is it just wanking? If so, why are people talking about it

Edit - turns out that yes, it is just wanking lol

Edit Edit - honestly, I find it strange that so many of these things have special words. ‘edging’ , ‘creampie’ , and now ‘gooning’. These are all very mundane activities, lads

  • heresiarch [she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
    4·
    13 hours ago

    I actually think a lot of this stuff is best thought of through the lens of moral panic, in that the subject matter is almost arbitrary because it’s being used as a vehicle to express a deep-set anxiety about society. Another helpful connection here is how “sissy hypno” porn has been latched onto by anti-trans fascists as a demonstration of how the internet is “corrupting” children or whatever.

    I’m sure right-wing spaces have had their own weird debates about it, but when I see people panicking about gooning in leftist spaces, I assume it comes from a sense of unease about the easy accessibility of pornography and how it might affect us. I have a much longer rant about how I think that is picking the wrong target to critique, but I should probably stop posting about gooning lol

    • insurgentrat [she/her, it/its]@hexbear.netEnglish
      2·
      12 hours ago

      The journalist cum (heh) podcaster Michael Hobbs did a bunch of reporting and investigation into moral panics. He reckons one of the key aspects to identify is what you don’t need evidence to believe.

      E.g. lots of people “just know” phones are bad in the same way people a few hundred years ago “just knew” women reading books was bad. I think a lot of concern about pornography and masturbation is still tainted by religious moralism as actual evidence of harm is extremely sparse.

      People look at trends in society they don’t like and attribute them to social values they don’t like. Actual investigation is often jawdroppingly difficult, and we should avoid sweeping generalisation or confusing cause and effect.

      Like if it’s true that idk kids do use phone too much and it’s bad, is it phone that means kids use phone too much? Or would kids be doing some other thing that is maybe even worse (again if it is true that phone is bad) because of structural changes in society and culture.