Pornography: The drug of the century
Every day, you and I are bombarded with sexually charged imagery. Naked or nearly naked women are on the covers of magazines, in movies, on TV, and, of course, in pornography that is readily available on the internet. Just the super bowl alone attracts over 108 million viewers; consequently, most of the commercials during the game were about sex on some level, and the “halftime show” featuring Beyoncé execution a strip club act. No matter, how much we try to avoid it, pornography has become inescapable just like the air we breathe it consumes us and we become hooked. Even kid friendly cartoons like Sponge Bob, Rug rats, and Dexter hint at some sort of sexualized activity in kid friendly dialogue. In the sexually charged society we live in, it’s hard not to imagine the consequence of such demoralizing act. So what is pornography? According to Merriam-Webster, pornography is “ movies, pictures, magazines, etc., that show or describe naked people or sex in a very open and direct way in order to cause sexual excitement” and why is it so detrimental for society. Pornography can easily become an addiction given the hormonal changes that take place during its viewing, giving rise to an array of complications includes: marital problems, extramarital affairs, feeling insecure about one’s body, risky sex, and can even lead to sexual abuse and rape. What I find fascinating is how acceptable pornography has become, while drugs like cocaine and marijuana are condemned because of the side effects which includes: depression, psychosis, lack of physical coordination, and sleepiness, but pornography: a drug that kills the souls, the very thing that makes us human, leading to depression, extramarital affairs, risky sex, not being able to concentrate on family or work, is somehow become acceptable. In order to better understand the other’s perspective, I decided to investigate what a typical American has to say about issue and my first stop was Yahoo; a place where an average Joe can feel free to speak his mind. What I read was even more disturbing. For example Big C posted the question “My 11 year old sister watches porn?” and the overwhelming response reiterated the very thing I was afraid of, “pornography is OK”. Yahoo user Teppy, suggested that the brother, “Just leave her. My little sister does the same thing and it's actually helping her understand more of the human body and how it works. My sister is only 8 and I've told my parents and they had no problem with...Your sister is 11, so I think she is at a right age to be learning about and discovering this sort of stuff. As long as she is not harming herself by doing so, she should be fine (Yahoo).”
I am baffled by the majority response to porn, while this sample group may or may not reflect the popular belief, what’s intriguing is the moral reasoning or rationale people use to justify the use of pornography. Allowing pornography for adolescence is like giving kids a lollipop and preventing them from licking it. It’s like saying here is a drug that could mess you up for life but just use it cautiously. How can an eleven year old girl who is learning about the nature of the human body be told to watch pornography and not act on it. If she wants to learn about the body, take an anatomy and physiology course, surely she’s old enough for that. Behavior physiologists are probably pulling their hair by now; a child is only going to emulate the behavior it observes most often whether by elders or the internet, especially if the behavior leads to pleasurable outcome. What most people fail to understand is it’s affects at the chemical level and it’s neurological consequences. By now you might be wondering what makes porn so dangerous? When a viewer looks at porn, testosterone, dopamine, oxytocin, and serotonin are released, creating what Dr. Judith Reisman refers to as an “erototoxin” . The chemical change, which causes the person engaging in the