I've been around from the start and pictures of girls were never a part of earlier threads. There were explicit rules about not posting porn included in the general bread. The amount of girls being posted and arguing over it has been slowly increasing. It is clearly a negative influence here.
Last time this came up I didn't say anything. I'm an old fag and I know better than to complain. However, this time I will say it is interesting that off topic posts about Pelicans or Wholesome Families which derail threads earn users a ban but when it comes to girl pictures the board owner wholly endorses it.
Regardless of if girl pictures are allowed in threads or not the amount of arguing, distraction, and off topic posts it causes should warrant them being banned. I remember NEVER seeing sexualized images in Q research threads. Not even one in hours of viewing threads. It was a better time in general.
Although there may have never been a rule that sexualized images aren't allowed there used to be an explicit rule that porn was not and people were smart enough to take a hint. If I recall we used to say if you wanted to look at girls there are enough other places on the internet to do so. Now that porn rule is gone except in spirit, outright porn is regularly posted now, and quality is reduced overall.
I have to wonder, did the rules really change, or just the quality of posters decline? Apparently both.