Well I think it's stupid. I agree it's treating them as children. Ridiculous.

I think stopping our soldiers from masturbating is just the thing the army needs to win the war on terror.

it's like somebody just doesn't have enough to do during the day.

I think they're adult enough to choose their own reading material.

just let them watch girls next door, it's close enough to the real thing...

And both the Girls Next Door and Penthouse are made of almost all recyclable material. So it's green as well!

More and more, I am wondering what are the real issues in the government, do they sit in a room and discuss the porn industry and moral of our soldiers, does someone write up a lengthy bill and the discuss the ins and outs of the merits of porn; so much to consider.

Does Playboy really count as pornography? It seems so tame compared to other stuff out there. And I count myself among the many people who actually read their articles every month!

Okay, this just crosses into the "WTF???" category. I'm not all about Playboy/Penthouse but hey, it's their choice if they want to read it and if they're 8,000 miles away from their partner, well, let em do what they need to do to stave off the loneliness.

After all, they're fighting for our right to relieve ourselves to the highest grade pornography ever created! Shouldn't our soldiers also quench their ragged thirsts from that same fountain of hot, spewing freedom?

Well if you're going to censor Americans the military is the place to do it. I for one think it's a little harsh and I doubt that Playboy/Playgirl is an influence in outrageous sexual aggression. There is some pretty smutty and degrading pornographic material out there though.

This is certainly open for debate depending on ones beliefs but I think Playboy/Playgirl is as tasteful as they come and if the military want's to limit it to certain publications I think that would be fine.

We can only imagine the mental/emotional stresses that these young men and women are going through and I'm all for them having a little healthy adult fantasy if it makes the time go by easier

This is ridiculous.

The idea that pornography creates sexual violence has always been odd to me, as well. Most everyone agrees that the majority of sexual crimes are about power, not sex.

Just my thoughts.

Also, like 2M stated, Playboy actually does have good articles! In mass communication class we learned how Hugh Hefner was actually a revolutionary in the field of journalism because he was the first to use the question and answer format.

This is just jaw-droppingly stupid.
Does Congress have nothing better to do with its time?

"it's their choice if they want to read it and if they're 8,000 miles away from their partner, well, let em do what they need to do to stave off the loneliness."

Actually, technically when deployed they are not allowed to have any kind of pornography, ie magazines, movies, etc... its considered contraband and is confiscated.

Not because of us, but because of Iraq being a Muslim country.

is girls next door on dvd uncensored? I was just wondering that the other day. i mean, it's for sale in places like target, where anyone can buy it.

Should they be held to higher standards? Eh... I dunno. I'm under the impression that if they want it, they'll find it, so if you ban the sale of it on a base, does it REALLY matter?

kris - yes they are uncensored, but no like sex or anything, just T&A!

You should send them all cup cakes cabaker. I think a little sugar from you will make up for all the lost eye candy.

hypno cupcakes, while i have undying love for them, don't mail well... so i tend to lean on biscotti and macaroons!

Oh the deployment porn ban goes for Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Afghanistan... etc

My husband is in Iraq, and I know porn is one of the things that we're not allowed to send over there, along with alcohol and pork products... not that they don't have porn... goodness' sakes, they have internet access. It's like porn heaven, isn't it? Banning the magazines won't get rid of porn, but it probably will hurt sales.

Wow, this is really ridiculous. Also how has the sale of pornography escalated violent sexual acts?? I would think it would have had the opposite effect. How do you even prove such a thing?!

Let my man buy what he wants to!

I think if the ban was for a better reason, I would not care, but this is just silly.

Can we try some separation of church and state please?

And yes, these soldiers are adults. There is nothing wrong with being an adult who enjoys porn as long as it is not an unhealthy addiction. And let's face it - they're miles away from significant others...what else are they supposed to do? Start sleeping with each other to release sexual frustration? I mean, they ARE human, for crying out loud.

Censored sex...but not violence

SweetPea - I hear ya! I'm still shocked these magazines are even in business anymore! The Internet was practically made just for the purpose of porn... why would anyone buy it anymore?

That in and of itself proves they are reading the articles!

NYF, I don't agree with this argument (just wanted to provide the disclaimer there), but one of the major arguments as to how pornography escalates violent sexual acts in society as a whole (not in individuals) is that pornography causes/greatly contributes to the objectification of women. If women are seen as objects rather than human beings, it's easier for men to justify committing violent acts against them. It seems a little far-fetched to me, but I had to read up a lot about in college because I was a women's studies minor. There's actually a lot of interesting literature out there on the link between violence against women and pornography. However, as someone who's read and analyzed a lot of this literature, I still am not convinced of causation.

I think that if they want Play or any other magazine, they should be allowed to buy it. They are fighting for our freedoms, so why shouldn't they be allowed to buy a magazine?!? When my husband was in Iraq, he could have porn, alcohol or pork products like SweetPeasMom said, so I sent him a book of the Penthouse 'stories'. He got to use his imagination. I think this is absolutely ridiculous though.

Blair good idea! I never thought of that! haha!

*Playboy and *he couldn't have...forgot to edit

Yea he seemed to enjoy it

lilkimbo- thanks for that explanation! I've also heard that argument used for society as a whole (went to an all women's college...). Anyway, although I agree that porn does objectify women and am not an advocate at all for it (although I am not completely convinced by the argument of the above-said link either), I do wonder when our society has already accepted it as a cultural norm, how it would escalate the sexual violence by soldiers against others? I assume soliders who look at this stuff while on duty, have already been exposed to it growing up and/or back home. Why would looking at porn (while serving in the military) further escalate these "violent sexual acts" (assuming it didn't do that at home)?

Anyway, not sure if I'm being clear, but it's just an arugment I dont understand!!

I'm with you, NYF. It doesn't seem like the greatest argument to me, either. Even if you could show a correlation between the two (looking at pornography and sexual violence), I think it would be difficult, if not impossible, to show which one causes the other.

NYF, I understand what you're saying.

I sort of see the connection from porn to causing violent acts. I mean I'm sure it has in certain cases, but those are only the cases that it HAS caused violence. There's no way to quantify all of the porn that is viewed and does NOT cause a violent act. If you look at violent sexual acts, typically the offender was someone who was already at least a little twisted or demented. porn just fueled their already messed up motivations.

This is just another way for our current administration to try to force their moral beliefs on the rest of us. If you don't think they way they do then you are somehow unpatriotic. Let the troops read what they want!

The last time I checked, Paul Broun wasn't a part of the Bush administration.

Its still Bush's fault lilkim!

just get with it!

How could I forget that anything bad that ever happens is Bush's fault? What is wrong with me?!?

How would one even be able to prove that it does those things? Has there been substantial, conclusive studies?

i dunno lilkim, i best not hear that from you again!

It's not just about the soldiers in the Middle East. They're talking about banning the sale of Playboy on ALL military bases. It's ridiculous. As if I didn't have to put with enough when I was in, with curfews and restrictions on drinking (even when I WAS of age), now I can't read what I want to? I'm in complete agreement with the soldiers. I thought it wasn't possible for them to treat us more like children, but it seems I was grossly mistaken.

I'm sure Bush has a closet full of Playgirls..I mean Playboys.

Love the new avatar, hypnotic.

I think it is profoundly sad that they want to limit the freedoms of people who are fighting for our freedoms.

I don't understand the justification for preventing these adults from having something that is available to all other adult citizens. It is shocking how cavalier they are about stripping rights from people.

the problem is, you can't even study the ill effects any better than you can study the positive. how often do you hear about a rape or violent crime being blamed on porn? often the perpetrator might have some porn around, but how does that correlate to the number of people in the general population who view it, own it, etc? I can see how they might interview sexual predators who have been caught and ask them about their porn usage. Still, there isn't a scientist with a clipboard around every time a teenage boy gets the dirty magazines out from under his bed. I think most guys can probably put it in perspective to a normal life after they look at it.

Hahaha I agree KrisSugar!

I think that porn does create certain (abnormal) expectations in young teenage boys' minds as to what to expect from sex (and I've learned this through both my own and my friends' experiences) however to think it causes a direct link to rape/sexual assualt...I dont know. I'm not convinced (as lilkimbo said). Furthermore as the boys aquire a bit more experience their expectations are "lowered" a bit It's more than just porn. I've always wondered what drives a man (or woman) to rape or sexually molest another being. How messed up does a person have to be?

I also think it's interesting that alot of the porn that comes out of Japan (a country that many consider to be "sexually repressed") has an obscenely large amount of porn displaying acts of rape.

I can't get past the fact that they don't think Penthouse is porn...

I don't think I've ever seen Penthouse, does it not have pictures? As far as objectifiying women I think magazines like Maxim are far worse at that than Playboy is.