Porn: a Threat to Public Health

The research is in, and the facts overwhelmingly support concerns that pornography is unhealthy, dangerous, and taking a toll on public health. According to a report published in the Washington Post, which cites 40 years of peer-reviewed research, porn “shapes how we think about gender, sexuality, relationships, intimacy, sexual violence and gender equality — for the worse.”

Another article, published in Time magazine, views porn through a different lens. According to this article many young men are finding that they are incapable of being sexually aroused by their partner because of years of exposure to extreme pornographic images. These are not moralistic crusades by puritanical killjoys.

These men, and the thousands of others who populate their websites with stories of sexual dysfunction, are all at pains to make it clear that they are not antisex. ‘The reason I quit watching porn is to have more sex,’ says Deem. ‘Quitting porn is one of the most sex-positive things people can do,’ says Rhodes. One online commenter, sirrifo, put it more simply: ‘I just want to enjoy sex again and feel the desire for another person.’

And if you’re a woman who thinks this is a guy problem, think again. The Time magazine article has a sidebar about the effects of porn on women. Women who use porn experience some of the same negative effects as do men. And for women, the often violent and abusive nature of pornographic sex makes women more likely to face similar behavior from their partners.

It’s time to take this matter seriously and recognize it for what it is…a multi-billion dollar industry that does great physical and psychological harm to its customers.

The Time magazine article ended with this poignant quote by a man who decided to cut back on porn: “When I think about it,” he writes, “I’ve wasted years of my life looking for a computer or mobile phone to provide something it is not capable of providing.”

One Reply to “Porn: a Threat to Public Health”

  1. Porn is a serious issue in modern society, and its consumption is generally frowned upon by members of society, as stated above. One of the most annoying things I’ve been faced with throughout the years is the threat of pop-up ads containing pornographic images coming up when I perform searches on the Internet. Nobody (that I know of, anyway) wants to be forced to view these sorts of things, and it’s unhealthy, anyway! This brings to mind the issue with film ratings. I almost think there should be a rating system for ads and other content accessible through the Internet so children aren’t faced with unwanted porn. But, this might bring about another question: what constitutes “porn”, and who should be deemed old enough to view it? Would a ratings system cause an uproar with people screaming “Censorship!”?

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