Online Pornography Is/Isn't Harmful - Essay Example

Online Pornography This easy provides an assessment of the available argument for and against the notion that online pornography is harmful to society. There are divergent views about the effects of exposure to pornographic contents with those arguing it is not harmful, noting that it helps improve the attitude of partners towards themselves and towards sex while it also leads to reduced cases of sex assaults. However, there are also those with dissenting opinion who point out to a number of negative effects that online pornography has on the lives of consumers. This group notes the negative effects of online pornography such as increasing the rate of divorce, encourage risky behavior such as practicing unsafe sex and encouraging consumers to form negative attitudes towards sexuality and women. Based on the arguments for and against the belief that pornography is harmful, it is apparent that the negative effects outweigh the benefits that might result from exposure especially based on the continued exposure of the pornographic material to children and the youth. The first part of this is essay explores arguments based on the line of thought that online pornography is not harmful. Online Pornography is not harmful There have been reports about some benefits that can be attributed to watching online pornography among them the possible link between watching pornographic content and improved the perception among both sexes. These report notes the role played by pornographic viewership on the sex lives of the consumers and their partners especially on attitudes towards sex, attitudes and perceptions towards members of the opposite sex and toward life as a whole. According to a study conducted by Hald and Malamuth (2008) and sampled young adult, both men and women aged 18 to 30 from Denmark, only a small population sampled reported negative consequences of being exposed to pornographic content. The participants were asked to make self-assessment of the effects that pornography has had on various areas of their lives. The results of this study was that there were positive effects of consuming pornographic content reported by both men and women, with male participants reporting a considerably higher positive effects than female. Sexual background factors were identified as a predictor for either positive or negative effects of consuming pornographic content in both sexes. The other argument to dispel the fear that online pornography is based on the relation drawn between the practice and rape. Arguments based on this line of thought claim that internet pornography might in fact make the community safer and peaceful. According to the study by Ferguson and Hartley (2009), there have been multiple studies conducted to determine the existence of a link between sexual violence and watching pornographic contents. Ferguson and Hartley (2009) note although there have been studies linking sexual assaults to exposure to pornographic content based on the view that it propagates negative attitudes about females and sexuality, there have been those that have refuted this claims. Studies to support the belief that pornography reduces the rate of sexual assault on women have attributed this to what is believed to be catharsis role played by pornography. It is argued that watching pornography enables the person release up sexual aggression which consequently, reduces the desire to engage in sex crimes like rape. These findings have received wider support from researchers such DAmato (2006) have also found a positive correlation between watching pornographic content and reduced desire for sex crimes. Online Pornography is Harmful There have been authors who have disapproved the notion that “pornography is harmless entertainment” (Wilson, 2007, p. 47). This studies have pointed out the increased negative effects of pornography is attributed to improved internet access to home over the years. People are now able to access fast internet for twenty-four hours every day therefore aiding the transformation of access to pornographic content from rental DVDs to access through personal computers, tablets and phones. Consequently, pornography has ended up being one of the major sources of entertainment for many people regardless of age, sex or social status. With this development comes the harmful effect of watching pornographic content based on it being addictive, pervasive, and harmful to the consumer (Wilson, 2007). Among the negative influences of online pornography on consumers is that it has been found to encourage of risky behavior (Segal, 2014). Regular consumers of pornographic contents have been found to engage in risky behavior such as having unprotected sex or having sex at a young age. Most of the teenagers who begin sexual intercourse at an early age have been found to have watched pornographic content in the past. This creates a link between watching the sexual intercourse on the screen and actually engaging in such activities. Young people have been found to be highly inclined towards experimenting what they consume from media therefore increasing the reason to believe that watching pornographic content will lead to engagement in unprotected sex and early in life (Calvert and Wilson, 2009). In this case, viewing online pornographic content becomes harmful to the youth who would like to imitate the sex scenes they observe over the internet. The harmful effects online pornography is not limited to the teenagers and young adults since there have also been reports about the effect it has on older people. According to Paul (2005) online pornography has consequences that cut across multiple aspects of a person’s life especially on relationships and families. Paul (2005) claims the harmful effects of pornography on men might include dropping of hobbies, disrupting family lives with some men losing employment, wives and children. Therefore, marriage and job are risked when an adult spent more time watching online pornography than taking care of various responsibilities required by this institutions. In the workplace, an employee addicted to online pornography might spent a number of working hours either using workplace or personal internet accessing pornographic content instead of working to meet the deadline. Such habits might result in missed deadline therefore putting the employee at risk of being dismissed. Internet pornography has a negative effect on marriage since one partner feels the other does not appreciate them, as they deserve. When a man is obsessed with the female actors in the pornographic scenes, the wife feels she is not attractive enough thereby reducing her self-perception. Online pornography therefore becomes an enemy to healthy and vibrant relationship between couples as one feels neglected due to the preoccupation of the other with thousands of pornographic sites on the internet. Such a situation may leads to the neglected partner asking for a divorce, as the marriage no longer makes them happy (Cebulko, 2007). Online pornography has also been thought as contributing to a negative attitude about females and sexuality. Watching pornography desensitizes the consumer of such content making them vulnerable to the risks associated with committing sexual assault or rape (Ferguson and Hartley, 2009). There have been situations where suspects arrested for possession of child pornography had a record for exploiting a minor. Such findings leads to the conclusion that watching the abuse of children might also contribute to practicing such forms of sexual abuse. A report by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children claim 40 percent of those arrested had sexually victimized children in the past and had child pornography materials when arrested (Wolak, Finkelhor and Mitchell, 2005). Layden (2010) points out the association of pornography with violence is due to the influence it has on the consumer making them feel there was no need to stop, change or reduce the amount of time spent on this content. The research adds that pornography distorts the views of the consumer about sexuality and desire of women and children while also seeking to justify a sense of entitlement, use of force and violence in the viewer. Personal Views The existence of research that implies positive effects of exposure to pornographic content leads to the question whether something that harms a section of the population should be explored towards achieving a positive end for others. It is a fact that pornographic contents objectify sexual intercourse making it available for people to buy. Sexual intercourse is supposed to remain source of pleasure for the people involved in it and should not be made available to people outside of the setting. Constant exposure to pornography is likely to make men objectify women by seeing them as beings made to satisfy sexual desire. The effect also applies to female viewers who are more likely to self-objectify and allow sexual harassment from men since they also hold similar views about their bodies. The availability and easy access to online pornographic contents is harmful to children who are exposed to them. Easy access over the internet means that children might be exposed to such content by accident or by actively searching for pornographic material thereby setting the stage for future addiction to the pornographic material. Given that research has shown most of the internet filter software do not provide 100 percent prevention for children access to unsafe sites, it is most likely that children will be exposed to sexual content at a younger age (Greenfield, Rickwood and Tran, 2001). Even when adults can draw some benefits from watching online pornography, the risk becomes greater than such gains when children become aware of the sex scenes and languages used in pornography. These children then grow up with a mentality that sex and the language used in pornographic materials are normal things to do even at their age. A study by Ybarra, Mitchell, Finkelhor and Wolak (2007) note that this is already happening as out of the 1500 boys and girls of ages 10 to 17 42 percent of them had been exposed to online pornography with the past year. Sixty-six percent of those who said they had accessed pornographic content over the internet said it was not planned but they just stumbled upon the sites. In addition, researchers found that children and youth who were depressed, delinquent and with interpersonal victimization become increasingly exposed to pornography. This further complicates the situation as vulnerable children and youth might develop further psychological complications in future. Consequently, the noted benefits from exposure to pornographic contents do not warrant conclusion that online pornography is not harmful. This is because the benefits on perception of sex and self that couples gain cannot enjoyed at the expense of the risk it has on the marriage. This is because online pornography has also been linked to divorce which means that the improved self-perception might not be shared by the partner leading to the dissolution of marriage. The connection of online pornography with reduction of sexual assault might look as a plausible way to conclude that it is not harmful however, people should be careful not to use something that damages other members of the society to benefit a section of the population. This is because continued exposure to pornographic content leads to formation of negative perception about women and sexuality while exposure in an early age leads young men to objectify women. The younger generation therefore pays a greater price for the increased access to pornographic content as they grow up viewing relationships in terms of sex leading to early initiation into active sex. Online sex is therefore harmful to society and should be limited as much as possible to prevent addiction that leads to the noted negative consequences. References Cebulko, S. (2007). The Impact of Internet Pornography on Married Women: A Psychodynamic Perspective. Amherst, New York: Cambria Press. Calvert, S. L., & Wilson, B. J. (Eds.). (2009). The handbook of children, media and development. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. DAmato, A. (2006). Porn up, rape down: Public Law and Legal Theory Research Paper Series Retrieved from http://anthonydamato.law.northwestern.edu/Adobefiles/porn.pdf Greenfield, P., Rickwood, P., & Tran, H. (2001). Effectiveness of Internet filtering software products. CSIRO Mathematical and Information Sciences. Hald, G. M., & Malamuth, N. M. (2008). Self-perceived effects of pornography consumption. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 37(4), 614-625. Ferguson, C. J., & Hartley, R. D. (2009). The pleasure is momentary… the expense damnable?: The influence of pornography on rape and sexual assault. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 14(5), 323-329. Paul, P. (2005). Pornified: How Pornography Is Damaging Our Lives, Our Relationships, and Our Families. New York: Henry Holt. Layden, M. A. (2010). Pornography and Violence: A New look at the Research. In James R. Stone J. R. and Hughes, D. (Ed). The Social Costs of Pornography. Princeton, New Jersey: The Witherspoon Institute. Segal, D. (2014, March 28). Does Porn Hurt Children? The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/29/sunday-review/does-porn-hurt-children.html?_r=0 Wilson, M. (2007). Hope After Betrayal: Healing When Sexual Addiction Invades Your Marriage. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Publications. Wolak, J., Mitchell, K., & Finkelhor, D. (2007). Unwanted and wanted exposure to online pornography in a national sample of youth Internet users. Pediatrics, 119(2), 247-257. Read More