Pornography!

Pornography is a sensitive and often uncomfortable topic, still off limits for discussion in most arenas. However, while some may blush reading this post, it is important to examine the effects that the ever-growing porn industry has on relationships and gender issues. With the advent of internet, pornography has become increasingly accessible and inexpensive. In fact, statistics from a 2003 study show that every second, 28,258 Internet users are viewing pornography. This raises the question of whether porn usage is a gendered issue. Approximately 72% of internet pornography users are male while about 28% are female, indicating the men are the main consumers of pornography. Most men and quite a few women are probably scratching their heads right now. So why does it matter?
Many experts would argue that porn is changing relationships, altering expectations about sex and body image, and threatening to reshape how young people learn about sex. An increasing number of divorces are citing pornography use as a cause. At the 2003 meeting of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, two-thirds of the 350 divorce lawyers who attended cited online porn contributed to more than half of their divorce cases. How is it that porn can be such a problem in marriages? According to the Times online, a number of psychologists and sociologists have begun to warn society about the impact of pervasive pornography. They argue that sexuality and relationships are being changed for the worse. Experts say men who frequently view porn may "develop unrealistic expectations of a woman's appearance and behavior, have difficulty forming and sustaining relationships and feeling sexually satisfied."(Read this Times article here). Upon discovering their loved one's porn use, women are often faced with feelings of inadequacy and betrayal. As if competing with the unrealistic image of female beauty in the media isn't enough, now woman have to try to live up to the images of the porn stars their partners find so arousing. Many individuals look at porn usage as a milder form of infidelity, with women feeling as if their husbands are directing their intimacy and passion toward those women in the computer rather than to them. No wonder pornography use is ruining marriages.
Additionally, porn usage leads to a plethora of gender issues. In 2003, Texas Christian University conducted an online study which revealed that the more pornography men watch, the more likely they are to describe women in sexualized terms. Also, the more porn a man watched, the more likely he would be to categorize women in traditional gender roles. Porn not only leads men to be unable to sustain intimate relationships, but also leads them to objectify women.
With porn so easily accessible, children are beginning to learn about sex from these often unrealistic and degrading porn videos. The average age of first internet exposure to pornography is 11 years old. The problem with this is fairly obvious.
While pornography has existed for a long time in a fairly unobtrusive manner, perhaps it is time to truly examine the negative result of such a large and accessible porn industry.