Porn and Its Side Effects

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Pornography can be defined as the use of sexually explicit materials which are intended mainly for sexual arousal. It has been a subject of great concern especially in connection to violence against women as well as moral degradation in the society (Slade). The emergence of the internet has resulted to greater consumption of pornographic materials by individuals of all ages, mostly the youth. Pornographic content is more graphic than ever before in the history of mankind, while accessibility has become much easier. This is a great social problem which has stirred a lot of debate in many spheres, including feminists, politicians as well as liberal thoughts (Easton). One of the most damaging effects of pornography is that it destroys relationships among people since it affects the perceptions that individuals have about others. Furthermore, it encourages unrealistic sexual expectations, degrades women, enhances disloyalty in families and also encourages violence and promiscuity. More young adults are obsessed with the use of pornography content than those 20 years ago and research shows that this obsession has negative effects such as difficulty in face-to-face interactions. It might seem that censoring pornography would eliminate the obsession, but if censorship increases, then so will curiosity about porn and that will lead to increased use, resulting in back and forth struggle rather than a solution.
History of Pornography
It can be noted that in a certain way, pornography has always been connected to advancement in technology as well as means of communication. Its critical history can be traced to an author known as Nicolas-Edme Rétif de la Bretonne who wrote a pornographic novel in 1798. Arguably, he played a great role in defi...

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...al activities earlier in life (McCarthy 85). This presents greats risks such as having birth at a young age, or worse, contracting dangerous diseases such as HIV/AIDS (Sinković, Stulhofer and Božić 633).
Pornography degrades the moral values of a society. With increased pornography in the contemporary society, sex is no longer a sacred act shared between two people who love each other. Sex has been abused by many people, while there has been an increase in promiscuity (Sabo 150). In addition, the perceptions that people have about sex and women has changed. Women are seen as objects or instruments of sexual satisfaction. They are no longer respected while men expect sexual gratification from acts that can even be termed as beastly. The effects are far reaching as young people as young as 12 years have been fed with the same perception (Peter and Valkenburg 179).

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