I think porn is bad. I wish it wasn’t, but I really think it’s horrible for you and people across the world. I’m not a hypocrite. I watched porn in the past, and I admit it. I also now think porn is bad, and I do my best to avoid watching it, even in accidental situations like when scrolling Instagram or Twitter. It took me a while to reach this conclusion, so I understand why a reader might disagree. Porn is a job, right? It’s legal, and above board, and the girls are doing what they want. Jerking off isn’t unhealthy. Nobody could find a way to injure themselves doing that. Right? Well, after doing a lot of research and thinking things through thoroughly, I’ve come to a different conclusion. So, allow me in this article, to explain why pornography is awful and ruins lives.
Let’s start by discussing how pornography can ruin your life. The way it affects women is also disastrous, but you can’t take care of others until you’ve taken care of yourself. You’re going to have trouble taking care of yourself if you have erectile dysfunction, and that’s what porn will do to you. I could cite a couple of people discussing this subject, but you can confirm what I’m saying with a Google search. A simple look around Reddit’s NoFap sub will yield countless stories about people who either briefly or permanently lost the ability to get hard as a result of pornography. I’m not sure whether the same can happen to women, but I’m sure it’s possible. This is the primary physical effect that too much porn can have, but there are several other things that happen as a result of not being able to get hard. The first is that you are going to dissatisfy yourself and your partner. Sex is going to be disappointing, and it might not happen at all. The second is you’ll have the shame of knowing pornography caused that problem for you.
The shame and secrecy that porn creates is part of what causes people to become psychologically damaged by it. Whether we’re discussing being a consumer or producer of porn, society takes a hypocritical attitude to this drug. On one hand, it’s normal and used by everyone. On the other, being associated with it directly can lead to social ostracism. This leads people into increased depravity as an unsavory element is added to the industry. Fetishes get weirder and business practices get shadier. I can’t tell how prevalent it is, but I’ve read about human trafficking being intrinsically linked to pornography. I believe it. People are sleazy, and people may be getting drugged and threatened on these porn sets. The reality is that whenever you open a porn video, you’re risking watching a rape scene. Like, a real one. I think that’s sad and terrible. This fact alone has been a big motivator for me to just not look at this stuff, wholesale.
If porn is independently produced, is it still harmful?
I would say less so than other forms of media. At least with independently produced porn, the actors and actresses are consenting and get paid directly in theory. But people can always get into shady deals, and it’s impossible to know what’s what from the other side of the screen. Either way, it’s still harmful to yourself. There are still going to be mental and possibly physical health side effects to your porn usage. Nothing comes without consequences. If you choose to use porn, you’re going to suffer some sort of consequences, no matter what. It’s best to either limit or cease your use as soon as you can.
Why Am I So Worried About Porn?
I think problematic porn use is about to skyrocket. VR and sex robots are dangerously close, and I think they will be around when I’m middle-aged. Lots of people are going to suffer the adverse effects of being addicted to pornography with haptic feedback. Entire lives will be wasted, and people will likely be incredibly lonely until the problem is addressed. I think that AI generated porn will help quell the human trafficking aspect in one way, but the advent of technology could increase the ability for people to be trafficked in others. It’s a little sickening to think about, but it’s a very real possibility. Hopefully, people wake up and realize that the extent to which problematic porn use is pervasive in our society and realize that the pervasiveness of this use is due to the fact that we all don’t care much, and all avoid talking about it.
