of time… I did it and I was crying and they didn’t stop. It was really violent. He was hitting me.” - Sierra Sinn

“My pussy was so swollen, it was unbelievable. And the next day, I was obligated to work for Cherry Boxxx. And that f—ed me up even more. Working three scenes after having been so injured f—– me up. For a good six months, I wasn’t normal. My pussy wasn’t normal until a couple of months ago. It just sucks.“ - Eva Angelina

“I love the money, the glamor. I like being recognized. I like the attention. What I don’t like is not being able to shit right. You are constantly doing enemas and you’re fasting and you’re taking all these different pills, ex lax, and it screws up your internal system.” - Kami Andrews

“It was torture for seven years. I was miserable, I was lonely. I eventually turned to drugs and alcohol, and attempted suicide. I knew I wanted out, but I didn’t know how to get out.” - Jenna Presley

“ I experienced rough sex scenes and have been hit by male talent and told them to stop but they wouldn’t stop until I started to cry and ruined the scene. During one specific scene called “Bukkake” I was really high and the producers knew it and they told me to use a Douche to pretend I was urinating on another performer but I had an accident and instead I defecated on the performer. I was so humiliated and wanted to die. They told me it was okay and not to worry that they weren’t going to make a big deal about it and the next thing I know they blasted the scene all over the web. I felt totally degraded.“ - Michelle Avanti

“Well, I grew up in a small town in Ohio , and when I was 10 years old, I was raped by a high school boy that was about 16. And from there, my mother had an older boyfriend that molested me, so my entire childhood was really shaped by these really traumatic sexual experiences, which ultimately led me to the streets of Hollywood and to porn.” - Traci Lords

“After a year or so of that so-called “glamorous” life, I sadly discovered that drugs and drinking were a part of the lifestyle. I began to drink and party out of control! Cocaine, alcohol and ecstasy were my favorites. Before long, I turned into a person I did not want to be. After doing so many hardcore scenes I couldn’t do it anymore. I just remember being in horrible situations and experiencing extreme depression and being alone and sad.” - Andi Anderson

“I shot scenes where I had to pretend to be dead and let someone rape my dead body. I came home bruised and sometimes a little bloody from the rough scenes. I shot deep throat scenes where they slapped me and spit on me and called me horrible things. I threw up, and had to keep shooting.. I couldn’t breathe because of the vomit in my nose and the genitals in my mouth.” - Emily Eve

“Most girls get their first experience in gonzo films – in which they’re taken to a crappy studio apartment in Mission Hills and penetrated in every hole possible by some abusive asshole who thinks her name is Bitch. And these girls, some of whom have the potential to become major stars in the industry, go home afterward and pledge never to do it again because it was such a terrible experience.” - Jenna Jameson

”So what porn gave me was debt, diseases and people who think I’m a used up whore.“ - Anita Remby

“I like to hide — hide everything, you know?… And I’m not happy… I don’t like myself at all… My whole entire body feels it when I’m doing it and… I feel so — so gross.” - Belladonna

"When I arrived to the set I expected to do a vaginal girl boy scene. But during the scene with a male porn star, he forced himself anally into me and would not stop. I yelled at him to stop and screamed ‘No’ over and over but he would not stop. The pain became too much and I was in shock and my body went limp.” - Corina Taylor

“My initiation into prostitution was a gang rape by five men, arranged by Mr. Traynor. It was the turning point in my life. He threatened to shoot me with the pistol if I didn’t go through with it. I had never experienced anal sex before and it ripped me apart. They treated me like an inflatable plastic doll, picking me up and moving me here and there. They spread my legs this way and that, shoving their things at me and into me, they were playing musical chairs with parts of my body. I have never been so frightened and disgraced and humiliated in my life. I felt like garbage. I engaged in sex acts for pornography against my will to avoid being killed. The lives of my family were threatened.” - Linda Lovelace

“I honestly felt that if I had to have another strange man in my face, his hands (God knows where they’ve been all over me) him calling me his baby and having to exude some sort of forged passion for the world to see, I probably would have exploded. And what would have been stuck to the walls would have probably been nothing, just pieces of skin, bone, the brain of a robot, and what would have been left of what would have existed once as a huge and warm heart.“ - Ashlyn Brooke

“A female porn star that’d been in the industry for a while had excessive anal intercourse and a piece of her muscle from her anus fell out on set while she was filming. Some females damaged their reproductive systems which left them unable to have children. A male porn star broke the muscle in his penis because he was having abnormal and outrageous rough sex… Both male and female porn stars were committing suicide. A lot of the porn stars were known to go overseas and do bestiality in porn. (Sleeping with animals.) Shortly after that, a numerous amount of people starting turning up with diseases, Herpes to be exact. - Danielle Williams

“Donkey Punch was the most brutal, depressing, scary scene that I have ever done. I have tried to block it out from my memory due to the severe abuse I recieved during the filming. The guy, Steve French has a natural hatred towards women in the sense that he has always been known to be more brutal than EVER needed. I agreed to do the scene thinking it was less beating, except the ‘punch’ in the head. If you noticed, steve had worn his solid gold ring the entire time, and continued to punch me with it. I actually stopped the scene while it was being filmed because I was in too much pain."  - Alex Devine

"I went through more heartbreaks and became suicidal. I was taken to the hospital for panic attacks. I tried to overdose on xanax, strangle myself, and cut my wrists but not nearly deep enough. I was too scared of the pain. I prayed God would just take me away! I felt helpless.“ - Crissy Moran

"I tried porn a year-and-a-half ago for three weeks. They [my agent DK] booked me for everything I didn’t want to do. I was in the hospital three times. Allergic to lube. Being pounded too hard. My cervix closed up. My ass got torn up.“ - Tiana Lynn

"Being in the world of adult modeling I see A LOT of pain… A LOT of heart break. SO many lost girls get into this business just for some extra money… to help pay for school… to help support themselves or even their children as single moms. "It’s just temporary”. They are only going to do this for a while…just a few shoots. I too started out to make some extra money to help me finish school. Almost ALL of the time It doesn’t end where you think it will…..the path goes on… the hole gets deeper… and the road gets darker. MOST of the time the girls don’t even realize it. One day you see this bright beautiful girl shooting tame nudes… the next they are signing on the dotted line of a hard-core porn company. Lost. Broken. Alone.“ - Erica Campbell

”As I continued to make harder and grosser porn, I transformed from victim into abuser. In my professional life, I began to act out like a man and abuse women on camera. With a strapped on dildo, I did to women exactly what men had done to me. I even knew how to selfishly stroke myself like a man. All those years in prostitution watching male pigs paid off. The men in porn were even worse pigs, ejaculating themselves on any weak woman on any sacred place on her body. I acted out in revenge the very thing I hated: a male pig.“ - Foxy Roxy

"Like most porn performers I perpetuated this lie. One of my favorite things to say when asked if I liked doing a particular scene was, "I only do what I like! I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t like it!” (I would say this with a big fake smile and giggle.) What a total lie! I did what I had to do to get “work” in porn. I did what I knew would help me gain “fame” in the industry.“ - Alexa Cruz

"I did gonzo porn to start out and it was the most degrading, embarrassing, horrible thing ever! I had to shoot an interactive DVD which takes hours and hours of shooting time with a 104 degree fever! I was crying and wanted to leave but my agent wouldn’t let me he said he couldn’t let me flake on it. I also did a scene where I was put with male talent that was on my no list. I wanted to please them so I did it. He put his foot on my head and stepped on it while he was doing me from behind. I freaked out and started balling; they stopped filming and sent me home with reduced pay since they got some shot but not the whole scene.” - Jessi Summers

“My worst day was when I was forced to use a sponge to do a scene because it was already booked and my monthly came early I had never did anything like this. The sponge was pushed so far and got stuck that I had to be taken into the hospital because I had caught a infection and they had to open me up to remove the sponge. I wasn’t able to work for a few weeks and the agent stole two of my checks to replace the money he didn’t get from me leaving me broke and without food.” - Mahlia Milian

“I didn’t want to feel the pain of penetration from an over average sized man, being told to freeze in a position until the camera man was happy with his shots was very painful. I had peoples body fluids forced on my face or anywhere else the producer pleased and I had to accept it or else no pay. Sometimes you would get to a gig and the producer would change what the scene was supposed to be to something more intense and again if you didn’t like it, too bad, you did it or no pay.” - Elizabeth Rollings

“I had bodily fluids all over my face that had to stay on my face for ten minutes. The abuse and degradation was rough. I sweated and was in deep pain. On top of the horrifying experience, my whole body ached, and I was irritable the whole day. The director didn’t really care how I felt; he only wanted to finish the video.” - Genevieve

“My first movie I was treated very rough by 3 guys. They pounded on me, gagged me with their penises, and tossed me around like I was a ball! I was sore, hurting and could barely walk. My insides burned and hurt so badly. I could barely pee and to try to have a bowel movement was out of the question. I was hurting so bad from the physical abuse from these 3 male porn stars!” - Alexa Milano

“I was sexually abused the first time by my step grandfather on my dad’s side and the second time by my actual stepdad so my sexuality was messed up from the beginning. I created another personality that was in complete control and didn’t have those things happen and didn’t have to deal with the pain. The industry is not a real accomplishment.  It’s just a false sense of accomplishment.  It covers everything up for what it is.” - Stephanie Swift

“People in the porn industry are numb to real life and are like zombies walking around. The abuse that goes on in this industry is completely ridiculous. The way these young ladies are treated is totally sick and brainwashing. I left due to the trauma I experienced even though I was there only a short time.” - Jessie Jewels

“I hung out with a lot of people in the Adult industry, everybody from contract girls to gonzo actresses. Everybody has the same problems. Everybody is on drugs. It’s an empty lifestyle trying to fill up a void… I became horribly addicted to heroin and crack. I overdosed at least 3 times, had tricks pull knives on me, have been beaten half to death- the only reason I am still here is God.” - Becca Brat

Disturbing Quotes by Pornographers

“Amateurs come across better on screen. Our customers feel that. Especially by women you can see it. They still feel strong pain.”   – Carlo Scalisi, owner of 21 Sexury Video

"Where else but in porn can you see a guy who just met a girl that day crack her around, choke her out.” - Brandon Iron

“I’m not here to apologize. I’m just here to say, 'We make entertainment and let’s see how far we can take it.’” - Max Hardcore

“Degradation drives the business. … There are things going on right now that are way over the line.” - Khan Tusion

“Even the mildest pornography is shocking to the average person. I’m surprised it’s legal.” - Paul Thomas

“The girls get torn up like usual.” - Vince Vouyer

“I find myself not that much unlike the slaves and slave traders of some 400 years ago. I participate in the most heinous of ALL trades- THE BUYING AND SELLING OF HUMAN FLESH. I trade my own flesh for monetary compensation and I sell the flesh of others for the same.” - Lexington Steele

“I was the first to shoot Rocco. Together we evolved toward rougher stuff. He started to spit on girls. A strong male-dominant thing, with women being pushed to their limit. It looks like violence but it’s not. I mean, pleasure and pain are the same thing, right?” - John Stagliano

“I can like a rape scene if I really like the girl and it’s done well…I’m all about the sex and pretty girls and appreciating them.” —Pornographer John Stagliano, quoted in Robert Jensen’s Getting Off

“It’s like a dog marking its territory. You know, why do dogs pee on fire hydrants and trees? I don’t know. It’s just like a man will leave his mark on a woman. You see something beautiful, you’ve got to let them know you were there.” –Pornographer Brandon Iron, explaining why men like to ejaculate onto women’s faces

“Essentially, it comes from every man who’s unhappily married, and he looks at his wife who just nagged at him about this or that or whatnot, and he says, “I’d like to fuck you in the ass.” He’s angry at her, right? And he can’t, so he would rather watch some girl taking it up the ass and fantasize at that point he’s doing whatever girl happened to be mean to him that particular day, and that is the attraction, because when people watch anal, nobody wants to watch a girl enjoying anal” —Paul Hesky of Multimedia Pictures, as quoted by Robert Jensen in Getting Off.

“I’d like to really show what I believe the men want to see: violence against women. I firmly believe that we serve a purpose by showing that. The most violent we can get is the cum shot in the face. Men get off behind that, because they get even with the women they can’t have. We try to inundate the world with orgasms in the face.” – Ex-porn actor and Free Speech Coalition board member Bill Margold, quoted by Stoller and Levine. 

“My whole reason for being in this Industry is to satisfy the desire of the men in the world who basically don’t much care for women and want to see the men in my Industry getting even with the women they couldn’t have when they were growing up. I strongly believe this… so we come on a woman’s face or somewhat brutalize her sexually: we’re getting even for their lost dreams. I believe this. I’ve heard audiences cheer me when I do something foul on screen. When I’ve strangled a person or sodomized a person, or brutalized a person, the audience is cheering my action, and then when I’ve fulfilled my warped desire, the audience applauds.” - Bill Margold, porn industry veteran and Free Speech Coalition board member.

“When I shot that trailer for Thanksgiving, I really thought there was no problem with anything - it just shows you how genuinely out of touch I am! I was like…a full frontal labial shot, to camera, of a girl landing on a knife seemed like no problem to me. It’s an exploitation movie. It’s my job to exploit. If I don’t exploit this girl, I have failed as a director.” -From an interview with Eli Roth found on filmjerk.com

“Every whore gets the swirlies treatment. Fuck her, then flush her.” —Promotional copy for Swirlies, a series where women’s heads are put into toilets and flushed, by JM Productions

“There’s nothing I love more than when a girl insists to me that she won’t take a cock in her ass, because — oh yes she will!“ -Max Hardcore, interviewed in Hustler (June 1995).

“Women are here to serve men. Look at them, they got to squat to piss. Hell, that proves it.” — Larry Flynt, Hustler’s publisher, quoted on The Anti-porn Resource Center

“T.T. reflects exactly what that sort of porno is about where you screw the hell out of the woman and come all over her face. He throws girls around. He pile-drives till they protest…He’s just aggression.” In an interview in the April 1995 issue of Hustler Erotic Video Guide, T.T. Boy had this to say: “I was a shy little kid when I started, and now I’m just a guy who wants to fuck the shit out of all these girls. Just fuck ‘em to death.” — Bud Swope and T. T. Boy, quoted in Susan Faludi’s ‘Stiffed’.

“There are those who say illogic is the native tongue of anything with tits…(women) speak not from the heart but from the gash, and chances are that at least once a month your chick will stop you dead in your tracks with a masterpiece of cunt rhetoric…the one surefire way to stop those feminine lips from driving you crazy is to put something between them — like your cock, for instance.” — Hustler Magazine, quoted on The Anti-porn Resource Center (oneangrygirl.net/antiporn.html).

"We do a series called ‘Cocktails’ — it’s pretty repugnant. Girls have sex by a couple guys, and the guys and the girl, they have sex with her, and she’s giving fellatio and she’s hacking up boogies in a bowl. And they’re spitting in the bowl. And then she’ll think she’s vomiting in the bowl, and at the end they come in the bowl. And then she drinks it all down. That’s pretty repugnant. (Laughs) Sometimes we do a fellatio line, where the girl’s giving fellatio, and she’s gagging so much she vomits. … It’s repugnant. It is, Yes. We’ve got tons of stuff they technically could arrest us for. And when this happened, I put on our website — I made a big speech: ‘I welcome the LAPD to come on down.’ I said, ‘Come and get me,’ I said, “Because we won’t go down without a fight. We will fight this. Regardless of the cost, we will fight it. We will take it to the airwaves.” —Rob Black, Extreme Associates (Source: pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/porn/interviews/black.html).

“Women were born with three holes for one purpose: To cram a cock deep inside every cuddly cavity! Like true cock sockets, our whores subject their beautiful bodies to the nastiest 4-way debauchery ever lensed. We capture five starry-eyed sluts getting wild and testing the limits of carnal cock-consumption. They redefine raunchy and stretch the limits of ass, mouth, and pussy penetration.” — Promotional copy for Zero Tolerance - No Holes Barred.

"Max fucks chicks he finds the way you like to — getting cute cunts on his couch. Using their tight holes to pleasure his stiff cock. Max turns ordinary teens and mother’s [sic] alike into piss and cum-splattered sluts before your eyes… Max wastes no time, gagging girls on his cock and pissing down their throats before he even learns their email addresses! Max is the originator of rectal-boring action — gaping assholes, and fisting cunts… Max also uses speculums to pry-open their fuck-holes so you can look deep inside. He’ll spray his cum and piss into the gaping tunnels, even making them drink it out of their ass! Whether its [sic] naïve teen or classy broad, Max delivers the same ruthless treatment.” — Excerpt of “Max Hardcore Biography”, Max Hardcore official website (Source: maxhardcore.com/whoismax/index.htm).

Porn Search Trends

A Google search for ‘bestiality’ generated 2.7 million returns.

A Google Trends analysis indicates that searches for “Teen Porn” have more than tripled between 2005-2013.

35 of the top searched sexual interests account for 90% of all erotic searches—meaning that people’s search curiosities “are clustered together into a relatively small set of common interests.”

Videos & Documentaries (Graphic TW Reminder)

Shelley Lubben: Porn as a driver for prostitution and sex trafficking

Porn Actress Exposes Industry: Trafficking in the Porn Industry

Cindy Gallop: Make love, not porn [adult content]

“They call it fantasy,“ - Andrea Dworkin

Dr. Gail Dines: porn culture and rape culture’s intersecting roles in patriarchy

Ran Gavrieli: Why I Stopped Watching Porn [ a man’s perspective ]

Dr. Gail Dine’s lectures on pornography on youtube (1, 2, 3, 4)

Debate: Porn Wars (Does Porn Have A Place in Modern Society?) featuring anti-porn activists and former sex workers

“Demand” - by anti-sex trafficking organization Shared Hope International (18+)

“Harcdcore” - by director Stephen Walker (18+)

“Porn Shutdown” - This high impact and extremely informative documentary addresses the 2004 HIV outbreak in the pornography industry. (18+)

“Diary of a Porn Virgin” - This disturbing documentary follows the journey of two women through their start in the British pornography industry. (18+)

“Death of a Porn Star” - The tragic story of porn star Lolo Ferrari. (18+)

“Does Snuff Exist?” - This very graphic documentary examines the phenomenon of snuff films. (18+)

“Me and My Slaves” - This film follows the journey of a man who has practiced sadomasochism for many years who is choosing to stop. (18+)

“The Price of Pleasure: Pornography, Sexualities, and Relationships.”This is the best current documentary on pornography (according to antipornography.org) (18+)

Hardcore Profits Pt 1 (18+)

Hardcore Profits Pt 1 at Wisevid (18+)

Hardcore Profits Pt 2 (18+)

American Porn (18+)

“Sex: The Annabel Chong Story” (Pt 1) (18+)

“Sex: The Annabel Chong Story” (Pt 2) (18+)

“Adult Entertainment: Disrobing An American Idol”

SNUFF: A Documentary About Killing on Camera (18+)

The Perfect Vagina - A documentary about how women are getting their labias altered with surgery to more resemble the “ideal” labia that men have been trained to desire by pornography.

Nefarious: Merchant of Souls (2011)

Hot Girls Wanted (2015) 

Articles

Pornography As a Cause of Rape (Book excerpt from Against Pornography:The Evidence of Harm) - Diana Russel

Exposure to Pornography As a Cause of Child Sexual Victimization - Diana Russel

What is Ethical Porn? What Does it Achieve?

Yale Journal of Law and Feminism: Prostitution, Trafficking, and Cultural Amnesia (2006) written by Melissa Farley

Jenna Jameson’s 25 Good Reasons No One Would Ever Want to Become a Porn Star

Sources & Resources

Stop Porn Culture: Facts and Figures

Your Brain on Porn: Focusing on Addiction and Erectile Dysfunction caused by Porn

Porn Harms | Research

The Pink Cross

Live Internet Porn Statistics

Pornland: How Porn Has Hijacked Our Sexuality

Diana Russel: Porn as a Cause of Rape

http://gaildines.com

http://shelleylubben.com

http://thepinkcross.org

http://dianarussel.com

http://antipornfeminists.wordpress.com

http://antipornography.org & 101 ways you can help

http://stoppornculture.org

http://www.oneangrygirl.net/antiporn.html

http://p0kemina.tumblr.com/search/anti-porn

Grimoire - Magical Things

Witch's Tools: 2022 Witch's Calendar Moons, Holidays, and Retrogrades 2022 Tools The True Value of Tools in Magic (It’s Not What You See Online) Setting Up An Altar Space Altar Building 101 Grimoire Resources A Witch’s Ingredients: Charcoal Amulets vs. Talismans Charms, Amulets & Talismans Dressing Candles Bind Runes A witchy use for notebooks Why you should lock your mirrors and how to do it Bells in Witchcraft Witch’s Ladder Cleansing Crystals Methods A Witch’s Book Types of Books Witches Use Witchy “Planner” The Mortar and Pestle Witch Tip: Mortar and Pestle Cauldron Tips & Tricks Easy Pentagram Chart Anointing candles Magical Correspondences - Days of the Week "How I make spellcandles"

From the Kitchen: Egg Magic Eggshells + Witchcraft Black Salt witch's banishing salt bowl Moon Salt Sun Salts Rose Salt Protection/Warding Black Salt Salt Bowls to Absorb Negative Energy Magical Powders fire salt Salts Luck & Money Powder The Importance of Salt in Witchcraft “Welcome Home” Simmer Pot

Foods, Herbs, and Plants: Witch Tips: Lavender Stinging Nettle The magic of roses herbal preparation types Herbal Glossary Types of herbal remedies From infusions and tinctures to oils and salves Drying and harvesting herbs Orange/Tangerine green magick for the home How to correspondence: food & herbs Easy Negative Energy Absorption Using Herbs in Witchcraft Chinese folk magic: PEACHES

Magical Waters: Water Masterpost Moon water correspondences Magical Waters & Recipes Infused Water Magic Solar Juice Witchcraft Sun water Uses For Moon Water How to make your own rose water War Water Cleansing Water Spell Using a glass of water for Manifestation

From the Outdoors: Graveyard Dirt uses Earth Magic

Other Magical Things: Spirit Dolls - Dolls and Witchcraft Negativity Absorbing Buddy House Guardian Magickal Uses for Kisses The DOs and DON'Ts: Essential Oils Comfort Items + Witchcraft An Enchantment for a Comfort Item Music in Witchcraft Using Music In Witchcraft “ With spells in her hair...” The art of using books as a conduit for magic Wind Stones Stuffed Animals in Magic Guide to Poppets Seven ways to bless a poppet Cross Protection Amulet

Stuff for Spells and Magical Purposes: Spiritual Crafts How to Enchant Items How to Enchant Items Enchanted Items "how i enchant items" How to Charge Objects What is Charging and techniques Burnable Spellboxes Spell Envelopes Taglocks Get the Fuck Out Room Spray Enchanting things with touch A charm to enchant your waters, candles, incenses, temporary tools, etc etc. Destruction of an image = destruction of the thing itself. Ways to contain unwanted magical objects

i want mooncore to be a thing

we could be called like moon children or stars or smth

always sleepy

loves space

sunkissed? more like moonkissed

i want to hug the moon n o w

night person

stargazing dates>>

probably ghostcore too

rocks/marbles/round things that look like the moon(moonlets???) are my life

moon reflecting on water is pwetty uwu

ur probably a bottom

sitting in ur bedroom looking out at the moon at midnight is the best feeling

artemis? more like the one true god

messy buns

long t shirts as pjs

dancing by urself lit bit moonlight and maybe a small lamp

youre also prob feminine but not required we love our masc siblings

buzzfeed unsolved

dark rooms

THUNDERSTORMS

greek mythology

if u were in band u prob played a stereotypically “pretty” instrument

idk how to do this i just love the moon and space and want mooncore to be a thing so pls dont let it flop??

add on pls :)

12h synastry

Grimoire - Divination

Divination In General: Divination Masterpost Centering yourself and connecting to your divination tools Four Signs of Exploitation for Diviners Recharging Post-Divination Divination Drinks: Teas to Aid in Divining An exercise to help with falling & being blank All Out Divining Internet Cold Reading and How to Avoid It Divination Tips for Beginners What Makes a Reading Good? Spiritual safety guidelines for a reading space Polishing Up a Reading How To: Give Better Readings (aka, Get Ready to Go Pro) why are some divination questions more difficult to interpret? why does divination make you tired? How divining the future can get you into hot water

Tarot/Oracle Reading: A Brief History of Tarot Newbie Tarot Mistakes Buying Your First Tarot Deck How to Break In a New Tarot Deck Questions for Tarot Reading Ways to bond with your tarot deck Bonding With a Tarot Deck How to Reconnect With Your Tarot Deck Tarot Journal Ideas Tarot 101: Welcome to Tarot Tarot 101: Bonding with your deck Tarot 101: Charging Your Cards Tarot 101: Choosing a Deck Tarot 101: Bonding with Your Deck(s) Tarot Myths Tarot Myths Oracle Reading Tips very quick tarot tips! Connect with Your Tarot Deck Tarot Tips - Confidence A Detailed Guide to Cleansing Your Tarot Deck Cleansing tarot cards Tarot and Oracle Deck Clearing Tips Things Not to Do in a Tarot Reading Never Assign a Yes or No Value to Tarot Cards... Ever Things to Consider in a Tarot Reading (Other Than Card Meanings) When Tarot Cards Don't Make Sense Tips for Reading Reversed Tarot Cards Interpreting Reversed Cards Methods for Reading Tarot Losing Interest in Tarot? Timings in Tarot Did you know you don't have to use the entire tarot deck for every reading? Tarot Superstitions You Can Totally Ignore Tarot/Divination Tips How to Get the Most Out of Your Tarot Reading Tarot Tip: Timing Events "Here's things I learned doing tarot over time that I want y'all to know"

Pendulums: Pendulums 101 Pendulum 101 Ways to start with a Pendulum

Runes: An introduction to runes Rune reading made easy Elder Futhark Pages Masterpost Compiled List of Elder Futhark Runes and Their Meanings The Runic Cross

Scrying: Scrying: What is it? Crystal Gazing Scrying [Witchcraft 101] scrying tips Candle Wax Scrying How-To Wax Scrying for Beginners Scrying the Senses: An Exercise How to Smoke Scry The Basics of Water Scrying Fire Scrying Basics Ink Scrying

Other Divination Methods: How to shufflemancy How To Do Shufflemancy Astrology Dice Tasseomancy Charmcasting 101 Reading A Candle Reading the Candle Flames Psychometry Pyromancy 101