In Part 1 we looked at the increasing government crackdown on pornography as well as porn’s impact on violence and the status of women. Now, we’ll look at porn’s impact on the family, health, society and beyond…
Porn and the Family
Men and women are only human, even when they have a family. It is natural for their eyes to wander, whether they are married or not. Husbands often long to see other nude women, or the neighbor lady or a female co-worker naked.
Given human nature, extramarital lust is inevitable. Wishing it away is as useful as asking the wind not to blow. Of the three main ways one can satisfy extramarital lust - porn, prostitution, or adultery - porn runs the least risk of ruining a marriage or bringing home a disease. Handled properly, it can provide a safety valve that relieves pressure without causing damage and thereby tames the natural wanderlust and strengthens the family.
At the same time, parents do have a right to try to restrict minors' access to adult material. Doing so is difficult, however. Minors have always been able to get porn almost as easily as adults. Software can be somewhat effective in blocking internet porn, but most teenagers can readily buy skin magazines or enter adult theaters instead.
Laws have never been very effective in this area. Requiring a credit card does not work, since cards are now heavily promoted to minors, and many minors have access to their parents' cards or card numbers.
The biggest concern about the effect of porn on minors is the unrealistic portrayal of sex in many X-rated movies. The sex shown is often between people who just met. The women are always willing and eager. Love, affection, and caring are ignored. This can create unrealistic expectations and examples for minors, the same way mainstream action movies do, where the hero never gets hurt despite fights, falls, car wrecks, and flying bullets. Ever notice how bad guys always seem to have such terrible aim?
Fortunately, there is no clear evidence that non-violent porn hurts minors. Nevertheless, efforts to give parents more control can help alleviate concerns.
Porn and Health
There is abundant evidence that orgasms contribute to health and longevity by bolstering the immune system, boosting beneficial hormones, reducing cancer risk, providing exercise, aiding sleep, and enhancing the ability to handle stress. People who have frequent orgasms even look younger, according to research.
These good effects are strongest when orgasms are part of a loving relationship, and nearly as strong when they result from solo masturbation. The beneficial effects seem not to apply, however, to orgasms resulting from stressful liaisons such as adultery, where the fear of discovery is high.
So here again porn can make a valuable contribution. Few people achieve a permanent loving relationship at an early age that satisfies all their sexual desires the rest of their lives. In the real world masturbation is at times the only safe and available way to gain the health benefits of orgasm. Porn is a useful and enjoyable aid to masturbation for many people.
Porn and Society
Historical evidence is clear - porn and progress go together. The 1500 years of Greco-Roman civilization, in which porn was plentiful, brought great advances in science, technology, art, literature, health, literacy, and general standards of living. There is a common misconception that sexual liberty caused the fall of the Roman Empire, but historians say this is false.
The Roman Empire fell when corrupt politicians allowed religious fanatics to take over the government. The Dark Ages ensued, a 1000-year period of severe repression of porn, along with increased war, famine, and plague, declining health and literacy, and the loss of much learning in science, art, and literature.
The Renaissance and the Enlightenment eventually brought forth a reawakening of learning and progress, along with renewed freedom of sexual expression and a new proliferation of porn. Today we see much higher living standards in countries with such basic freedoms, in contrast to the poverty and backwardness of countries still under repressive regimes. Suppression of porn adds to sexual deprivation, which leads to sexual preoccupation, and increases frustration and aggression. That is not healthy for society.
How Porn Helps Progress
Is porn just a side effect of a free and progressive society, or is it part of the causes of progress? A growing understanding of the function of porn suggests the latter.
The primary function of porn is to assist in sexual arousal and the achievement of orgasm. People who have frequent orgasms are healthier and happier, and so are less likely to rob, steal, rape, kill, make war, or smash things up. Sexual satisfaction awakens creativity and gets the mind off sex for a while. Sexually satisfied people are more likely to build and create and research and discover and contribute to society.
Suppression of porn adds to sexual deprivation, which leads to sexual preoccupation, and increases frustration and aggression. That is not healthy for society.
Sources of Attacks On Porn
Where does the impulse to crack down on porn come from? The brutal Taliban repression vividly demonstrates an extreme fear of nude women and sex, a fear that infects the psyche of many deeply religious people. History, from the Dark Ages to today, shows that wherever such people gain political power, freedom and progress are in grave danger.
Most attacks on porn are rooted in religion, such as those in Moslem and Christian countries. All the attackers share a common aim - to control other people. It is much easier to gain political and religious power over people if you control their sex lives, in other words, if you have them by the balls.
Adult media are an easy target for vote-obsessed politicians because opponents of porn are outspoken, whereas users are often ashamed or too embarrassed to speak out. Yet good citizens can always stand up for freedom of speech and freedom of the bedroom, and perhaps even spread the word that non-violent porn is actually good for society, not bad.
John C. Boseman (pen name) holds an M.A. in Psychology and a Ph.D. in Social Psychology. He writes about sex, humor, naked women, and porn at Nude Women of Bojiggly. Bojiggly is a trademark of Benala Vista LLC, as is its main tag line, “Saving the World from Excess Clothing on Beautiful Women.”
