Married much?

" I simply cannot fathom why people would want to watch much of this stuff when all it tends to do is for person to seek out ever more stimulating material."

Your experience with it is far from universal.

But then again, you're borrowing from the "gateway drug" theory, which also isn't entirely true.

There are some people who, upon experiencing a superstimuli will go with the "moar ( of anything ) is better" impulse, and gravitate towards stronger stuff in all directions undiscriminatingly. In researching drug use ( no actual field work was done ) I found that a small number will use stimulants, depressants, psychotropics, ANYTHING. But most actually seek out a particular experience, and while some chose to go towards more intense options within the category of their choosing, others stick with one thing.

Of course pop-culture is wiser here than the scare-mongers, and knows that pot leads to pot-heads more than it leads to death by Heroin overdose.

Now as Pronz isn't a chemical, it is somewhat different. But really, I can't make you get hot 'n' bothered by the Dieux Du Stade calendar boys no matter how I try if'n you aren't into that. ( Or feet fetishes, or Pregnancy Pronz or.... )

We like what we like. The internet simply allows folk who like stuff you consider extreme to find out that they do. But really, its not new. Daugerreotypes, and before that there was, "come up and see my etchings."

I'm not sure why some seek out becoming "jaded" by pursuing stuff they've been persuaded is "extreme" when it is untrue to their own kinks; but hey I'm also not sure why some folks thought that they couldn't be great novelists without a drinking habit or great Jazz musicians without shooting smack.

Perhaps there will always be folks throwing themselves recklessly after an image, rather than stopping when they find their bliss. But most of us don't look at what doesn't turn us on. ( Though again, your testimony about disgust suggests that you spent more time on turn-offs than I ever have. )

"Viewing is after all a substitute for having actual relationships for most."

Untrue. But then again, I suspect you haven't been married, or studied the demographic of who "reads" Playboy. Back in my day, whippersnapper, it was understood that most Dads had a stash of "Men's Lifestyle Magazines" ( which they read for the cocktail recipes * ahem * )

The strange thing about actual relationships, even when you're gettin' some, it doesn't prevent you from looking, appreciating and fantasizing. I would argue that relationships actually increase the appetite for Pronz by providing a recent sense-memory to associate with the visuals. But that's just my experience as a guy who was married for a decade.

Dante