Pornography and Its Impacts on Sexuality Today - Research Paper Example

Pornography and Its Impacts on Sexuality Today Pornography and its relationship with sexual aggressiveness is one of the most important issues that are hotly debated today. Pornography refers to any sexually explicit material displaying violet behaviour in most cases (Bevir 1081). It can also be defined as a type of hate propaganda that is threatening the safety of women and encouraging discrimination in the society (Procida and Rita 4). Pornography remains to be a controversial issue in the society with some arguing that it is a detrimental to society whereas others claim that it pleasurable to many people and part of individuals’ freedom. Studies concerning the impacts of pornography in the society focus on various outcomes including potential influences on sexual dysfunction, rape, and difficulties with sexual relationships among others. Individuals can easily access sexually explicit materials from the internet and the effect or influence of this is questionable. Today, exposure to pornography has left many sexually active and independent young women to engage in some sexual acts and do things that they do not want to do in bed which they later regret. According to many studies concerning this same topic, men were found to use sexually explicit materials from the internet as opposed to women. Indeed, watching pornography greatly affect individuals’ sexual behaviours which in turn influences their relationships negatively. Following an extensive research, this paper focuses on the relationship between pornography and sexual aggressiveness among individuals. Even though exposure to pornography has been associated with sexual violence and failing relationships, its contribution to sexual enhancement for some people should not be ignored. Individuals exposed to extreme pornographic images are more likely to become addicted or tolerant to such films and this in turn will affect their sexual response. Despite the presence of many studies conducted on this issue, there is still no clear evidence confirming that virtual pornographic images and films can make individuals become addicted to such acts. This is because addiction to porn sex or images influences individuals’ sexual experience in general making them to be sexually dysfunctional since the real sexual experiences do not arouse these addicts. In addition, most people using pornographic materials tend to fantasize about or imitate some of the scenes they have watched in these films in order to get aroused during sexual intercourse with their partners. Pornography is one common way through which individuals especially teenagers are drawn away from peer and family relationship into a life full of immorality, oppression, and sex confusion among others (McIntosh 198). While some scholars support the notion that exposure to pornographic materials negatively affects individuals’ sexuality and their intimate relationship and also increase rates of sexual crimes, others are suggesting no effect and do not therefore support the idea that elimination of pornography from the society will lead to reduced rates of sexual crimes. The views of the liberals encourage obscenity including pornography claiming that it is part of individuals’ free expression and so they are against the idea of promoting moral values in the society. On the other hand, social conservatives are more concerned with promoting morality in the society (Bevir 1081).Today, many in the liberal societies regard sexual themes and images as essential means of communication (Randall 199). In the contemporary world, sex is no longer about making love since the feelings and emotions that are always associated with this act including caring, affecting, connection and tenderness are not present in today’s sexual acts. Instead, feelings of hatred, fear, disgust, loathing and contempt prevail in today’s sexuality and this is adversely affecting intimate relationships. This shows that sex has lost its actual meaning in that the main intention of individuals engage in sexual intercourse is to express their love to each other, to show their partners that they care. However, this is not the case nowadays as most people engage in aggressive sexual activities just to satisfy themselves and nothing else. Pornographic films is negatively affecting individuals’ sexuality and relationships, for instance, studies reveal that young adults exposed to hardcore porn find it difficult to establish an intimate and lasting relationships. Today, the internet is readily accessible at a cheaper cost and so anyone including teens can have an access to hardcore porn anytime. Researchers argue that many teens access internet porn at an early age when they have not established any healthy relationships with opposite sex. By watching pornographic films, they have an access to images of brutal sex acts meant to dehumanize women. According to feminist theorists, exposure to pornographic films encourages some people to act violently towards women and so to them, pornography is a type of aggression (Bevir1082). Various scholars have suggested that negative impacts on early exposure to sexually explicit material on individuals’ sexual satisfaction because pornographic films are believed to suppress individuals’ intimacy. In addition, porn shapes and influences sexual imaginations and expressions of individuals in the society especially those who watch such films or those whose partners are exposed to these films. Anti-porn individuals perceive porn industry as being aggressive and harsh world of immoral behaviour. Many teenagers in this industry become addicted, depressed or even commit suicide (McIntosh 202). More so, they believe that sexual acts in the pornographic films mainly focus on personal self-gratification instead of giving and receiving mutual sexual pleasure.However, feminists perceive pornography not as the main factor that erodes existing societal norms but as part of their expression and confirmation (Buchloh and Rosalind 297). The most affected individuals by the porn culture are young women who after being exposed to these films begin to doubt their bodies, sexuality as well as their relationships. This is because in most cases, their sexual partners have high sexual expectations than usual, for instance, they expect them to indulge in different sexual acts and styles, which they have seen while watching pornographic films. Such expectations make young women not to be comfortable but they may be forced to conform to these expectations as a way of pleasing their partners because if they fail to do so, they may lose them. Some men use pornographic films as a way of grooming their sexual partners to engage in certain sexual activities, which in most cases are not obeyed by their partners (McNair 80). Many men are convinced that the kind of sex displayed in pornographic films is what women want and most of them become upset when their women refuses or are unable to play sex just like the porn stars they watch. In most cases, women decline to perform the sexual acts that their partners expects from them and in turn, men’s urge to have the real sex with their women diminishes. Studies confirm this claiming that when men routinely watch and enjoy or become excited by porn sex, they start viewing the real sex with real women as being boring and bland. This will in turn affect their intimate relationship with their sexual partners’ hence unstable relationship. Therefore, porn sex reduces sexuality especially of that of men and it changes individuals’ perceptions concerning sex (Buchloh and Rosalind 297). More so, exposure to pornographic films negatively influence sexuality and relationship today as some scholars argue that instead of liberating or empowering individuals, pornography provides a set of sex acts that are not connected with human emotions or intimacy. Pornographic films creates false expectations to men about what women want to be satisfied sexually such as aggressiveness, multiple sexual partners, and verbal abuse among others. Notably, these sexual acts displayed in the pornographic films lack feelings of respect, caring and loving leaving many individuals particularly porn addicts to remain committed in their relationships. Arguably, some men who are porn addicts have difficulty in reaching orgasm withouthaving a look at porn images or thinking about having sex with their favorite porn star when they are with their women. As a result, they are emotionally disconnected from their real women because they expect their women to do the same or better than their favorite porn star. These men desensitize their women to the sexual act they are performing because they expect more from them. They expect them not to be just their sexual partners but to be like their favorite porn star. This for sure will lead to unstable and chaotic relationship since such men will feel unsatisfied sexually by their sexual partners in real life. There are many effects that pornographic films have on marriage relationships including reduced trust, negative views of sexual intimacy, decreased emotional and physical intimacy, and reduced sensitivity and tenderness among others (Reid and Daniel 17). Researchers have pointed out pornography as one of the social forces that play a leading role in shaping and directing men’s sexual violence against women. Pornography has been associated with various attitudes towards the sexuality of women with some arguing that it is encourages sexual expression while others associates it with humiliation and violence (McNair 82). Some people strongly condemn pornographic materials in the society claiming that the sexual acts displayed in such films are all about shame, humiliation, and degradation instead of feelings of pleasure, intimacy and love (Sabo 9). Exposure to pornographic films is associated with rape fantasies and behaviors associated with sexual violence against women. Research findings reveal that those individuals who are exposed to sexually explicit materials are high risk of accepting the myths related to rape and they are therefore more likely to rape women (Greenberg, Bruess and Conklin 662). It is believed that porn sex and violence that it entails is the force behind sexually aggressive behavior in real life. A study conducted about the association between pornographic films and sexual behaviors and it was noted that those who are exposed to pornographic film do get sexually aroused, fanaticized about, with some even trying to perform sex acts they have watched in these films. More so, another study conducted on the same revealed a significant relationship between aggressive sexual behaviors and explicit sexual materials. According to this study, the relationship between the two remains constant even when other variables related to aggressive sexual behavior were controlled. On the contrary, some people have argued that pornography does not negatively affect sexuality and that it does not necessarily encourage sexual aggressiveness against women. They perceive pornography in the context of women’s socialization and so they have to conform to sexual aggression and accept it as part of a sexual event. Those supporting pornography claim that there is no convincing evidence to provide enough proof that early exposure to sexually explicit materials negatively affects individuals’ sexuality and relationships. They argue that, yes pornography has become more explicit but they are not convinced if it has changed much in the society claiming that sexual themes and images has been part of human fantasy life (Randall 199). On the same, radical feminists argue that sex is violent in nature and so sex is the root cause of injustices towards women (Slade 996). More so, supporters claim that various researches conducted confirm that other social forces in the society including domestic violence also play a role in influencing sexual behavior and so exposure to pornographic films is not the only factor. They argue further that in societies that allowed pornography, rape and other sex related crimes did not necessarily increase.While many people believe that antisocial behavior and porn images cannot be linked; they believe that aggressive sexual acts displayed in these films leads to increased desensitization of rape cases in the society (Slade 995). Moreover, scholars noted the differences between the sexual behaviors of adolescents exposed to online pornography and those teens that are not exposed to porn sex. Researchers revealed that risky sexual behaviors were not linked to exposure to online pornography among adolescentsand that exposure to these films is not linked with negative attitudes towards women (Greenberg, Bruess and Conklin 662). Advocates for porn sex argue that these films do not really interferes with individuals’ sexuality and they claim that the relationship between aggressive sex and changing attitude towards sexual intercourse versus exposure to explicit sexual materials is mainly influenced by the gender of individuals and their perception about porn sex as be real. Furthermore, research findings were not in line with the argument that exposure to pornography is closely related to aggressive sexual behaviors among individuals, however, they agree with the claim that early exposure to such materials are at a higher risk of being affected sexually. In most cases, individuals mainly focus on the negative effects of pornography in the society and little attention is paid on the positive effects of pornography particularly on an individuals’ sex life. Supporters of pornographic films in the society argue that pornography play a very significant role in expanding individuals’ sexual horizons through normalization. In addition, exposure to these films also gives some people morale to explore new sexual behaviours and sexual relationships. Porn advocates believe that pornography itself is not the main problem here because it is just individuals having sex and displayed on the screen, which in some cases are not convincing. The effect of such materials depends on the person’s perceptions on what they see, what they think about the sexual acts displayed, and the real sex they engage in with their partners. Therefore, the main view of various proponents of pornographic films is that exposure to these films does not affect individuals’ sexuality and intimate relationships, but the effects of such films can be mediated by individuals’ gender and sexual preference identity. In conclusion, pornography negatively affects sexuality and relationships and this significantly affect the intimate lives of many people today. Exposure to pornographic films gives men false expectation of what their women want in bed such as aggressiveness and verbal abuse among others. More so, these films make men feel that women need multiple sexual partners in order to get satisfied sexually. In most cases, women are the victims because their partners expect more from them especially after watching porn sex. As long as porn exists, women will never be perceived as complete human beings who deserve all the rights that men have. Therefore, there is need to create a very vibrant movement that will help in eradicating filthy pornographic films and fight for a just society where women are treated with equally as men and with a lot of care and love from their partners. Overall, there is urgent need for proper and cohesive sex education to address negative effects of watching pornography. There are many reasons for sex education including men’s persistent urge to ask for sex, and their perception about sex has completely changed because of their exposure to porn. For instance, some men believe that ejaculating on their women’s breast, hair or face is something that is trending and is not a big deal. More so, sex education is necessary because women are complaining about their sex lives claiming that they are fed of being called names in bed by their partners. Again, sex education programs should include certain contents that are likely to increase media literacy and help individuals’especially young people to critically interpret pornographic films and images that they are exposed to. Moreover, there is need to create awareness about pornography and its effects among adolescents and young adults. Teens need to know about the implications of watching sexually explicit materials from the internet. Educating and creating awareness about sex and intimate relationships will help in reducing cases of porn sex addiction. This will in turn help many people to build strong and lasting relationships with their partners characterized by love, satisfaction, tenderness, and caring among others. Works Cited Bevir, Mark. Encyclopedia Of Political Theory. London: SAGE, 2010. Buchloh, Benjamin H. D, and Rosalind Krauss. October. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1997. Print. Greenberg, Jerrold S., Bruess, Clint E., and Conklin, Sarah C.Exploring the Dimensions of Human Sexuality.Jones & Bartlett Publishers, 2010. McIntosh, Andrew. The Two Suggestions: If Ten Commandments Are Too Tough, Try Two Suggestions. Mustang, OK: Tate Publishing & Enterprises, LLC, 2010. Print. McNair, Brian. Porno? Chic!:How Pornography Changed the World and Made it a Better Place. London: Routledge, 2013.Print. Procida, Richard, and Rita J. Simon. Global Perspectives on Social Issues: Pornography. Lanham, Md: Lexington Books, 2003. Print. Randall, Richard S. Freedom and Taboo: Pornography and the Politics of a Self Divided. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989. Print. Reid, Rory C, and Daniel D. Gray. Confronting Your Spouses Pornography Problem. Sandy, Utah: Silverleaf Press, 2006. Print. Sabo, Anne G. After Pornified: How Women Are Transforming Pornography & Why It Really Matters.Winchester, UK: Zero Books, 2012. Print. Slade, Joseph W. Pornography and Sexual Representation: A Reference Guide. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2000. Print. Read More