Violence Depicted in Role Play

Jaimie asked: "What do you make of violent role-play pornography and erotica where the participants are not actually being harmed but violent scenarios are depicted through fantasy? Is this harmful to human development?"

I do not think that this type of pornography is harmful to human development. Quite the opposite, in fact. Access to this type of material, where violent acts are carried out in a fictional setting, is, I think, beneficial to humanity.

How could this be the case? Pornography and erotica of this type, where acts like rape and sadomasochism are played out through fantasy, serve a unique role for people who might be driven towards these types of fantasies. The disturbed individual who would rape will do this no matter what. But the relatively functioning individual who just happens to want to be spanked, or whip another person, can find an outlet in this type of pornography or erotica, and thus satiate the desire without harming anyone.

I rather liken it to violent video games in this regard. The disturbed individual will commit violence whether they play them or not, but "normal" individuals can use them as an outlet for the violent tendencies that we all share (like it or not). It is certainly less harmful to society for a person to steal a car and rob a bank in the Grand Theft Auto video game than for this person to go out and commit these acts in the real world.

To end with a question: What factor do you think differentiates "pornography" and "erotica?"