As of 2020, 17 US state resolutions have declared pornography a public health crisis (Nelson & Rothman, 2020). This alongside anti-porn protesters such as Fight the New Drug are combining to add more sexual shame to our already sexually repressed society.
Public health crises are defined as ‘generally having significant impacts on community health, loss of life, and on the economy’ - I don’t see evidence of anyone losing their life to watching porn. I also think it does affect community health, but not in the way we may think. Negative views of porn can easily merge into a negative or shameful view of sex. To watch someone have sex is not inherently terrible and plenty of people do it in real life. Even a threesome may include a fair amount of watching. The way I teach pornography is to avoid telling young people not to do something because when has that ever worked? Instead, I ask them to consider: What am I viewing here? It’s not an example to follow, it’s a show, entertainment. I like to remind young people that porn is a spectacle, a performance, it’s not real. Does that stop us from watching movies? Will we never watch spiderman again because we will never save the world through our spider abilities?
There are many benefits to porn that are often overlooked. We can discover new ways of doing things through porn, maybe you’ve never heard of the clitoris before but then you see it in porn. You don’t necessarily know what it is but at least you know its uses. At this point you may think “yes but what about asking parents, teachers, or someone like you, isn’t that your job??” and to that, I say yes. We do teach about pleasure, clitorises, and glans and we do answer questions as best we can. We’re not everywhere though, many schools still prefer to teach their own RSE, and many students don’t want to engage with some random adult (or alternatively their maths teacher) about sex. Not to mention not every area has funded RSE and schools as I'm sure you’re aware are stretched as it is.
There are some great sites online that give young people valuable information. But I would say that if you tried to describe to a young person how to do a backflip, they may need some visual aids as well. You can describe that backflip as best you can and that’s exactly what we do for sex but we can’t give them everything. We can show them that great scene from Normal People with all the consent but when it comes to porn that’s something they tend to want to search for on their own. On the other hand, we could show something intimate and lovely but there would likely be even more uproar about that. I think the other thing I would say to “but that’s your job” is we can do all we can to break down any shame but if it’s still present at home or even in wider society we can’t help that. It’s pretty ideological thinking to wish for a world where no young person has sexual shame or embarrassment. It’s a natural part of life to be curious. Sex is a part of life and when you google sex, porn is most likely one of those first few hits. So all we can do is teach that porn is not a lesson.
Porn can also help us understand ourselves, we can examine our biases, why do I watch this porn? What has made me interested? That’s not necessarily for the youngest of young people but at 17,18 I think that would be a fair thing to ask oneself. I also think Porn can help those who are feeling some shame around masturbation. Also, not all porn is visual. Perhaps guidance from a voice or reading an erotic book could help take away some of that shame. Porn is not all bad.
There have been studies to show that porn affects the brain. Of course, it does, but so does learning something new, drinking alcohol, and smoking weed. All these things are going to alter some brain chemistry and when people hear that it can be scary. Some very violent porn may manifest some unhealthy behaviours in a person, but otherwise, porn is generally known to be unrealistic and that justification can help people detach. I also get that porn addiction is a real thing as is alcoholism. I think that there are extremes to everything and unhealthy behaviours are a result of a deeper issue, not the porn itself.
Throughout this, I have been referring to porn and you are likely imagining a place where there is lots of unethical practice. I would like you to consider that some porn is ethical, whether that be something like onlyfans, make love not porn, etc. There are many people out there having intimate and/or genuine interactions on these sites. Where workers have more control over what they do and don’t post and they sit behind a paywall as most other services and forms of entertainment do.
Although porn is not a health crisis in my opinion it could be considered a trafficking crisis. That is why ethical porn is so important. A lot of free porn involves human trafficking which is awful and something that can never be excused but I think that porn is not the cause of human trafficking. If trafficking and immigration legislation was better, human trafficking could be lessened, it is not the consumer's fault. However we can help by paying for ethical porn, the more we watch free porn the more we are allowing these crimes to continue. To learn more about how sex work can be beneficial the wonderful film, Good luck to you Leo Grande with Emma Thompson is a great introduction.
If sex and sex work were less shameful then perhaps the hateful rise of involuntary celibates or incels would not have grown to such extremes, the orgasm gap might be smaller and people may not feel a right to others' bodies. To stigmatise sex work (that includes porn actors) is to promote sex as somehow shameful and as something to fear, and be wary of; when really it is just as dangerous as running, cold water swimming, having a mouldy room... You just need the tools to protect yourself. Wouldn’t living a life full of shame and guilt also negatively affect brain chemistry? Porn is sticking around for a while, that is clear, so let’s encourage people to pay for their porn, support individual actors, and check their biases when choosing porn.
I write these pieces in the context of their time and my knowledge. My views and understanding of these topics will likely change and I embrace that. I will not make changes to these unless offensive language was used unintentionally. These pieces are a form of memory and part of my personal history. I want to recognise the mistakes I may have made in the past so that I can continue to learn. I upload it here not to force my views but just to have it somewhere. I acknowledge that sex and gender are complex, multifaceted issues that are subject to ongoing debate and discussion. You are welcome to your own views on these topics and I hope that you continue to look into these topics in your own space. I ask that you do not enquire to those within minority groups to ask for education. Use the tools at your disposal, the internet, books etc.
Thank you