There is no doubt about how the internet has altered the way in which relationships are formed and how we interact with each other, yet it seems that the general consensus is that the mass distribution of internet porn is purely bad for you. Negative terms like ‘addiction’ and ‘epidemic’ are frequently used to describe the attitude towards internet pornography. Dr. Phil’s free online relationship advice says that users of internet pornography reflect behavior that is “perverse and ridiculous intrusion…it is an insult, it is disloyal and it is cheating”, which is very much the typical conservative view that is regularly reinforced in popular media. Aside from the raging conservatives who claim pornography is ruining adult relationships, the major concerns are related to the vast accessibility and distribution of child pornography as well as the readily available explicit material to anyone at any age material that many critics argue to be corrupting society’s morale. It is easy to blame the internet when increasingly younger digital natives are exposed to such content that feminists against often argue perpetuate the objectification of women and create unrealistic expectations and standards of beauty.
Pornographic materials are merely illusions; fantasies that temporarily fulfill human sexual urges by the repeated act of downloading, watching and fornication. How is this any different from women or men fantasizing about other women or men during sexual intercourse with their partners? Perhaps for some, oblivion is bliss. Despite the allegations against pornography, there are couples who watch porn together to maintain a healthy sexual relationship and marriages that have been saved by allowing mutual playful experimentation. Recent findings by Milton Diamond regarding the correlation between the use of pornography and the reduction in sex-related crimes have also sparked many enthusiasts. Through research on jailed rapists and non-rapists, Diamond discusses relationship between the widespread of pornography and decrease in sex crimes that suggests that recreational users of pornography in its entirety allows for harmless diversion; no STDs, no infidelity and no ‘morning after’ scares. The studies found that many high sex offenders were the ones who had a strict and repressive religious up-bringing, whereby the surveyed rapists and child molesters were found to have consumed significantly less porn than the control group of normal males. Maybe easy access to porn isn’t such a bad idea after all.
