Can a song be pornographic?

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Can a song be pornographic? When? How explicit would the song have to be?
 
Sure it could be. To be a “near occasion of sin,” the lyrics would only have to be what is termed “suggestive.” To fill the legal definition of pornography in the US, the lyrics would have to be lewd, in conflict with “prevailing community standards of decency,” and “without artistic or redeeming social merit.” The latter two standards have been the subject of numerous Supreme Court cases through the years in the US to fail the “protected free speech” test, and the court has usually leaned toward letting a lot slide that most decent people of any faith, let alone Catholics and other Christians, would find morally offensive.

But one does not need to be a cleric, a theologian, or even a secular judge to know what is pornographic. Trash is trash, and most people with any kind of moral sensibility recognize it as such.
 
Absolutely it can be. Songs that objectify women and the sexual act can be seen that way. It seems that our “freedom of speech” has evolved to allow for such sexually explict song lyrics that even a NC-17 movie would not make use of.
 
Good question. Short answer------yes. Absolutely.

Great example: “Closer” by Nine Inch Nails.
Sample Lyrics: “I wanna F— you like an Animal.”
Definitely pornographic. Among other things.

Hope that helps.
 
How is that pornographic though? It’s definitely lewd, but pornographic? I’ve never been sexually aroused by any song, no matter how lewd the lyrics were.
 
kbwall said:
How is that pornographic though? It’s definitely lewd, but pornographic? I’ve never been sexually aroused by any song, no matter how lewd the lyrics were.
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You don’t have to aroused in order for it to be pornographic.
 
There’s three songs on the radio that I would definitely consider “suggestive” -but I still don’t know for sure if they’re pornographic. It’s hard because the station, 106.1 (listened to by mostly younger people, like me), obviously wouldn’t play pornographic songs -right?

I have done my best to switch stations when those three songs come on, but sometimes, when I’m a passenger in a car surrounded by peers/people/etc. I find it hard to ask to switch the songs. I blame it on pee pressure 😊 . Especially since once I told a person they could listen to whichever station they wanted. Immediately after I said that, one of those songs came on.

I don’t even know the names of these thee songs… but maybe someone will recognize these:

  1. *]“Oh Na Na” (?) By Rihanna
    *]“I know you want me” (I don’t know who made it)
    *]And another… but don’t know the name or artist (maybe T. Pain? I doubt it, as I don’t know what kind of songs he makes…)

    Yea, that’s a vague list, but hopefully someone knows what I’m talking about…
    I try not to listen to 106.1 now, as I’m afraid these songs will come on. I don’t think they’re pornographic because they’re not describing any explicit acts (but in the last two, they do describe what they wanna do -disgusting, isn’t it?) but still. I think they can be an occasion of sin for people. But I immediately start praying to God if I hear these songs but don’t have the nerve to ask it to be changed. Usually, it takes my mind off of the song.
 
kbwall said:
How not? I mean, for the intents of sin, I thought the sexual arousal was the definition of porn.
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Almost. Pornography, by definition, exists for the sole purpose of sexual arousal. Whether you as an individual actually become aroused doesn’t change the objective truth of the originator’s intent.

Sexual arousal in of itself is not a sin. You can be sleeping and become sexually aroused. No sin there.

Viewing pornography is sinful even if you do not get aroused because you are intentionally placing yourself in the occasion of sin. You are also giving consent to the disordered actions of those whom you are viewing. Same would be for listening to music that promotes pornographic thought or interest. Putting yourself intentionally in the occasion of sin is sinful.
 
prstoessel said:
Almost. Pornography, by definition, exists for the sole purpose of sexual arousal. Whether you as an individual actually become aroused doesn’t change the objective truth of the originator’s intent.

Sexual arousal in of itself is not a sin. You can be sleeping and become sexually aroused. No sin there.

Viewing pornography is sinful even if you do not get aroused because you are intentionally placing yourself in the occasion of sin. You are also giving consent to the disordered actions of those whom you are viewing. Same would be for listening to music that promotes pornographic thought or interest. Putting yourself intentionally in the occasion of sin is sinful.
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I thought you had to know something was most likely going to lead you into sin for it to be an occasion of sin. Like, looking at dogs may cause someone to have impure thoughts (I don’t know, just an example), but to most people a dog is a domestic animal. It would be an occasion of sin for the former, wouldn’t it?
 
wworld said:
I thought you had to know something was most likely going to lead you into sin for it to be an occasion of sin. Like, looking at dogs may cause someone to have impure thoughts (I don’t know, just an example), but to most people a dog is a domestic animal. It would be an occasion of sin for the former, wouldn’t it?
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Dogs are not an intrinsic evil. Pornography is. It is wrong all of the time. Even if one is unwittingly exposed to it or ignorant of what they are seeing. It is evil. They are in the occasion of sin.

For it to be sinful, it must be done with full knowledge and consent. Intentionally viewing pornography, even if no lust occured, is still sinful because the individual intentionally put himself in the circumstance where he can easily sin.
 
But what if the music’s purpose is not sexual arousal? Or am I just an unusual specimen that I never get sexually aroused by music?
 
I don’t know what you mean by “pornographic” but if you mean “lewd” or “indecent”, a great deal of popular music falls into those categories and we should avoid listening to this sort of music (as well as indecent movies, TV shows, books, magazines, etc.).

Would you sit down and share this song with your grandmother? With your priest? With the Blessed Virgin? With Jesus?

Think twice.
 
prstoessel said:
Then it’s not pornographic.
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how can you differentiate between pornographic and suggestive or lewd music?

And for the person asking if I would sing that song to someone else, of course I wouldn’t! I don’t know for sure if it’s pornographic or not, but I dont even like that music -it’s disgusting.
 
wworld said:
how can you differentiate between pornographic and suggestive or lewd music?

And for the person asking if I would sing that song to someone else, of course I wouldn’t! I don’t know for sure if it’s pornographic or not, but I dont even like that music -it’s disgusting.
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Well, I would argue that suggestive and lewd should also be avoided. But it doesn’t take much to figure out what the song’s intent is in most cases. If you’re not sure, then just move along.
 
What if you walk into someone else’s car and don’t have the nerve to ask to change the offending song if it’s already on?
 
wworld said:
What if you walk into someone else’s car and don’t have the nerve to ask to change the offending song if it’s already on?
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I don’t have a problem asking someone to turn it off, but if I am forced to listen to it due to circumstances beyond my control, it is what it is.
 
prstoessel said:
I don’t have a problem asking someone to turn it off, but if I am forced to listen to it due to circumstances beyond my control, it is what it is.
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But what if I didn’t ask? I didn’t want to listen to it (and kept asking for God’s help for the entire length). I knew songs could be an occasion of sin (but they’re not for me), but I didn’t know they could be pornographic. I’d still like to know about the situation though.

What about that?
 
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