The Internet Pornography: The Dangers Of The Internet

Internet Pornography

Pornography has been around for a very long time and has been created in many different mediums. The most recent of these mediums is the Internet. It is essential to take a look at how this new medium has impacted the production and use of pornography. Specifically, it is important to examine the ways that the Internet has made the pornography more dangerous. Pornography has many potential dangers such as emotional and sexual dissatisfaction, poor body image, unhealthy views of women and sexual relationships, and the exploitation of children. Many aspects of the Internet have changed pornography and the way it is obtained and used. Because of the Internet, pornography is more easily accessible, can be used anonymously,

Research shows that pornography is the only type of entertainment to specifically affect sexual dissatisfaction. A study by Schneider found that 68% of 94 respondents in a relationship with someone with a “cybersex addiction” reported less sexual intimacy (Manning 142). A study by Stewart and Szymanski found that pornography use had a significant negative affect on sexual satisfaction for couples in a longer relationship (Stewart & Szymanski 266). Pornography causes some women to feel that their partner is no longer attracted to them. Other women feel that while their partner still has sexual desire for them, their partner now treats them more as an object than a person (Bergner & Bridges 197). A decrease in sexual satisfaction between a couple can cause strain and bitterness in the

Because most people who view pornography are men, pornography is written and directed to please men. A study of free Internet pornography found that 55% of the sampled videos that had at least two people in them showed the woman naked more than the man. The other videos showed the woman and man naked equally, and only one of the videos showed the man naked more than the woman (Gorman, Monk-Turner, & Fish 142). Because pornography is mostly targeted towards men, often times, relationships shown in pornography appear unequal and one-sided. Often the pornography shows the purpose of sex to be only the pleasure of the man. Many times the woman is treated as if she were a sex toy. The man doesn’t ask what he can do for her, he only tells her what she can do for him. A lot of pornography also reinforces gender roles, showing men as strong, in control, and dominating and showing women as weak, powerless, and submissive. The same study found that 33% of videos with at least two people had a “major theme…of a man (or men) being in a dominant position” and that 47% of the videos with at least two people had “acts of submission” and “when submission occurred, it was always the female in the submissive role” (Gorman, Monk-Turner, & Fish 138). Viewing these unhealthy sexual relationships could change men’s and women’s ideas about what a normal and