Pornography Causes Desensitization, Aggression, and Alienation

“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

This is because of the Pre-Programed nature to respond to sexual imagery; it is so powerful that advertisers have been using it for almost 100 years.

Since so many people are afraid of their own sexuality, there are some aspects of pornography that frighten these people.

The word for pornography comes from the Greek word “porneia”, which means “fornication; illicit sexual behavior” and “graphei” meaning “writing”. Thus, pornography refers to illicit sexual behavior portrayed in the media-e.g., magazines, books, music, films, videos, etc. In Romans 1:29, Paul condemns the activity of the Gentiles who had rejected God by describing their activity as “being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality (porneia), wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness”. Furthermore, Paul also condemns pornography in principle in Ephesians 5:3-4 and 4:29.

Voyeuristic disorder is fulfillment of erotic stimulation, for over a period of six months, by watching individuals who are nude, undressing, or participating in sexual activity. Voyeuristic disorder includes going forth with voyeuristic urges or illusions without permission of the individual or feeling substantial pain or purposeful damage because of such desires and compulsions (Brown, 2015). The cause of this disorder seems to be subject to the person and not on any one common characteristic factor. Biological theories hold that testosterone, the hormone that influences the sexual drive in both men and women, increases the susceptibility of males to develop deviant sexual behaviors. However, the learning theory has revealed that emotional abuse

The controversy and perspective of women against pornography is one of the most beetling debates waged between modern-day feminists amongst themselves as well as between other opinionated individuals. As defined in this essay, pornography is any printed or visual material containing the explicit description or display of sexual organs or activity, intended to arouse erotic, sexual rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings. The growing feminist population hosts many apprehensions as well as positive outlooks concerning the pornography industry and its portrayal of women, thus causing it to be a highly debated affair amongst those that share contrasting opinions on the matter. With the increasing interest on the matter, more feminists develop reasoning as to why they either support or oppose pornography. A copious number of those that oppose pornography believe it regresses the movement of feminist in its entirety.

Although the reader might think to himself/herself that it doesn't cure the ongoing questions and the need for answers about pornography and masturbation, we all have to keep in mind that this book is thoroughly scientific and approaches to answer the questions of what goes on in the brain when pornography consumes the brain. It is very fascinating and very

Many people have argued that pornography is a form of artistic expression, protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution, others feel there is a distinct line between art and “porn” (Pornogrpahy). Pornography is made to provide sexual pleasure to anyone who hears, sees or reads it, it involves erotic acts. Pornography could be talking, “acting,” or anything that may sexually stimulate someone. Pornography is also, the portrayal of sexual activities and it comes in the form of magazines, movies, videos, and more. Pornography is often seen to overstep the bounds of the First Amendment and misrepresent what is means by freedom of speech. Pornography isn’t something that everyone can agree on. For example, feminist are one group of people have a variety of feelings and beliefs towards pornography. While feminist usually share the same way of thinking this is one topic that causes a major division between them. Disagreeing to agree is a common compromise that people face in life, but in the case of pornography feminist can not seem to do so.

Hyper sexuality, sexual compulsivity, sexual addiction, and even out-of-control sexual behavior, are all terms that relate to the same thing: hyper sexuality disorder. Hyper sexuality disorder is one in which a person experiences extremely frequent or suddenly increased sexual urges or sexual activity. Influenced by both physiological and psychological impulses, hyper sexuality leads to emotional and physical distress. The sexualized nature of the American culture combined with the overwhelming amount of online pornography is a major contributing factor to the prevalence of hyper sexuality disorder. Sex is seen everywhere, in advertising, entertainment, pop culture, and daily life, and has become intensely intrusive at a psychological level within people. Because of the ever-growing amount of pornography and sex seen throughout our everyday lives, it is no wonder that those that become sex addicts have personal distress resulting in affected function. The saturation of our pornified culture contributes to the development of a hyper sexuality disorder, which affects behavior, cognitive processes, and lifestyle.

Pornography can physically change the brain. In the past few decades, a discovery has been found to have a better understanding of how the brain functions in what is called neuroplasticity, with “nuero” meaning the brain and “plasticity” meaning changeability (Doidge, preface). Doidge referenced this as to the brain playing a never-ending game of Tetris, always making new paths to one’s experience. Alongside the discovery of the neuroplasticity, it was found that pornography fills the brain with dopamine (Hilton, 2013, 5). Dopamine is a “chemical in your brain that affects your emotions, movements and your sensations of pleasure and pain” (Sorensen, 2015). With this dopamine chemical, it causes one’s emotions to run all over the place, and as time goes on, the more pornography one watches, the brain fights against the dopamine receptors (Watts and Hilton, 2011) and ultimately the pornography no longer seems to arouse, so one will search for more hard-core pornography to get the arousal feeling back (Angres and Bettinardi–Angres, 2008).

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

Wired for Intimacy: How Pornography Hijacks the Male Brain looks into the consequences of pornography upon the male brain. The author does not deny the fact that porn has effects on both males and females, but men are primarily the ones that consume the product. The consumption has had a major impact on the way men look at women. Many authors and scholars present pornography as a spiritual matter, but Struthers thinks the matter at hand is also a physical problem. “Pornography is also a physical matter, rooted in the biological intricacies of our sexual desire.” (15) The purpose of the book is to look into the physical impact of porn.

Pornography's whole purpose, it seems to me, is to treat human beings obscenely, to deprive them of their specifically human dimension. Imagine a well-known man in a hospital ward, dying an agonizing death. His bladder and bowels empty themselves of their own accord. His consciousness is