Anything but Harmless

Three porn websites are now in the top 10 most popular websites in the U.S.

A recent study revealed the trio of adult sites get more traffic in the U.S. than Netflix, Twitter and Instagram––among several other established websites. Only Google, Facebook, YouTube, Amazon and Yahoo are ranked higher in popularity.

Porn is a touchy subject to discuss, and certainly not one someone would ever bring up in everyday conversation, but as its hold grows stronger on millions of lives, we cannot continue to sweep it under the rug.

For several years, porn has been quickly dismissed as “harmless” entertainment for adults. Some individuals go so far as to claim it actually has benefits, such as informative sexual education. However, research concludes pornography is anything but harmless.

Fight the New Drug (FTND) is an organization created to raise awareness of the destructive consequences related to pornography usage. Through peer-reviewed research and personal accounts, the organization’s mission is “to provide individuals the opportunity to make an informed decision regarding pornography…”

According to FTND, pornography’s harmful effects reach three primary areas: the brain, the heart and the world.

The Brain 

While pornography is often viewed as a source of stress relief, studies have shown porn consumption has a strong correlation to poor mental health, including anxiety, body image issues, poor self-image and depression.

Not only so, but regular pornography usage has enough power to cause the brain to literally rewire itself.

The brain continues changing throughout one’s life and creating new nerve connections—especially in adolescence. The concept of “muscle memory” is just one example of this. An athlete can train himself or herself to react instinctively to certain scenarios by practicing­, such as shooting a free throw, running a play, etc. With enough practice, the athlete no longer has to consciously think about the action taking place, because a new neuronal pathway has formed.

When an individual is a regular user of pornography, a neuronal pathway is formed in connection to pornography usage. While it may seem harmless, the consistent use of these pathways can become a competitor with other activities, including real sex. Therefore, pornography can actually damage the brain’s natural ability to have sex.

The Heart

Porn may be fake, but its effects on the user and the user’s loved ones are very real.

The regular use of porn leaves a devastating imprint on marriages and serious relationships. This is largely because research reveals pornography can lead to less stability in relationships, increased risk of infidelity and a greater likelihood of divorce.

According to research presented by FTND, researchers tracked couples from 2006-2012 to analyze what factors influenced the positive or negative quality of their marriage. Of all the factors taken into consideration, pornography use was the second-greatest factor indicating marital struggle.

For unmarried couples, pornography still has detrimental effects. Another study of a mixture of married and unmarried couples showed once again those who used porn regularly suffered in their romantic relationships.

The World

Pornography is often violent, and the nonverbal messages underlying this violence speak volumes to society.

Women are often the main “victims” of disrespect, coercion and abuse in pornographic films. According to a team of researchers, this has dangerous consequences for society as a whole.

Recently, researchers reviewed 50 of the most popular porn films. Out of the total number of scenes, 88 percent contained physical violence and 49 percent contained verbal aggression. What is even scarier is in the study, 95 percent of the victims involved were either neutral or responded with pleasure.

Regular exposure to violence, especially ones in which the victim is submissive, creates negative attitudes and actions, which carry on after the screen is closed. These attitudes and actions include violent fantasies, violent assaults, sexual aggression and the promotion of abuse toward women.

These are just a few of the many harmful effects of pornography––an industry making billions by destroying the minds and hearts of its users. It is anything but “harmless.”

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