The Pros and Cons of Porn

Sarah Gibson

Sarah Gibson is the brains and attitude behind the playful adult toy website sexgear . She is also our official ‘sexpert’.

The Great Porn Debate is a live show where porn megastar, Ron Jeremy, and Pastor Craig Gross come together to discuss their polar views on the merits of pornography. Pastor Gross thinks that porn is degrading, detrimental and addictive. Ron does not. We put forth some of the viewpoints for you to make your own conclusion.

CONS:

Unreal Expectations:

The taut, tanned and toned, sexually uninhibited men and women in pornographic films are not necessarily  representative of reality. Therefore, some evidence suggests that, sustained viewing of pornographic material can lead people to have unrealistic expectations of how their sexual partners should look and behave.  In fact, a recent study revealed that, six out of 10 women believe pornography affects how men expect them to look and how sexually adventurous they expect them to be. Perhaps the issue is that pornography, rather than showing too much, actually shows too little. Because it only shows the sexual side of the actors (and let’s not forget that they ARE actors) it is easy to forget that there are other dimensions to a person. 

Desensitizes People:

Because a lot of pornographic imagery is, let’s say, not for the faint-hearted, the viewer may become desensitized to abnormal sexual practices. Because your average couples sex lives are not, on a day-to-day basis, as hard-core as those of porn stars, some men (and some women) can have troubles getting aroused. A study by Malamuth et al suggests that pornography can have a desensitizing effect on some and invoke a viewer to desire more sexually experimental acts.

Addiction

Globally, of those treated for sex addiction, the most common issue seems to be a specific Internet pornography addiction.  The advent of the Internet has enabled anonymous, always-on, and affordable access to pornography. And because pornography (like alcohol, food, drugs) is a stimulus that results in pleasurable feelings, for some, this can result in a desire to go back for more and more. Theorists of this addictive viewpoint suggest that the pervasive delivery of porn on the internet, aiding addiction, is similar to the notion that if you sent a bottle of vodka to every home in America every week for a year, you would see a rise in the number of alcoholics.

PROS:

Can Improve your attitude towards sex –

On the other side of the coin, some suggest, that rather than causing the viewer to have a less respectful attitude towards sex, pornography can in fact help inhibited persons to loosen up. For the less inhibited, pornographic material can be deemed as simply a reference.  A tool to use that opens you up to experimentation and gives you inspiration for new ideas.

You both just love it

You and your partner have a mutual openness towards sex and your sex lives with each other, and to you, pornography is simply part of your sex toy kit. For some couples, viewing pornographic material together is simply a way to live out their sexual fantasies with each other.  Because, unless one partner in the couple shows more interest in watching the images on screen than their real life version, there is no issue. Pornography can be a satisfying aid to pleasure and needn’t become the source of sexual satisfaction. 

It’s not a big deal.

There is also the suggestion that pornography serves to satisfy a normal human need of voyeurism. In fact, it’s natural to be turned on by the vision of the naked human form. So for many viewers, pornography can be watched, without attachment or desensitization, simply as an aid to masturbation.  Just as many people are able to have a single drink after a long day to relax, many men, and some women, are able to have a quick masturbation session with pornography to release tension. But, similarly, for some people, one drink is not enough, and one 10 minute pornographic clip is not enough. The extent to which pornography features in one’s life is, like most of life’s indulgences, simply person-dependent.

It’s an interesting debate, so feel free to post your own comments below.

Take Care, Sarah Gibson at www.sexgear.co.nz

P.S. If there’s anything about sex that you’d like to ask, or a discussion you’d like to start just email me info@sg.co.nz and I’ll do my best to write about it for you here at getfrank.co.nz