PornHub, RedTube, YouPorn, xHamster, Brazzers, Naughty America, the list goes on and on.
Pornographic companies are becoming household brand names on par with Warner Brothers or Disney. In January of 2015, CNBC reported that porn is a $97 billion dollar business globally, with $10-$12 billion of that coming from the United States.
Science says
Ana Bridges, a faculty member of University of Arkansas’ department of psychological science, indicates in a 2010 study that pornography has different effects on men and women in terms of sexual satisfaction.
Bridges’ study found the more porn men watch, the less sexually satisfied they will be whereas the more porn women watch, the more sexually satisfied they will be with their partners. The study also found men primarily watch porn for stimulating masturbation and women primarily use it as part of a lovemaking activity with their partners. Both men and women receive higher satisfaction when sharing porn use with a partner, as opposed to consuming it alone.
Franklin O. Poulsen, a graduate research associate at Arizona State University, found male pornography use has a negative association to male and female sexual quality between married or cohabiting individuals, though female porn use was associated with positive female sexual quality.
Destin N. Stewart, a now licensed psychologist in the state of Georgia, published research findings in 2012 which again found male use of pornography to be negatively associated with relationship quality. Pornographic use also had a negative correlation with self-esteem and sexual satisfaction.
Stewart’s findings also state there is significant dissatisfaction being associated with longer relationship terms when individuals watch more pornography.
A study by Vincent Egan, an associate professor at the University of Nottingham, found those who consume more porn on the Internet may reflect a general vulnerability to compulsive problems related to their basic disposition.
The ‘new drug’
Activist group Fight the New Drug aims to raise awareness about harmful side effects of pornography.
The group states its mission is to approach raising awareness by only using science, facts and personal accounts. It does not mention any specific faith based approach. FTND proposes pornography is a public health issue.
Through the group, problems of porn are present through three different categories: how it affects the brain, how it affects the heart and how it affects the world.
The group also has an app called Fortify in which aims to help users quit their pornographic tendencies.
Those who wish to know more about the group can do so at fightthenewdrug.org.
On religion, addiction and getting help
Danny Luecke, a member of NDSU’s CRU chapter, said he spent time in Amsterdam working in the city’s Red Light District. There, he asked people what their thoughts were on porn and prostitution (prostitution is legal in the RDL) and how they affected the brain and people’s perception toward sex and women. Luecke said he learned the amount of porn consumption by numbers is relative to the demand of the product, and the amounts are “staggering.”
Luecke said he is a former porn addict who has since turned porn free as his life shifted toward a focus on his faith.
“Trying harder doesn’t break a sexual addiction,” Luecke said. He added that as with any addiction, it is not one that will simply go away overnight, but rather it takes time and persistence to go away.
In his personal experience, Luecke said God had come to him one day and said that anything he (Luecke) hides from the public, God can see. Luecke added that at that moment, he realized pornography is a sexual sin in his own belief and started to seek help.
Politically, in ND
North Dakota lawmakers recently attempted to pass a bill to hamper pornography in the state.
House bill 1185, sponsored by Rep. Lawrence Klemin (R-Dist. 47), aimed to classify cellphones, laptops and any other things with an Internet connection to be a “pornographic vending machine.”
The bill would prohibit manufacturers of Internet accessible devices unless the product contains an active and operating digital blocking capability that renders obscene material or obscene performances, as defined by section 12.1 – 27.1 – 01 inaccessible.
H.B. 1185 would make it a class A misdemeanor for any producer of a product with Internet access to sell the product without a digital content blocking capability unless an adult consumer had requested in writing that the content blocking be disabled.
A $20 opt out fee would also have been in place.
H.B. 1185 was repealed by its author days after it was introduced.
Editor’s Note: I’m not writing this with intent to say all porn is bad or that you shouldn’t watch it. Really, it’s your call. I just wanted to bring an alternative perspective to the table.