Pornography Addiction Essay

“It can snatch any kid out of the home…It snatched me out of mine 20 years ago.” (Final Interview, 2:54-3:02 minutes). The addiction to pornography is often likened to that of a drug, “One should become addicted to it, and I look at this as kind of like an addiction. Like other kinds of addictions…you keep…I would keep looking for more potent, explicit, more graphic kinds of material. Like an addiction, you keep craving something that’s harder…something…which gives you a greater sense of excitement.” (Final Interview,

Though this decrease in sexual satisfaction was described as mild, it was noted as a significant difference. It is also interesting to consider that the type of pornography viewed moderated the decrease in sexual satisfaction that was observed. Specifically, only those men who viewed paraphilic pornography, as compared to those who viewed mainstream pornography, experienced decreased sexual satisfaction (Stulhofer et al., 2010). It may be that viewing paraphilic pornography, which is known to be more extreme in nature, permits users to develop more extreme fears and high expectations regarding later sexual experiences. Developing a fear towards sex may lead to anxiety while engaging in sexual behaviors, thus decreasing rewards experienced while engaging in such behaviors. On the other hand, having high expectations regarding sex may lead to disappointment when engaging in sexual behaviors; the rewards that were experienced may have been significant, yet much less than rewards that were expected. It is also important to note that Stulhofer and colleagues failed to examine the dynamic nature of sexual satisfaction when they failed to include measures of sexual satisfaction of their subjects’ intimate partners (Stulhofer et al., 2010). Understanding how intimate partners’ sexual satisfaction varied as a factor of pornography use would give better insight as to how

To begin, pornography has addictive characteristics and because of those characteristics intimate relationships often suffer. Today, men and women tend to become addicted to watching pornography and use it to masturbate. It has been proven that “problematic pornography is characterized by a predominant urge for behavioral engagement, referred to as a craving” (Allen 67). If both parties of a relationship have this urge or craving for pornography, this could cause their relationship to suffer. The sexual act lacks love and intimacy and becomes mechanical or second natured. Pornography has been compared to addiction and people who are addicted enable each other. Therefore, there is no

There have been many speculations about porn and its significance. Many would argue there is no sole purpose for it other then opening up doors for people to fantasize about things that generally do not happen in a normal sexual encounter. However, that is quite the contrary research has shown over the past decade that porn isn't entirely 100% bad. Although, there are negative connotations associated with porn especially for a female, researchers are finding that more

The pornification (or alternatively pornographication) of the social world has created lasting effects in the lives of people that they must deal with every day (Dines 1998, p. 164). Pornification is the process by which the social and cultural world is sexualised. This occurs through the expansion of media technology and the pornography industry, as well as changes in media regulations and restrictions which allow pornographic imagery to intrude into public spaces (Tyler 2011, p. 79). This essay will offer explanations for why the pornification of the social world is occurring, how the phenomenon differs from a freedom of expression issue and is instead considered a sociological issue, what consequences and harm arise from these explanations, and will offer social measures that can be adopted in order to deal with the issue. Pornification has occurred in almost every realm of the social world, including in its unaltered form on the Internet, social media, marketing, advertising, music, fashion, sport, and art. However, this expansion of easily accessible pornified content is a stark and confronting challenge for our social world.

What starts out as accidental exposure to sexual media can become a full-blown addiction (Kistler & Lee, 2010; Ouytsel, Ponnet, & Walrave, 2014). Early use of pornography is correlated with higher compulsivity as an emerging adult (Giordano, & Cashwell, 2017; Stinson, 2010; Willoughby, Carroll, Nelson, & Padilla-Walker, 2014; Willoughby, Young-Petersen, & Leonhardt, 2018; Ybarra & Mitchell, 2005). Virtually every individual who lives in modern society will be exposed to sexual media; even those who say they abstain still have a 20% likelihood of seeing pornography and sexual media incidentally (Willoughby, et al.,

From the Utilitarianism view point, pornography is seen as morally right because it provides the greatest benefit of happiness for the greatest good. The Utilitarianism suggest that there is an obvious solution that is fair, and it may be one that appeals to common sense” and that “one should choose to do that which produces a better outcome for the largest number of people.” (Mosser, K. 2013, Ch. 1.6). under Utilitarianism, pornography offers benefits in marriage because couples can revive their marriage by using pornography as a new tool to explore each others intimacy and satisfy their sexual relationship. Some

Before I started to write my paper concerning the book Wired for Intimacy: How Pornography Hijacks the Male Brain, I wanted to do some research on the author just to get a background idea of what I'll be reading. William Struthers is a neuroscientist and professor of psychology at Wheaton College. This book is appropriate for retaining information on how to help ourself avoid falling into the trap of seduction in a culture where pornography is highly watched and used on a daily basis.

The positive correlations between pornography and these possibly risky behaviors are also linked with having unsafe sex in general. There is a direct link to viewing pornography as sex education and these unsafe practices leading to not only medical but psychological issues as well (Parker 17). Sexting leads us to the creative impact pornography has had on the population. It is a common practice among not only young adults, but adults as well and is socially acceptable. The asking for and receiving of these types of pornographic images is a common theme among adolescent populations around the world. There are the legal ramifications for the fact that such images of individuals under the age of 18 is illegal to possess or share and “there is some evidence to support the practice of sexting often occurs as ‘pressurised yet voluntary’” (Parker 18). There is the social pressure to conform and fit in and let the male be superior and have the female be inferior. There are also instances where coercion and force are brought into the situation as the explanation for participating in sexting whether the individual wanted to or not. The fact that revenge porn exists both as videos and images says a lot about how we view children, men,

The human race wouldn’t be where it is today without the evolvement of the brain. But unfortunately, as astonishing as the brain is, different chemicals released can affect our abilities and choices so easily. An adrenaline rush is a sudden increase in the secretion of adrenaline from the adrenal glands. This happens when the brain communicates to the glands that there will be a need for a fight-or-flight response. (Brogaard). Serotonin is regarded by some researchers as a chemical that is responsible for maintaining mood balance, and that a deficit of serotonin leads to depression (McIntosh). Another influential chemical released to the brain is dopamine. Otherwise known as the reward chemical, dopamine is the brain’s way of making us feel good. Dopamine has the ability to rewire the neurons in the brain to connect memories or feelings with substances, such as eating something delicious. “The spontaneous neural activity of dopamine neurons is greater in adolescents than juveniles or adults” (Sturman and Bita). This translates to teenagers having a higher tendency to get addicted to the release of dopamine through examples of enjoyment such as eating, drugs, and, of course, pornography. The brain gets overwhelmed by the constant overload of dopamine, and it fights back by taking away some of the dopamine receptors. With fewer receptors and the same levels of pornography releasing the constant levels of dopamine, viewers (especially adolescents) don’t get as excited and tend to go looking for more hardcore pornography for stronger releases of the reward complex. As another side affect, regular activities that would usually cause healthy releases of dopamine, such as laughing or seeing a loved one, don’t have the same reward release and make the addicted user unhappy or uneasy whenever they go for awhile without seeing pornography. (Fight the New Drug). It might be hard to

The adult-entertainment industry erupted in the late twentieth century and has expanded recently due to improved technology. Millions of men and women alike watch these films and arrive to the conception that what is portrayed on the screen is how a relationship should be. In a recent article in the New York Times, it was reported that 80% of men and 50% of women feel that their sex life is lacking due to pornography, and 40% of the people within the same poll have broken up with their spouse or partner due to the “lack” of love life. Clearly, the adult entertainment gives both genders a false conception of how a relationship and sex life should be. Pornography portrays sex as overly exciting and thrilling, which can lead to dissatisfaction with one’s partner. Such a situation can cause a rift between couples that can result in divorce and break-ups, which leads to fewer

The Internet is a global network of vast information. With a few clicks, an individual can have access to up to 200 million web-sites filled with educational and recreational information. The Internet is not regulated in anyway (Carnegie Library 1). It is accessible throughout the entire world from the North to the South, to the early morning sunrise and dark sunsets. Different ethnicity and backgrounds come together linked upon this network resembling a connection of one body in unity. Sadly, issues arise creating concern for users, focusing particularly on minors. Pornography is one of the inappropriate materials on the Internet for minors. This material is harmful to young impressionable minds. Pornography is tearing and

In recent years, the term pornography has been primarily associated with that which is accessed and streamed over the internet, rather than the literal definition of, “obscene writings, drawings, photographs, or the like, especially those having little or not artistic merit.” This form of visual pornography is a popular and successful business as it is viewed for fulfilling pent up sexual desires, however it promotes the act of having multiple sex partners without the need of any commitment. Although it is for this reason that this business is permitted, there are many overlooked, long – term affects that have become topics of controversy. Not only does pornography affect those who indulge in it, but it can influence those who divulge

In recent years, pornography has established itself as perhaps the most controversial topic arising out of the use of the Internet. The easy availability of this type of sexually explicit material has caused a panic among government officials, family groups, religious groups and law enforcement bodies and this panic has been perpetuated in the media.

“Never before in history of telecommunications media in the United States has so much indecent (and obscene material been so easily accessible by so many minors in so many American homes with so few restrictions” (qtd in “Pornography and Child Sexual Abuse”). The problem addressed in the quote by the U.S. Department of Justice is pornography, a 10 billion dollar industry, has made its way from discreet taboo to something that is today considered acceptable and even common. With the internet being such a common tool, it is no surprise that there is easy access to sexually explicit material. The widespread accessibility and usage of pornography has changed people’s outlook on the normality of watching such sexually explicit material, and