Pornography- What's the Big Deal?

Pornography. What's the big deal?

You may think that viewing pornography doesn’t hurt anybody, let alone the person viewing it. It’s just a harmless way to pass the time, a victimless form of entertainment. Think again. Over time, pornography has the power to control a person’s mind, actions and impulses. Pornography has the power to destroy relationships, marriages, and even your ability to properly function sexually. It’s a bigger deal than most people think!

What you See is What you Get! Right?
Wrong! Pornography can mis-shape ones view of sex, the opposite sex, and can create unhealthy expectations in relationships. Many guys who view porn will compare girls (or even their wives) to the ones they have seen in porn. Pornography is not a realistic depiction of sex, women, men, and definitely not love. Porn turns women into objects to be played with, abused, controlled, and dominated. Repeated exposure to porn can even shape the way you view women and how they should be treated.

A Path to Sexual Dysfunction?

Anything that you do often enough can become a habit. If you develop a habit or addiction to pornography, you condition yourself to respond sexually to it. The body responds to and is aroused by the images, creating a conditioned sexual response. That sexual response can turn into a sexual habit, which can become a NEED for sexual gratification.

For example, you may have heard of Pavlov’s dogs. Ivan Pavlov was a researcher who would ring a bell every time he would feed his dogs. Eventually the dogs would begin to salivate at just the sound of the bell, showing that the dogs brains had been conditioned to respond a certain way to a given sound, and not food at all. Pornography works the same way. Viewing pornography actually affects your brain in such a way that chemicals are released that trigger your arousal response. What does all of this mean? Pornography can actually condition your body to NEED it in order to have sexual gratification. Imagine not being able to be aroused and have sex in REAL LIFE without using pornography! That, is a form of sexual dysfunction. And that is where pornography can take you.

Porn Affects Relationships and Marriages

At a 2003 meeting of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, two thirds of the 350 divorce lawyers who attended said the Internet played a significant role in the divorces in the past year, with excessive interest in online porn contributing to more than half such cases. Pornography had an almost non-existent role in divorce just seven or eight years ago before.

The rise in internet porn use and easy accessibility have contributed to the breakdown of the family in America today.

Pornography is Everywhere! Consider these FACTS:

There are 4.2 million porn sites on the web, representing 12% of the entire internet.

Daily there are 68 million search requests for porn, representing 25% of all requests.

There are approximately 100,000 sites offering illegal child pornography.

At least 1 in 7 youth have received a sexual solicitation over the internet.

The average age of first exposure to porn over the internet is 11.

“Promise Keeper” men admitting to viewing porn last week- 53%.

The porn industry makes nearly $100 BILLION in revenue every year!

The porn industry is larger than the revenues of the top technology companies combined: Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo!, Apple, Netflix and EarthLink. Every second $3,075.64 is being spent on pornography.

Every second 28,258 Internet users are viewing pornography.

Every second 372 Internet users are typing adult search terms into search engines.

Every 39 minutes a new pornographic video is being created in the United States.

What Now?

Hopefully you realize that nothing good can come from viewing pornography, especially when you consider the long-term consequences. Pornography has the potential to destroy relationships, marriages, and cause addictions that are extremely difficult to break. If you are dabbling with porn- STOP. If you feel that you have already developed a problem in this area, seek help. Talk to your family doctor, your pastor or to a trained counselor. Don't let porn destroy your life and relationships.