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love
Pornography and idyllic relationships
Sure, porn is artificial, it’s a harmless fantasy. But, the problem is, porn isn’t harmless at all. Studies show that viewing porn makes consumers more critical of their partner and less satisfied with their romantic relationship and sex life.
An increasing number of couples in therapy report that pornography is causing difficulties in their relationships. Research shows that pornography consumption is linked to less stability in relationships, increased risk of infidelity, and greater likelihood of divorce. While this applies to men and women, studies have found that men who are exposed to porn find their partner less sexually attractive and rate themselves as less in love with their partner. A recent study tracked couples over a six year period, from 2006 to 2012, to see what factors influenced the quality of their marriage and their satisfaction with their sex lives. The researchers found that of all the factors considered, porn use was the second strongest indicator that a marriage would suffer.
Not only that but the marriages that were harmed the most were those of individuals who viewed porn heavily, once a day or more.
The rapid proliferation of pornography is one of the digital age’s legacies; some 40 million people in the United States visit porn websites regularly, many of them emerging or young adults. Popular media have capitalized on cautionary tales about porn addiction and stories of boyfriends objectifying their girlfriends and wanting them to behave like porn stars. But studies confirm that most of young men, and slightly less than half of women—thinks that watching sexually explicit material is okay.
According to some, there probably isn’t a more efficient way to make a romantic partner feel betrayed, used, and violated than picking up a porn habit. Obviously, cheating can also accomplish all those things, but porn is like cheating, without being cheating.
The definition of cheating depends of people, but when a person is sexually bonding to something other than their own partner, one would call that cheating.
Secondly, if you think about it, it’s prostitution by proxy. As a society, why do we draw a distinction between a prostitute and a porn performer? The former is paid to have sex, the latter is paid to have sex. The only difference is who pays and how much. The same can be said for the Johns. Someone watching porn is paying to be sexually gratified by a probably abused and drug addicted porn performer. Whether they pay through a subscription or pay just by clicking on the website and helping to drive revenue, they pay. The guy with the hooker in the Motel x is also paying to be sexually gratified, but in a more direct manner.
Flashmag October 2017 www.flashmag.net