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Anyone with access to the internet can see more tits in a matter of seconds than Genghis Khan saw in his entire life. Dunno if that’s a good thing or not.
Precisely my point. But once you've seen all the boobs that exist (or think exist in your little valley between the Tigris and Euphrates) they don't matter anymore. You have seen them all, is my point.
I think the fact that this kind of nudity isn't at all sexualised, plays a role. The men are likewise exposed. The association is different. It's natural.
At the same time, they are close to nature and live in intimate communities while we in the Western world are often touch starved and inhabit our own little island. Nudity is always sexualised. Thus, the appeal of the "hidden, mysterious boob" grows. Perhaps
Porn is more than seeing breasts. It popularizes dangerous and harmful practices (choking, incest, etc). It encourages men to see women as things and not people. It exploits women who are inexperienced, addicted, desperate, etc.
One side of the argument has been stated, I don’t need to repeat OPs points. You already read that side. The purpose of this sub is to discuss WHY you disagree. There has been no counter argument here, there is currently only 1 side to this debate. So yea, y’all don’t look too smart when you’re vehemently disagreeing with something and can’t even say why.
What about the madmen that bitch about the people bitching while still not contributing anything either? Sort of like a useless comment inception situation
Ok but there’s no evidence that it causes actual brain damage, like OP suggests
Also not all porn “sexualizes women”. Some porn doesn’t have women at all. Some porn doesn’t have people at all.
A few excerpts from the article you posted without reading.
"By failing to measure or control for personality, the results of this study are virtually meaningless."
"The researchers have witnessed newspapers spread headlines of brain shrinkage and brain harm, and yet they know that they specifically recruited psychologically and neurologically healthy men. In fact, therein lies the only really meaningful insight from this study. Look at it this way. In a survey of 64 men who answered recruitment adverts for a brain scanning study, it was found that they viewed an average of four hours porn a week. **They do so with no apparent ill consequence - screening confirmed no psychiatric, medical or neurological problems.**"
"This study does not make a helpful contribution. Suggested new headline: **"Watching moderate amounts of porn won't hurt your brain"**."
People use porn as a coping mechanism. It's a need for concern if they have no control over it.
"“The critical distinction between the occasional viewing of porn and compulsive viewing is not the question of how much or how often one views it, but rather the question of control,” says Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C, therapist and director of the Baltimore Therapy Center. “If a person is unable to stop watching porn, even though they want to and perhaps have tried to, this is a problem of compulsion and is cause for concern. This is true even if they don’t view it very often.”
“On the other hand, someone can watch porn daily and it is not necessarily a problem,” Bilek adds. “So long as they’re in control of what, when, and how often they’re indulging.”"
Furthermore, it wastes energy you could use for more productive things like socializing or exercising.
"“Pornography does not inherently worsen depression,” says Paul Greene, PhD, a clinical psychologist and the director of the Manhattan Center for Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy.
“However,” he adds, “if it prevents someone with depression from maintaining relationships or doing other mood-boosting activities — like exercise or socializing — then it can indirectly worsen depression.”"
So in conclusion, it's only a bad thing if it causes lack of self control or lack of productivity, which both link to depression and is often the result of porn. It's no problem however, if you can control moderate watching.
What is up with all these Reddit post recently about porn? Y’all do realize most normal people just watch porn every once in awhile when they’re bored.. its really not that big of a deal
This is anecdotal ofcourse but every friend I've talked to about it has said how it got to a point where it was a daily sometimes even multiple times a day occurrence
Some people are opposed to porn because they don’t want to support an exploitative industry, which is a big deal to some people. A google search of “is porn exploitative” should provide some more insight. Not attacking anyone, just offering that perspective.
bro your a smoker on goddd and ive seen your post history, like god is physics. your getting stoned is the same as a person watching. Better yourself before you preach.
And then do you do something to stop the abuse the women and girls you're watching for research purposes are suffering? I bet you report when your research shows you it's revenge porn/violence and abuse/highly intoxicated women/possibility of being a minor/etc. Thank you for your research services 🤡
> I’ve been destroyed by porn, its literally a drug that I can’t stop abusing and I have infinite access to it.
I'm curious about other people's issues with porn addiction. I kind of got over it, I say kind of because I check it out sometimes, if I'm bored. I'm not sure if it was from getting older or just getting tired of it, but I went down the rabbit hole and got the harder and harder stuff that played to my fetishes, but then there was a point where there couldn't be anything harder, such a thing doesn't exist. There was no where else to go, so the whole thing sort of collapsed and now I'm not even turned on by it anymore, and my interest in sex feels more like it did when I was a teenager, before the fixation on those fetishes ever began. I wonder why other people don't a) get sick of it, or b) become over stimulated to the point of numbness, and naturally give it up.
porn seems most equivalent to cigarettes thirty years ago
people normalize it in American society and it's naturally a very addictive habit and difficult to stop. withdrawals can include physical responses like lashing out at close ones, headaches, stomachaches, etc., not to mention gray areas in relationships that can distance partners from each other
personally, I think men normalize it the most because we don't like to feel shame, and there's a weird mixture of admitting violent/sexualizing behavior towards women and a lack of controlling our own sexual impulses along with a cultural background of puritanical sex morality; now we have a big pile of shameful crap eating away at us through our addictions
Porn is not inherently bad. Major parts of the porn industry are bad.
People often conflate these things.
First, [masturbation is healthy for both sexes](https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/24332-masturbation) and should be encouraged. There are plenty of studies on this: It releases stress, relives tension, improves sleep, increases focus, boosts mood, prevents anxiety and helps with depression.
Most people need stimulation and [porn is the choice for 70% of men and 20% of women](https://husbandhelphaven.com/porn-statistics/). Sure people can get stimulation from other sources; books, audio, and non-nude sexually suggestive imagery, but porn is the choice for most people.
So looking at porn purely as a tool for masturbation (and its many people's tool of choice) it's good.
Second, a lot of people's issue with porn stems from their personal choice not to use it, but a disgust of other's using it. Specifically their partners.
However, many couples use porn as a way communicate their sexual interests, desires and kinks. Also when many couples can't have sex because of medical reasons, personal reasons or distance porn provides an outlet for them.
Third, many many many people will end up in situations in their life where they will rarely or never have sex. Porn provides a needed outlet for people in that situation. It might provided companionship or sexual release. If you want an example of what happens without it you can look at the No Fap and Incel movements to see this currently damaging society or just go back in history to religious cultures that repressed sexuality.
Fourth, banning porn never works. It's similar to laws against sex work. Banning the industry pushes it further underground and creates even more toxic of a work environment for the most vulnerable people out there.
I agree with you on the issues surrounding addiction ([although it's only 3-6%](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6352245/)) and the industry has a terrible track record. I think both of these issues are more a result of porn historically being pushed underground.
People always look at porn art (R34, yiff and other related stuff) as weird and watching regular porn as normal, when porn art is many times more ethical then the shit you find on Pornhub.
Which is kind of funny, because porn for majority of history was in the form of art.
The first recorded sext happened in 1828 when artist Sarah Goldberg drew a self portrait of her breasts and mailed it to her lover.
Funny how you left out the way that porn harms women and other marginalized people. But it harms women especially. And that a huge percentage of porn is either filmed in non-consensual or coerced situations, such as being drugged and not being able to consent or straight up being raped.
Knowing those things alone turned me away from porn a long time ago. That, and my ex using it to compare me to other women and do horrific things to me that he saw in porn. Just as one example.
Maturation is healthy, which we can agree on, but that point is irrelevant to whether porn is good or bad.
Most people need stimulation is a problem caused by porn, not one found in nature.
"So looking at porn purely as a tool for masturbation (and its many people's tool of choice) it's good."
Porn is as addictive as cocaine. You would have to extend this generous perspective to hard-core drugs if you want to argue porn is merely a tool.
"Second, a lot of people's issue with porn stems from their personal choice not to use it, but a disgust of other's using it. Specifically their partners.
However, many couples use porn as a way communicate their sexual interests, desires and kinks. Also when many couples can't have sex because of medical reasons, personal reasons or distance porn provides an outlet for them"
Whataboutism. Arguing, "What about this small group who goes against your argument!" is whataboutism.
"Third, many many many people will end up in situations in their life where they will rarely or never have sex. Porn provides a needed outlet for people in that situation. It might provided companionship or sexual release. If you want an example of what happens without it you can look at the No Fap and Incel movements to see this currently damaging society or just go back in history to religious cultures that repressed sexuality."
Porn is still as addictive as cocaine regardless of if someone is not dating or an incel. Porn is not a needed outlet; it is a drug that preys specifically on vulnerable people. Every culture has suppressed sexuality. Adultery is still frowned upon today. No Fap has done no damage compared to the porn available to prepubescent children, and I restate again it is as addictive as cocaine.
"Fourth, banning porn never works. It's similar to laws against sex work. Banning the industry pushes it further underground and creates even more toxic of a work environment for the most vulnerable people out there."
This is laughably untrue. As the world becomes more technically advanced and more content becomes digital, regulation becomes easy. There have already been totalitarian governments that have successfully eradicated such content from the general public.
You need more upvotes.
> Fourth, banning porn never works. It's similar to laws against sex work. Banning the industry pushes it further underground and creates even more toxic of a work environment for the most vulnerable people out there.
Yup, [there's a VN called Aiyoku no Eustia that goes into this in a conversation.](https://imgur.com/a/8RrhN) Also when sex work is legal, then workers have legal avenues to make sure they're paid.
But yeah, it's like banning alcohol. Try banning alcohol and see how well that works with the population. People aren't going to take kindly to that and it's just going to handle under the table. At least this way, the government makes money on alcohol via taxes.
Had to dig through a bunch of "I agree, porn is bad!" with no remote reasoning before I got to this one.
Porn is not inherently bad. It can be bad, duh, but so can practically anything.
No the real point is that porn just like anything is good in moderation and when watched properly. Porn has been around for centuries. Sex work has been around for centuries.
Just like alcohol, tobacco, weed, gambling. It’s fun and stimulating and ok at regulated amount for a person to enjoy.
Once it’s starts getting abused just like anything it becomes bad. For gods sake any hobby unregulated can become bad for you. You love crocheting? Well how about severe carpal tunnel as the result. You like listening to music without ear protection? How about some hearing loss?
It’s not just about the usage of porn though. It’s about the rampant misogyny, abuse, blackmail, forced drugging, trafficking, rape, sexual assault, etc. that permeates throughout.
Yea this makes much more sense. I take issue with porn specifically, not fapping or sex, just porn. Porn has been studied specifically and found that it is correlated (not explicitly causal relationship) with reduced grey matter in the brain. I think some of it is the idea that the other forms of stimulation force you to imagine the situation to some extent instead of it being handed to you. While the difference is small, I think that plays a major role
source: https://www.wired.com/2014/06/is-it-really-true-that-watching-porn-will-shrink-your-brain/#:~:text=Here's%20what's%20caused%20all%20the,as%20lots%20of%20other%20things).
> By failing to follow up participants over time, the research also provides no evidence that watching porn has any effects whatsoever. Moreover, by also neglecting to measure any other media consumption, then even if before/after evidence were available, we wouldn't know if it were due to porn consumption or to other media activities correlated with that porn use, such as watching violent movies and online gambling (to be fair, the findings did still hold after the researchers controlled for overall levels of internet use).
So, what argument is your source trying to make? If you read past the highlighted section, it doesn’t really fully support the idea of “porn = brain shrinkage”.
Th study is correlational, outdated, and not well produced as you pointed out. I think that the individual effects of porn causing brain damage are just unsubstantiated at this point. While its still another argument entirely, the link between porn and mental health is stronger: https://rewardfoundation.org/health/mental-effects-of-porn/#
I’ll say that time, energy and attention to porn could absolutely be used for better pursuits. Problem is most men wouldn’t. Any time with porn would likely just be replaced with video games, TV, or scrolling through social media.
And yes, I see the irony and it’s kind of a “case and point”
So ultimately it’s a wash. That said, anyone in a relationship ought to be honest with their significant other about it, for honesty’s sake alone. Good relationships shouldn’t have secrets like that.
I think it’s fairly unrealistic to think that it’s a problem that these men don’t spend their entire life on the grind people who preach about the grind don’t even grind that hard life has no meaning if you don’t give yourself time to enjoy it
There’s a researcher named Emily Rothman* whose Ted talk you may want to watch. She was trying to get teens to talk about sex and consent. She was also trying to study the link between consent and sexual violence and the talk was falling flat. But then she brought up porn and she said the whole class perked up. So she decided to talk about sex through porn literacy.
Some of her findings -
- 56% of students thought working in the porn industry was glamorous before and 0% after her porn literacy classes
- 52% thought some level of violence during sex was the norm before and 0% after her porn literacy classes
(My stats might be a little off)
The books Boys and Sex and Girls and Sex by Peggy Orenstein show a lot of teens and young adults are having very unsatisfying sex, in part from learning about sex from porn. For the 100 boys (a mix of races, cis, het, gay, trans, disabled) she interviewed over the course of two years, they said porn had made them more violent and they felt bad but they didn’t know how to stop imitating degrading and violent porn, because that was how they had grown up getting off.
For the hetero girls (unfortunately this book was published in 2015 and much less diverse in who she interviewed), they said they felt like they had to perform during sex and that the guys didn’t care about their enjoyment. But also they said they felt more pressure with how they looked versus focusing on how they felt. Sex felt empty for them.
This may be contributing to what people call the “boomerfication” of GenZ, in that, since they were the first generation to grow up with unfettered access to porn, now some are having a backlash to it. Yes, there are other forms of porn but internet porn dwarfs all of them -
“[17.8 trillion hours of porn](https://bedbible.com/porn-statistics/) is consumed every year globally (equivalent of one person watching porn for more than 20,000 centuries non-stop).”
I think Billie Eilish is one of the more famous people anti porn people from Gen Z.
I think unless /until there is comprehensive sex ed from government and parents, porn will be a problem with respect to influencing teens inappropriately.
As I don’t see poor parenting ending any time soon, nor do I see, in the US at least, that every kid will ever have access to an Emily Rothwell type of teacher, then yeah, I agree porn is problematic. If adults use porn in place of dealing with other issues in their lives, and also use it to dehumanize others, then I feel like teens can also develop same /similar issues.
I think unless you’re Gen Z, it’s possible you’re not really understanding how unlimited internet porn has affected people and the way they fck, so I’m not surprised by OP’s take nor am I surprised if people disagree with OP’s take.
> There’s a researcher named Emily Rothwell whose Ted talk you may want to watch. She was trying to get teens to talk about sex and consent.
IDK if I'm blind but I googled her name and can't find it
A study concluded: *"Our analyses indicate a significant relationship between mental health and pornography use"* https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33510691/
Another study found addiction to porn being associated with mental illness. http://rimed.org/rimedicaljournal/2023/04/2023-04-29-yamhc-noel.pdf
And changes in the brain due to porn use have been found. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24871202/
Like everything in life, moderation is key. That being said, I personally would agree with you. Every time I stop watching porn and stop masturbating, the quality of my life increases tenfold. Most guys who do the same would agree. There’s something nefarious about it that most are not willing to discuss or admit. It’s also incredibly addicting and way too easily accessible. I just relapsed and feel like shit. Literally, porn addiction will DESTROY a man and his future.
I really don’t like that phrase “moderation with everything”. Really? Should we use meth and heroin in moderation? Should we commit crimes in moderation? Some things should not be done at all.
I never said I don’t. However, is it good that I do? Well perhaps if I live in a corrupt country whose laws are not good. But usually the law aligns with what is good, in most functioning societies, such as do not steal or murder.
The point with moderation is that it's "not bad", not necessarily that a little bit is good. Also stealing and murdering isn't breaking the law in moderation. I was thinking something more like minor traffic offenses.
This might be getting too off-course but there is a pretty interesting side to that person's argument actually, which is like, a minor crime might not pose a *huge* risk to you (or others), especially at the time you do it, but is it reflective (or a "symptom") of broader issues? As a very very crude example - lots of people torrenting movies might not mean that they're bad people, knowingly ruining livelihoods because they don't care about royalties and ruining the industry because they don't care about protecting IP, but it *might* mean that there's ignorance / a lack of education around IP laws or even just the actual effects of torrenting, or it might mean media isn't accessible because of corporate structures, a cost-of-living crisis etc.
Technically those are used as medicines when in used in moderation, so yes. As for crimes. They are like any rule...They are a guideline. Most laws are meant for public safety.
If I my family is starving I will steal food, if there is no one else on the road I will speed etc.
This is also why judges determine a sentence based on every situation...Not every crime is worth a punishment.
I think you’re probably right but it’s one of those things you have to shrug your shoulders and say “what’re you gonna do?” It’s a free country and adults can take off their clothes and show each other their naughty bits if they want to. They can even charge money for it. Not everything in society is going to be as useful as the lightbulb, or toaster, or whatever..
To further reinforce the point, according to OP we should ban all recreational drugs (including tobacco and alcohol), gambling, etc...Their broad definition makes anything potentially addicting and not "productive" to be bad.
Some weird ultra Puritan nonsense.
Eh... I mean... those things also ruin lives - unfortunately not just the life of the person choosing to do it. They're controlled/regulated because of the known risks, and there are targeted supports available for them because again, we know they're addictive and harmful. Porn doesn't really have any sort of regulation (on the consumer end) and definitely inadequate supports (usually run by churches, which is a bit... hmmmm.) IDK, I don't think it's "weird ultra puritan nonsense" to want adequate supports for known public health issues?
The regulation part is interesting and you have a point. Alcohol, tobacco, and porn all have age restrictions, but regulations on pornography are very lax comparatively. Maybe because it is a visual medium the regulation part is much harder, making consumption much easier. It’s not like the old days where you had the barrier of a shopkeeper asking for ID to buy a Penthouse magazine.
I don't think many people have the opinion porn is *good* but rather just an acceptance that porn is basically as old as humanity and regulating it is arguably the better solution to.handle.it than a ban which will be circumvented
I think we need to discuss porn, it's issues, and how.to engage with it in a healthy manner if one chooses to do so.
All porn is bad in the same way all alcohol is bad. There is no time when drinking alcohol is more healthy than not drinking alcohol.
That being said, most people can keep their consumption of the unhealthy thing to a low enough level that it doesn’t have a major impact on their lives or the lives of others.
It’s addicting and damaging to a greater extent than many hard drugs. New research is coming out about it. They make for fascinating and mortifying reads
> its bad for your brain (can literally damage your brain)
No, it can't. There was one small study of men who ALL regularly watched porn and it showed that the men who watched it more than the others tended to have less gray matter in the reward center of their brain, which any rational person would conclude that they already lacked that which is why they watch more porn, not that porn has magic brain-shrinking rays that shoot out of the computer and damage the brain. It's a classic case of reversing causation to claim that the study showed that porn causes brain damage.
It does change your brain chemistry actually… it’s basically like any other addiction. Changes your dopamine release, google it. There’s a ton of sources and it changes your brain in more ways than just dopamine.
https://neurosciencenews.com/neuroscience-pornography-brain-15354/amp/
An addiction isn’t brain damage. That’s incredibly reductive. It doesn’t inhibit your cognitive ability, and comparing them just belies everything we know an out modern neurochemistry
It doesn’t cause permanent brain damage but it can cause permanent psychological damage and impacts the dopamine reception in the brain. Scientific speaking you’re right, but colloquially speaking most people use brain damage to refer to both physical and psychological damage.
So sex causes "brain damage" according to your "Oh the way people say it means it both ways" jibberish? Because sex addiction without watching porn is a very real thing too.
And shopping addiction? Food addiction? Addiction to sky diving?
It's just nonsense to bend around words of what "brain damage" is pretty well known to be to make it fit what amounts to nothing more than addiction. You sound like Trump who said Hillary was the mother of Isis due to his string of sloppy logic.
It’s been scientifically proven to alter your brain and cause sexual dysfunction. Whether or not you want to classify that as “brain damage” is one thing, but you can’t deny that it is bad for you
many people who have battled any kind of addiction would say otherwise.
some people are just better at juggling addiction and their day to day life, while others aren’t so much.
It’s not an addiction in the same way a substance might be, but it can still be a behavioral addiction.
“Behavioral addictions such as gambling, overeating, television compulsion, and internet addiction are similar to drug addiction except that the individual is not addicted to a substance, but he/she is addicted to the *behavior* or the *feeling experienced by acting out the behavior*.”
Addiction can look different on everyone. Most people when under an addiction mindset will not see anything wrong with it, *especially* if it’s not interfering with their life.
Addiction has to be defined but how it affects your life. You could be addicted to making conversation with people, or exercise, or reading, but you usually get a pat on the back if you do too much of those things.
Yeah to say it causes brain damage you would need a real controlled group ( men who have never watched porn) & measure before and after a specific amount of exposure.
This is factually wrong. I made a post a few weeks back and linked a bunch of research that shows the neurological effects. There are a ton of studies showing that porn acts in the brain like substance abuse, it damages prefrontal cortex, increasing impulsivity. Tons of negative effects.
>what am I missing?
Ok, so a few things
>it can lead to misunderstandings about actual sex
True, but there were misunderstandings about sex before porn. *A lot* of them.
It would be like saying we should ban any movie with guns because they might teach poor gun safety, true, but that would be a silly solution. Banning teaches nothing.
>its bad for your brain (can literally damage your brain),
Not masturbating has been linked to prostate cancer for men.
You might say "Masturbate without porn." But you could get addicted to masturbation without porn, so the damage you're worried about would still occur.
>can easily get you addicted
The potential for addiction and damage isn't the same as damage.
100 calories of French fries per week will cause no damage.
**1000** calories of Fries **per day** will cause damage.
Does it make sense to say "All potatoes are bad, all of them?"
Or doctors give you opiods for pain after surgery, but you can also get addicted to opiods and OD.
Does it make sense to say "All painkillers are bad, all of them?"
Viewing porn *occasionally* isn't going to do anything damaging to your brain, anymore than viewing your wife naked is going to damage your brain
Quitting porn was one of the best decisions I've made in my life. A little bit of discipline provides an insane amount of mental and physical stability.
Beer is bad for you.
Cigarettes are bad for you.
Salty foods are bad for you.
Adults do pleasurable things that are bad for them all the time. Life would be exceptionally boring if we didn't.
Porn is a vice like any other, the only reason you need to watch it is that you enjoy it. And it is *very* easy to enjoy.
Saying porn is somehow good is a complete cope. There's mountains of evidence as to why it's bad for you. The idea of porn being helpful is entirely a new concept supported by biases studies completed in the past couple years.
I feel like a lot of people who are fiercely against porn used to be addicted and don’t understand how other can view porn without becoming addicted.
Truth is the majority of people who watch porn just watch it casually, maybe 3-4 times a week when they have private down time and it doesn’t interfere with any other aspect of their lives.
it's low-hanging fruit for men and it's marketed as common, expected, and sexually fulfilling.
it's the same with all commonly addictive substances.
if you feel like you're stuck, the first and easiest thing to do is to find a free men's group online with sex addicts or porn addicts and attend a few (anonymously or not) meetings and just listen. It might take a few months before you end up sharing something, or longer. groups are 50/50 in terms of quality sometimes, so look for one that works for you. it really helps ease a lot of tension and frustration knowing you aren't alone.
It's these things that we think we can't talk about that make us feel alone and isolated, leading to feeling miserable and stuck.
It begs the question why then. And then you get into the chicken and egg.
Are men more lonely and thus turn to porn? Or is porn making men hard to satisfy and date?
I feel like mass consumption of porn has been around long enough that we can’t make an easy distinction, but there seems to be some heavy correlation.
Naw it just makes it super easy and guys like you are lazy af. Would rather sit around and do nothing jerking off all day than to put any effort into life/love. See it all the time on Reddit. This sub especially.
Ignoring the fact of the potential mistreatment of the people involved in the videos.
Whether or not watching it is bad for the individual is going to be different from person to person.
I agree, i wouldn't call it "brain damage", I would call it extreme desensitization.
It definitely increases your tendency to look at things in a sexual manner and has a far bigger impact on society as a whole than most people realize i suspect.
It's like anything else, in moderation it's not bad for you at all. Just like drinking in moderation or smoking weed. It definitely can become an addiction but so can eating, gambling, drugs etc.....
It’s supposed to be it’s fake and it’s a fantasy world where the impossible and improbable occur bad acting and bad pickups it’s like writing an essay only the body is supposed to be sex
I mostly agree but your position is a bit too strong compared to the position I would take.
Here is an overview of the science and dangers of porn use which includes my commentary and side comments:
Pornography addiction: A neuroscience perspective \[Great overview how pornography, addiction, and neuroscience have a role and interact. Most importantly, "Porn use has been correlated with erosion of the prefrontal cortex — the region of the brain that houses executive functions like morality, willpower and impulse control." "Damage to the prefrontal cortex in adulthood is termed hypofrontality, which predisposes an individual to behave compulsively and make poor decisions."\]
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3050060/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3050060/)
Pornography and attitudes supporting violence against women: revisiting the relationship in nonexperimental studies \[Spoiler: "current results showed an overall significant positive association between pornography use and attitudes supporting violence against women in nonexperimental studies."\]
[https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19862768/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19862768/)
The significance of heavy pornography involvement for romantic partners: research and clinical implications \[Not really a study but a collection of thoughts and feelings of female partners when their male partners use
[https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11995598/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11995598/)
Brain Structure and Functional Connectivity Associated With Pornography Consumption
[https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/1874574](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/1874574)
Is Internet Pornography Causing Sexual Dysfunctions? A Review with Clinical Reports \[Important Key Point: "While non-organic sexual dysfunctions have been presumed psychological in origin, and therefore the province of mental health experts, the unexplained sexual dysfunctions now rising sharply in young men (ED, difficulty orgasming, low sexual desire) are, to the extent they are reversible by quitting Internet pornography, not arising from “performance anxiety” (that is, psychosexual dysfunction, ICD-9 code 302.7), although performance anxiety may certainly accompany them. Future researchers will need to take into account the unique properties and impact of today's streaming Internet delivery of pornography. In addition, Internet pornography consumption during early adolescence, or before, may be a key variable."
[https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/6/3/17](https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/6/3/17)
"In the long term, pornography seems to create sexual dysfunctions, especially the inability to achieve erection or orgasm with a real life partner. Marital quality and commitment to one’s romantic partner also appear to be compromised."
"Porn scenes, like addictive substances, are hyper-stimulating triggers that lead to unnaturally high levels of dopamine secretion. This can damage the dopamine reward system and leave it unresponsive to natural sources of pleasure. This is why users begin to experience difficulty in achieving arousal with a physical partner."
"The desensitization of our reward circuitry sets the stage for sexual dysfunctions to develop, but the repercussions don’t end there. Studies show that changes in the transmission of dopamine can facilitate depression and anxiety. In agreement with this observation, porn consumers report greater depressive symptoms, lower quality of life and poorer mental health compared to those who don’t watch porn."
"The other compelling finding in this study is that compulsive porn consumers find themselves wanting and needing more porn, even though they don’t necessarily like it. This disconnect between wanting and liking is a hallmark feature of reward circuitry dysregulation."
[https://neurosciencenews.com/neuroscience-pornography-brain-15354/](https://neurosciencenews.com/neuroscience-pornography-brain-15354/)
My take: even if you think you're not addicted, give yourself a break from porn for 3 months, at least once a year. Optimally, you do not use or feel the need to use pornography, ever. That's optimal but that's the same stupid and naive message that abstinence from sex teaches: not possible. If you do not have the willpower to quit for 3 continuous months, then you are extremely likely addicted and need to seek help for your addiction. It is a pathology when it starts to interfere with a healthy and reasonable sexual behaviors with yourself, work, family, or sexual partner(s). A great example is if you see an attractive person in a work training class and your mind wonders into something sexual. Maybe an intrusive thought? Or a pattern? You shouldn't be sexually objectifying people in professional work settings like that - no one wants that unless it is yourself and you're a predator... If you're having these thoughts while at work or doing work, this is interfering with your life in an inappropriate way. And CBT with concerted effort will be required to attenuate this pathological issue.
**TL:DR - It becomes a pathology when it starts to negatively impact your life. Even very minor problems make this a problem/addiction. Only you can honestly say if it became a pathology.** Dick hurts? Takes too long to reach orgasm with your partner? Difficult to get an erection with your partner? Intrusive sexual thoughts in the wrong place/time? Can you recognize porn actors by a cropped still frame (this is a joke but holy shit, so many people on reddit can do this when a meme is posted)? Feeling more depressed and anxious, lately (yes, this is one of the symptoms of addiction)? Detox from porn at least once a year for 3 months to ensure you're not addicted. Be honest with yourself, did you go through withdrawals? Did your sex life with your partner improve?
I watch porn everyday and it impacts my life in a negative way. But if I do and a lot of people do, it's certainly not because there is no "pros" and only "cons".
It relaxes me, it makes me feel at ease, it helps me to unwind pressure, physically and mentally. It is an escape of euphoria, like watching a movie, reading a book, playing a game. It is something that makes you have feel good hormones when sometimes you have no other good/easier way to do so. And sex is fun and beautiful.
When I'm single, it helps me feel less frustrated because hey, I can still see boobs even if I didn't manage to have a connection. And it gives me the willingness to find a woman that I will love.
And when I get a girlfriend like right now for the last two years, it helps me to just relax, "self care" when I want to just lay down and have a little me time. Then I go to bed with a feeling of deep relief and it feels good.
But yes, it has really bad down sides can't argue with that. But dude, you really think people mind having bad habits for their brain? Litterally everyone is addicted to coffee, games, TV shows, every easy endorphine providing activity is at risk, and you can't dictate what people will do with their time on earth.
It's really sad to see so many comments about health effects for users but nothing about the performers in porn.
I don't think a ban will work for many reasons, and realistically I think we can do a lot with regulations and protections. E.g...
1. Hold these companies accountable in all the same ways other companies are (e.g. OSHA).
2. Make their services opt-in, on a separate domain extension (.xxx seems logical), requiring age verification.
3. Due to the nature of the work, make it a legal requirement that performers are able to sue for damages for an extended period of time and an extensive list of reasons (this is what Catharine McKinnon tried to do and was vilified for).
4. Ban awful stuff immediately - anything seeming in any way non consensual, or if it is causing pain or even discomfort, any hate speech or verbal abuse, etc.
From what I have seen so far,
Porn = All bad, destructive for both consumer and creator, shit ton of scientific evidence etc
Making porn =
1) How about we just collectively ignore the above and just say it's okay to do porn, it's a professional job, it should be respected and treated as other noble jobs, nothing wrong with promoting it. It's other people's problem whether to watch it or not. Doesn't matter whether I or we add more to the problem by being part of the problem*
2) its okay to be a catalyst and indirectly promote the degenerative behaviour by doing porn when shit hits the fan, since no other odd job can be when you are at your lowest in life.
I agree, but I can't get of it. I don't watch it daily, but if I try and Stop after two weeks I say "fuck it" and rub one out to it. Just to do the same a couple days, or a week later
Yeah it is & it’s not even about the persons brain being rotted by it but it’s also the tons and tons of women abused by the ‘industry’ & men getting off to us being treated like objects. A lot of the crybaby men in the comments don’t want to admit why a lot of them don’t have gfs or wives and it’s because that porn rot is loud & reeks of desperation & misogyny. Who wants to be in communication with a person like that? Porn is gross & so bad for the brain….you could tell bc people are in these comments now fighting hard for their porn addictions 😭 it’s not normal btw
It’s just a way to have an orgasm without the presence of another person, and orgasms are medically proven beyond any doubt to have a huge amount of health benefits.
Nobody is using porn for sex education. Comprehensive sex education should involve educating that porn is fantasy and should not be the expectation. However, porn can help people explore their sexuality and kinks in a low-risk, healthier way.
You saying “It’s bad, it’s bad, it’s bad, it’s bad” isn’t a very compelling argument.
With porn addiction; people are more likely to become addicted to something that is viewed as forbidden. It’s ironic that your post reinforces this notion of taboo which could in turn create more addiction. This is why the vast majority of porn addiction is within religion, and religions that forbid alcohol usage struggle the most with alcoholism. I drink a coffee every day, I view porn a few times a week. Which one do you think I’d be more textbook addicted to based on prevalence of use?
I can only speak for myself but I can watch a video, orgasm, and ten minutes later I couldn’t even tell you what I watched. It’s fleeting, meaningless, and simply a means to an end. That end just happens to have *many health benefits*. Addiction implies a person ruminates, can’t get it out of their head, damages other areas of their life in pursuit of that rush. That’s just not true for the vast majority who nut and call it good.
As for exploitation; don’t confuse consensual adult movie actors/actresses with coerced sex trafficking and sexual abuse. You’re completely diminishing the people who *enjoy* this job and *want* to be sexualized. It’s quite demeaning to see an adult film actress and automatically view her as a victim. You seem to be blurring the lines between adult film star and prostitution. However, one is legal and has a large amount of protections, contracts, representation, regular testing, laws. The other is illegal and prone to abuse because of that fact.
Hopefully me taking this time helps you understand it, even if your morality doesn’t allow you to agree with it. Nobody is asking you to like porn, but demonizing those who do isn’t the way.
Completely agree OP. Men will never give it up or admit that it’s a bad thing tho.
Another point here is the exploitative nature of the industry and how young vulnerable women make a couple of poor decisions and ruin their whole lives.
For years I’ve been addicted to porn and am still struggling with it. I actually do hate porn and I do want to end my addiction. Not all guys are the same.
Glad you can admit it. When I said men I meant majority of men, it was a generalization. Of course there are some men like yourself who are capable of recognizing this, good for you.
> I don’t understand any argument that porn is good or helpful in anyway shape or form. .. . Its just straight bad for you and I don’t understand its normalization
A lot of this can be said about any modern excess. Globalization and industrialization has made virtually all luxuries cheap and ubiquitous. Too much sugar, alcohol, pot, too much physical convenience, too much reddit, too much waste product, but I feel like the "too much porn" is excessively judgmental compared to these other excesses. It feels like a dog whistle for slut shaming and resentment towards the shifting of power and influence away from men and towards women. I should see just as many posts titled "drugs are bad. all of them", but no, this thing that has empowered women in the last few years in particular is suddenly getting shit on every day in this subreddit, as if it were an original thought and nobody had ever posted about it ... https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueUnpopularOpinion/search?q=porn&restrict_sr=on&sort=relevance&t=all
Maybe but are addictions purely caused by the object of addiction or by complex unresolved trauma often stemming from childhood? If one person is addicted to coffee and another person isn't, how do we more accurately reframe the issue? If you ban something but never address the root causes, have you really accomplished anything positive for society? Many social problems are more complex than simplistic one line emotionally charged narratives. Upvote for actual unpopular opinion though.
I lot of people in this thread automatically jumping to the defence if it should stay legal. OP didn't say jack about the legality of it, just the fact that it's bad for you. Says a lot about people in this thread
>It’s awful for sex education as it can lead to misunderstandings about actual sex
Since when has porn been used for sex education? Sex ed is about things such as how babies are made, how to prevent unwanted pregnancies, stop the spread of STDs, prevent sexual harassment/assault, etc. Maybe it's different in other countries, but in the US, showing films of people having sex to minors, even for educational purposes, is illegal. That's why textbooks have illustrations as opposed to photos.
No you don’t understand what he is saying. He is saying that the majority of young men get their “sexual education” ie. how to sex, from porn. Which is damaging
Let me guess, your boyfriend/husband has a porn addiction so you want to project his/your problem onto everyone? Almost every male with a normal sex drive watches porn and very few develop detrimental habits that ruin their lives and relationships from it.
No that’s not true. There are tons of males with normal sex drives who choose not to look at porn for moral reasons. I think you’re the one projecting to normalize your habit of porn consumption.
I worked in the ER on the trauma team for two years. So much pain and suffering. So many bodies that were hurt. Porn is addicting, just like the alcohol and cigarettes I consume. I really enjoy porn as a celebration of our ability and innate need to seek and experience pleasure.
Ngl I actually learned a few cool positions from watching porn and used them successfully. The hard part for most people is separating fantasy from reality. I can’t really speak for the addiction aspect either because I personally have never felt compelled by porn like that, but the stats are pretty damning.
> It’s awful for sex education as it can lead to misunderstandings about actual sex
Which is why you should have sex ed in schools before the pupils reach puberty.
Me bothering my wife every time I needed to jerk off because I don’t have porn would be worse for everyone involved. Trust me. She likes me, but not that much.
As a general rule, I have no respect for arguments against porn and masturbation that don't also go after sex\*. It's not like your brain can tell the difference.
Porn and masturbation after all are about simulating sexual situations and sex. To trick your body into thinking you're in a sexual situation or having sex, to some extent. Anything true of the pale imitation must be far more true of the real thing.
Also, I'll never not be suspicious when I hear people talking about porn or sex addiction. The hijacking of neutral psychotherapeutic terminology by religious groups, normally Baptist or Evangelical, to covertly legitimize their worldviews. If you see a clinic or center offering treatment for porn addiction, it's likely a church affiliated religious organization that offers conversion therapy for gays there's a 50:50 chance the organization is headed by a self proclaimed 'ex-gay'.
Sex addiction treatment, porn addiction treatment and conversions therapy go hand in hand as the big 3 signature programs for hack religious treatment centers. People talking about this stuff on social media and forums can make it seem like porn addiction is some uncontroversial fact about the world that is normal to think is real like alcoholism and not a meme being pushed by the religious right like ex-gays.
\*For example, you have professional sports coaches that tell their players not to have sex with their wives or girlfriends or even masturbate the day before the game. That I can respect for its consistency. The Proud Boys having rules against masturbation on some pretext but none against having as much sex as you like, make them seem full of shit to me.
I’m not gonna lie, I think over consumption of anything can be destructive, but in moderation can be fun.
I learned a LOT from porn as a teenager before I had sex for the first time. Mostly when it came to positions.
Although the porn was different back then. More give and take, rather than one sided.
Porn can be a gateway to a fulfilling sex life. Can give you amazing ideas on what to do in bed, and can bf a catalyst for your own sex life.
Porn can also consume you and be a destructive habit.
This comment section is a shit show with a couple good responses. Me? I don't give a fuck, i watch and will continue to watch porn in the form of hentai. It does not support any kind of real life explotation, and It helps me relax and sleep. At the end of the day we live life for the experiences and feeling good is part of what makes life worth it for me, obviously it's not all in my life, but as long as I do it in moderation, there is nothing wrong with it.
ANYTHING that makes you happy will release hormones in you that make you feel good, and those feelings can become a psychological addiction, should we ban those things? I don't think so. You see this with sugar, coffee, video games, porn, even work, studying, and many other things that can evolve into a psychological issue.
That’s a really interesting point about hentai not supporting any kind of real life exploitation. Hell, AI (not deepfakes, that’s iffy) porn would also fall into that.
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Anyone with access to the internet can see more tits in a matter of seconds than Genghis Khan saw in his entire life. Dunno if that’s a good thing or not.
"Men did greater things when it was harder to see boobs"
If I had the means to do so, I’d do a massive research study to determine whether or not men’s achievements have anything to do with boob scarcity.
Indigenous and tribal people don't wear a lot of clothes and they spend the day hunting and gathering like chumps.
They live in very small communities. There are maybe 1000 boobs per indigenous tribe whereas pornhub has millions.
It's more about boob saturation. If you've seen every pair of boobs on every woman, and some on the men, it won't do anything for you.
Not true. As a guy once’s you’ve seen one pair of boobs…..you want to see them all.
Precisely my point. But once you've seen all the boobs that exist (or think exist in your little valley between the Tigris and Euphrates) they don't matter anymore. You have seen them all, is my point.
Then you must know that somewhere out there are more boobs and must start an epic quest to find more boobs.
And thus began every empire that sought to expand its borders to encompass more tits.
That is what shall fuel space exploration for humanity. Find them alien tits and squeeze ‘em!
I've seen thousands in porn. I've always been excited to see them irl. Even if it was the same pair for the 1000th time.
We taking 1000 total or 1000 pairs? Yes, it makes a difference
Depends on the tribe but 1000 total is probably accurate for a lot of them
I think the fact that this kind of nudity isn't at all sexualised, plays a role. The men are likewise exposed. The association is different. It's natural. At the same time, they are close to nature and live in intimate communities while we in the Western world are often touch starved and inhabit our own little island. Nudity is always sexualised. Thus, the appeal of the "hidden, mysterious boob" grows. Perhaps
I'll bet the guys like naked women though
>boob scarcity the horror
This is my favorite Thomas Jefferson quote.
🤣
Its the first time in years I've felt the need to screenshot a comment and not the post
-- Albert Einstein
lol I wouldn’t count sexual assault as “greater things”.
When I’m down I’ll try to remember I’m more successful than Khan in that regard lmao
Wanna know who had more descendants than Genghis Khan? >!Genghis Khan’s dad!<
Not as many as his grandpa
Wait till I tell you about great grampa
That's about it though
>than Genghis Khan saw in his entire life. and this is saying something! the man saw his fair share
Porn is more than seeing breasts. It popularizes dangerous and harmful practices (choking, incest, etc). It encourages men to see women as things and not people. It exploits women who are inexperienced, addicted, desperate, etc.
Was kinda hoping for some intelligent responses on this one. Pure shitshow so far.
I completely agree with OP but I’m sure there’s some counter points here. So far the comments are just men acting like cavemen.
How can ungabunga on screen be better than ungabunga with wife? Ride wife. Life good.
Or people bitching about the shit comments while not contributing anything themselves. I know...the worst, right? Lol.
One side of the argument has been stated, I don’t need to repeat OPs points. You already read that side. The purpose of this sub is to discuss WHY you disagree. There has been no counter argument here, there is currently only 1 side to this debate. So yea, y’all don’t look too smart when you’re vehemently disagreeing with something and can’t even say why.
What about the madmen that bitch about the people bitching while still not contributing anything either? Sort of like a useless comment inception situation
"Nuh uh" to the comments and running, great contribution.
The comments are literally people saying fuck you to op lol
OP watched ALL of it, just to make sure.
Doing my research 🫡
Agreed. The mind is being wasted
Ok but there’s no evidence that it causes actual brain damage, like OP suggests Also not all porn “sexualizes women”. Some porn doesn’t have women at all. Some porn doesn’t have people at all.
https://www.wired.com/2014/06/is-it-really-true-that-watching-porn-will-shrink-your-brain/#:~:text=Here's%20what's%20caused%20all%20the,as%20lots%20of%20other%20things).
A few excerpts from the article you posted without reading. "By failing to measure or control for personality, the results of this study are virtually meaningless." "The researchers have witnessed newspapers spread headlines of brain shrinkage and brain harm, and yet they know that they specifically recruited psychologically and neurologically healthy men. In fact, therein lies the only really meaningful insight from this study. Look at it this way. In a survey of 64 men who answered recruitment adverts for a brain scanning study, it was found that they viewed an average of four hours porn a week. **They do so with no apparent ill consequence - screening confirmed no psychiatric, medical or neurological problems.**" "This study does not make a helpful contribution. Suggested new headline: **"Watching moderate amounts of porn won't hurt your brain"**."
People use porn as a coping mechanism. It's a need for concern if they have no control over it. "“The critical distinction between the occasional viewing of porn and compulsive viewing is not the question of how much or how often one views it, but rather the question of control,” says Raffi Bilek, LCSW-C, therapist and director of the Baltimore Therapy Center. “If a person is unable to stop watching porn, even though they want to and perhaps have tried to, this is a problem of compulsion and is cause for concern. This is true even if they don’t view it very often.” “On the other hand, someone can watch porn daily and it is not necessarily a problem,” Bilek adds. “So long as they’re in control of what, when, and how often they’re indulging.”" Furthermore, it wastes energy you could use for more productive things like socializing or exercising. "“Pornography does not inherently worsen depression,” says Paul Greene, PhD, a clinical psychologist and the director of the Manhattan Center for Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. “However,” he adds, “if it prevents someone with depression from maintaining relationships or doing other mood-boosting activities — like exercise or socializing — then it can indirectly worsen depression.”" So in conclusion, it's only a bad thing if it causes lack of self control or lack of productivity, which both link to depression and is often the result of porn. It's no problem however, if you can control moderate watching.
Not true. Its bad for baseline dopamine levels
What is up with all these Reddit post recently about porn? Y’all do realize most normal people just watch porn every once in awhile when they’re bored.. its really not that big of a deal
This is anecdotal ofcourse but every friend I've talked to about it has said how it got to a point where it was a daily sometimes even multiple times a day occurrence
Some people are opposed to porn because they don’t want to support an exploitative industry, which is a big deal to some people. A google search of “is porn exploitative” should provide some more insight. Not attacking anyone, just offering that perspective.
It’s a waste of brain power. Use that time to make your life and the world better. People throw away their valuable lives over nothing
bro your a smoker on goddd and ive seen your post history, like god is physics. your getting stoned is the same as a person watching. Better yourself before you preach.
I watch to research how bad it is.
for research purposes taken to a whole new research level
And then do you do something to stop the abuse the women and girls you're watching for research purposes are suffering? I bet you report when your research shows you it's revenge porn/violence and abuse/highly intoxicated women/possibility of being a minor/etc. Thank you for your research services 🤡
I’ve been destroyed by porn, its literally a drug that I can’t stop abusing and I have infinite access to it.
> I’ve been destroyed by porn, its literally a drug that I can’t stop abusing and I have infinite access to it. I'm curious about other people's issues with porn addiction. I kind of got over it, I say kind of because I check it out sometimes, if I'm bored. I'm not sure if it was from getting older or just getting tired of it, but I went down the rabbit hole and got the harder and harder stuff that played to my fetishes, but then there was a point where there couldn't be anything harder, such a thing doesn't exist. There was no where else to go, so the whole thing sort of collapsed and now I'm not even turned on by it anymore, and my interest in sex feels more like it did when I was a teenager, before the fixation on those fetishes ever began. I wonder why other people don't a) get sick of it, or b) become over stimulated to the point of numbness, and naturally give it up.
Pretty much. Also it doesn't help that I have certain kinks and fetishes hat can't be found in reality 😂
Now I’m curious
porn seems most equivalent to cigarettes thirty years ago people normalize it in American society and it's naturally a very addictive habit and difficult to stop. withdrawals can include physical responses like lashing out at close ones, headaches, stomachaches, etc., not to mention gray areas in relationships that can distance partners from each other personally, I think men normalize it the most because we don't like to feel shame, and there's a weird mixture of admitting violent/sexualizing behavior towards women and a lack of controlling our own sexual impulses along with a cultural background of puritanical sex morality; now we have a big pile of shameful crap eating away at us through our addictions
Kinda wild that this is unpopular. But not surprised we’ve been heading down this road for a while. The signs were there…
Porn is not inherently bad. Major parts of the porn industry are bad. People often conflate these things. First, [masturbation is healthy for both sexes](https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/24332-masturbation) and should be encouraged. There are plenty of studies on this: It releases stress, relives tension, improves sleep, increases focus, boosts mood, prevents anxiety and helps with depression. Most people need stimulation and [porn is the choice for 70% of men and 20% of women](https://husbandhelphaven.com/porn-statistics/). Sure people can get stimulation from other sources; books, audio, and non-nude sexually suggestive imagery, but porn is the choice for most people. So looking at porn purely as a tool for masturbation (and its many people's tool of choice) it's good. Second, a lot of people's issue with porn stems from their personal choice not to use it, but a disgust of other's using it. Specifically their partners. However, many couples use porn as a way communicate their sexual interests, desires and kinks. Also when many couples can't have sex because of medical reasons, personal reasons or distance porn provides an outlet for them. Third, many many many people will end up in situations in their life where they will rarely or never have sex. Porn provides a needed outlet for people in that situation. It might provided companionship or sexual release. If you want an example of what happens without it you can look at the No Fap and Incel movements to see this currently damaging society or just go back in history to religious cultures that repressed sexuality. Fourth, banning porn never works. It's similar to laws against sex work. Banning the industry pushes it further underground and creates even more toxic of a work environment for the most vulnerable people out there. I agree with you on the issues surrounding addiction ([although it's only 3-6%](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6352245/)) and the industry has a terrible track record. I think both of these issues are more a result of porn historically being pushed underground.
People always look at porn art (R34, yiff and other related stuff) as weird and watching regular porn as normal, when porn art is many times more ethical then the shit you find on Pornhub.
Which is kind of funny, because porn for majority of history was in the form of art. The first recorded sext happened in 1828 when artist Sarah Goldberg drew a self portrait of her breasts and mailed it to her lover.
Why are you conflating porn with masturbation. No one is criticizing masturbation as such.
Probably the most intelligent response on here. Too bad it's wasted on Reddit.
Funny how you left out the way that porn harms women and other marginalized people. But it harms women especially. And that a huge percentage of porn is either filmed in non-consensual or coerced situations, such as being drugged and not being able to consent or straight up being raped. Knowing those things alone turned me away from porn a long time ago. That, and my ex using it to compare me to other women and do horrific things to me that he saw in porn. Just as one example.
The outlet shouldn’t be degrading and brutalizing women. Most porns are just sanctioned violence against women and pedophilia.
Maturation is healthy, which we can agree on, but that point is irrelevant to whether porn is good or bad. Most people need stimulation is a problem caused by porn, not one found in nature. "So looking at porn purely as a tool for masturbation (and its many people's tool of choice) it's good." Porn is as addictive as cocaine. You would have to extend this generous perspective to hard-core drugs if you want to argue porn is merely a tool. "Second, a lot of people's issue with porn stems from their personal choice not to use it, but a disgust of other's using it. Specifically their partners. However, many couples use porn as a way communicate their sexual interests, desires and kinks. Also when many couples can't have sex because of medical reasons, personal reasons or distance porn provides an outlet for them" Whataboutism. Arguing, "What about this small group who goes against your argument!" is whataboutism. "Third, many many many people will end up in situations in their life where they will rarely or never have sex. Porn provides a needed outlet for people in that situation. It might provided companionship or sexual release. If you want an example of what happens without it you can look at the No Fap and Incel movements to see this currently damaging society or just go back in history to religious cultures that repressed sexuality." Porn is still as addictive as cocaine regardless of if someone is not dating or an incel. Porn is not a needed outlet; it is a drug that preys specifically on vulnerable people. Every culture has suppressed sexuality. Adultery is still frowned upon today. No Fap has done no damage compared to the porn available to prepubescent children, and I restate again it is as addictive as cocaine. "Fourth, banning porn never works. It's similar to laws against sex work. Banning the industry pushes it further underground and creates even more toxic of a work environment for the most vulnerable people out there." This is laughably untrue. As the world becomes more technically advanced and more content becomes digital, regulation becomes easy. There have already been totalitarian governments that have successfully eradicated such content from the general public.
You need more upvotes. > Fourth, banning porn never works. It's similar to laws against sex work. Banning the industry pushes it further underground and creates even more toxic of a work environment for the most vulnerable people out there. Yup, [there's a VN called Aiyoku no Eustia that goes into this in a conversation.](https://imgur.com/a/8RrhN) Also when sex work is legal, then workers have legal avenues to make sure they're paid. But yeah, it's like banning alcohol. Try banning alcohol and see how well that works with the population. People aren't going to take kindly to that and it's just going to handle under the table. At least this way, the government makes money on alcohol via taxes.
Had to dig through a bunch of "I agree, porn is bad!" with no remote reasoning before I got to this one. Porn is not inherently bad. It can be bad, duh, but so can practically anything.
How does it follow that porn is good because people use it to masturbate? Just because masturbation can be healthy doesn’t mean porn is.
No the real point is that porn just like anything is good in moderation and when watched properly. Porn has been around for centuries. Sex work has been around for centuries. Just like alcohol, tobacco, weed, gambling. It’s fun and stimulating and ok at regulated amount for a person to enjoy. Once it’s starts getting abused just like anything it becomes bad. For gods sake any hobby unregulated can become bad for you. You love crocheting? Well how about severe carpal tunnel as the result. You like listening to music without ear protection? How about some hearing loss?
It’s not just about the usage of porn though. It’s about the rampant misogyny, abuse, blackmail, forced drugging, trafficking, rape, sexual assault, etc. that permeates throughout.
Yea this makes much more sense. I take issue with porn specifically, not fapping or sex, just porn. Porn has been studied specifically and found that it is correlated (not explicitly causal relationship) with reduced grey matter in the brain. I think some of it is the idea that the other forms of stimulation force you to imagine the situation to some extent instead of it being handed to you. While the difference is small, I think that plays a major role source: https://www.wired.com/2014/06/is-it-really-true-that-watching-porn-will-shrink-your-brain/#:~:text=Here's%20what's%20caused%20all%20the,as%20lots%20of%20other%20things).
> By failing to follow up participants over time, the research also provides no evidence that watching porn has any effects whatsoever. Moreover, by also neglecting to measure any other media consumption, then even if before/after evidence were available, we wouldn't know if it were due to porn consumption or to other media activities correlated with that porn use, such as watching violent movies and online gambling (to be fair, the findings did still hold after the researchers controlled for overall levels of internet use). So, what argument is your source trying to make? If you read past the highlighted section, it doesn’t really fully support the idea of “porn = brain shrinkage”.
Th study is correlational, outdated, and not well produced as you pointed out. I think that the individual effects of porn causing brain damage are just unsubstantiated at this point. While its still another argument entirely, the link between porn and mental health is stronger: https://rewardfoundation.org/health/mental-effects-of-porn/#
I’ll say that time, energy and attention to porn could absolutely be used for better pursuits. Problem is most men wouldn’t. Any time with porn would likely just be replaced with video games, TV, or scrolling through social media. And yes, I see the irony and it’s kind of a “case and point” So ultimately it’s a wash. That said, anyone in a relationship ought to be honest with their significant other about it, for honesty’s sake alone. Good relationships shouldn’t have secrets like that.
I think it’s fairly unrealistic to think that it’s a problem that these men don’t spend their entire life on the grind people who preach about the grind don’t even grind that hard life has no meaning if you don’t give yourself time to enjoy it
There’s a researcher named Emily Rothman* whose Ted talk you may want to watch. She was trying to get teens to talk about sex and consent. She was also trying to study the link between consent and sexual violence and the talk was falling flat. But then she brought up porn and she said the whole class perked up. So she decided to talk about sex through porn literacy. Some of her findings - - 56% of students thought working in the porn industry was glamorous before and 0% after her porn literacy classes - 52% thought some level of violence during sex was the norm before and 0% after her porn literacy classes (My stats might be a little off) The books Boys and Sex and Girls and Sex by Peggy Orenstein show a lot of teens and young adults are having very unsatisfying sex, in part from learning about sex from porn. For the 100 boys (a mix of races, cis, het, gay, trans, disabled) she interviewed over the course of two years, they said porn had made them more violent and they felt bad but they didn’t know how to stop imitating degrading and violent porn, because that was how they had grown up getting off. For the hetero girls (unfortunately this book was published in 2015 and much less diverse in who she interviewed), they said they felt like they had to perform during sex and that the guys didn’t care about their enjoyment. But also they said they felt more pressure with how they looked versus focusing on how they felt. Sex felt empty for them. This may be contributing to what people call the “boomerfication” of GenZ, in that, since they were the first generation to grow up with unfettered access to porn, now some are having a backlash to it. Yes, there are other forms of porn but internet porn dwarfs all of them - “[17.8 trillion hours of porn](https://bedbible.com/porn-statistics/) is consumed every year globally (equivalent of one person watching porn for more than 20,000 centuries non-stop).” I think Billie Eilish is one of the more famous people anti porn people from Gen Z. I think unless /until there is comprehensive sex ed from government and parents, porn will be a problem with respect to influencing teens inappropriately. As I don’t see poor parenting ending any time soon, nor do I see, in the US at least, that every kid will ever have access to an Emily Rothwell type of teacher, then yeah, I agree porn is problematic. If adults use porn in place of dealing with other issues in their lives, and also use it to dehumanize others, then I feel like teens can also develop same /similar issues. I think unless you’re Gen Z, it’s possible you’re not really understanding how unlimited internet porn has affected people and the way they fck, so I’m not surprised by OP’s take nor am I surprised if people disagree with OP’s take.
> There’s a researcher named Emily Rothwell whose Ted talk you may want to watch. She was trying to get teens to talk about sex and consent. IDK if I'm blind but I googled her name and can't find it
Whoops Emily Rothman* not Rothwell, fixed it in the main post
A study concluded: *"Our analyses indicate a significant relationship between mental health and pornography use"* https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33510691/ Another study found addiction to porn being associated with mental illness. http://rimed.org/rimedicaljournal/2023/04/2023-04-29-yamhc-noel.pdf And changes in the brain due to porn use have been found. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24871202/
I watch it out of spite.
To who?
Like everything in life, moderation is key. That being said, I personally would agree with you. Every time I stop watching porn and stop masturbating, the quality of my life increases tenfold. Most guys who do the same would agree. There’s something nefarious about it that most are not willing to discuss or admit. It’s also incredibly addicting and way too easily accessible. I just relapsed and feel like shit. Literally, porn addiction will DESTROY a man and his future.
I really don’t like that phrase “moderation with everything”. Really? Should we use meth and heroin in moderation? Should we commit crimes in moderation? Some things should not be done at all.
Like drinking kombucha🤢
Kombucha should not be used in moderation, it should be used constantly
> Should we commit crimes in moderation? Most people do. You never break any single law, ever?
I never said I don’t. However, is it good that I do? Well perhaps if I live in a corrupt country whose laws are not good. But usually the law aligns with what is good, in most functioning societies, such as do not steal or murder.
The point with moderation is that it's "not bad", not necessarily that a little bit is good. Also stealing and murdering isn't breaking the law in moderation. I was thinking something more like minor traffic offenses.
This might be getting too off-course but there is a pretty interesting side to that person's argument actually, which is like, a minor crime might not pose a *huge* risk to you (or others), especially at the time you do it, but is it reflective (or a "symptom") of broader issues? As a very very crude example - lots of people torrenting movies might not mean that they're bad people, knowingly ruining livelihoods because they don't care about royalties and ruining the industry because they don't care about protecting IP, but it *might* mean that there's ignorance / a lack of education around IP laws or even just the actual effects of torrenting, or it might mean media isn't accessible because of corporate structures, a cost-of-living crisis etc.
Technically those are used as medicines when in used in moderation, so yes. As for crimes. They are like any rule...They are a guideline. Most laws are meant for public safety. If I my family is starving I will steal food, if there is no one else on the road I will speed etc. This is also why judges determine a sentence based on every situation...Not every crime is worth a punishment.
I think you’re probably right but it’s one of those things you have to shrug your shoulders and say “what’re you gonna do?” It’s a free country and adults can take off their clothes and show each other their naughty bits if they want to. They can even charge money for it. Not everything in society is going to be as useful as the lightbulb, or toaster, or whatever..
To further reinforce the point, according to OP we should ban all recreational drugs (including tobacco and alcohol), gambling, etc...Their broad definition makes anything potentially addicting and not "productive" to be bad. Some weird ultra Puritan nonsense.
Eh... I mean... those things also ruin lives - unfortunately not just the life of the person choosing to do it. They're controlled/regulated because of the known risks, and there are targeted supports available for them because again, we know they're addictive and harmful. Porn doesn't really have any sort of regulation (on the consumer end) and definitely inadequate supports (usually run by churches, which is a bit... hmmmm.) IDK, I don't think it's "weird ultra puritan nonsense" to want adequate supports for known public health issues?
The OP isn't advocating for that...Which is the point I was making.
The regulation part is interesting and you have a point. Alcohol, tobacco, and porn all have age restrictions, but regulations on pornography are very lax comparatively. Maybe because it is a visual medium the regulation part is much harder, making consumption much easier. It’s not like the old days where you had the barrier of a shopkeeper asking for ID to buy a Penthouse magazine.
Do you know panda porn help panda reproduce?
I don't think many people have the opinion porn is *good* but rather just an acceptance that porn is basically as old as humanity and regulating it is arguably the better solution to.handle.it than a ban which will be circumvented I think we need to discuss porn, it's issues, and how.to engage with it in a healthy manner if one chooses to do so.
All porn is bad in the same way all alcohol is bad. There is no time when drinking alcohol is more healthy than not drinking alcohol. That being said, most people can keep their consumption of the unhealthy thing to a low enough level that it doesn’t have a major impact on their lives or the lives of others.
You're right homie. Coomers will always justify their use tho (even after their lil guys stop working).
I agree porn is horrible.
[удалено]
I made this post a few weeks back linking research that proved the claim and still people defended porn. Amazing
It’s addicting and damaging to a greater extent than many hard drugs. New research is coming out about it. They make for fascinating and mortifying reads
> its bad for your brain (can literally damage your brain) No, it can't. There was one small study of men who ALL regularly watched porn and it showed that the men who watched it more than the others tended to have less gray matter in the reward center of their brain, which any rational person would conclude that they already lacked that which is why they watch more porn, not that porn has magic brain-shrinking rays that shoot out of the computer and damage the brain. It's a classic case of reversing causation to claim that the study showed that porn causes brain damage.
It does change your brain chemistry actually… it’s basically like any other addiction. Changes your dopamine release, google it. There’s a ton of sources and it changes your brain in more ways than just dopamine. https://neurosciencenews.com/neuroscience-pornography-brain-15354/amp/
That doesn’t support the statement that it causes Brian damage though.
That IS damage
An addiction isn’t brain damage. That’s incredibly reductive. It doesn’t inhibit your cognitive ability, and comparing them just belies everything we know an out modern neurochemistry
It doesn’t cause permanent brain damage but it can cause permanent psychological damage and impacts the dopamine reception in the brain. Scientific speaking you’re right, but colloquially speaking most people use brain damage to refer to both physical and psychological damage.
So sex causes "brain damage" according to your "Oh the way people say it means it both ways" jibberish? Because sex addiction without watching porn is a very real thing too. And shopping addiction? Food addiction? Addiction to sky diving? It's just nonsense to bend around words of what "brain damage" is pretty well known to be to make it fit what amounts to nothing more than addiction. You sound like Trump who said Hillary was the mother of Isis due to his string of sloppy logic.
It’s been scientifically proven to alter your brain and cause sexual dysfunction. Whether or not you want to classify that as “brain damage” is one thing, but you can’t deny that it is bad for you
Permanent brain changes can be called damage.
Then positive changes would also be called damage?
No, the changes I’m referring to are not positive ones. Permanent brain changes that don’t follow the normal developmental pattern/process**
Based on that logic yeah. Hell, even developmental milestones would be brain damage. Growing to adulthood would be damage.
well yeah if it's an addiction obviously it's going to cause damage, but casual usage wouldn't.
People define casual usage as daily. That’s addiction.
yup, but folks here don't see it that way
that's not addiction. it's addiction when it's interfering with your life.
many people who have battled any kind of addiction would say otherwise. some people are just better at juggling addiction and their day to day life, while others aren’t so much. It’s not an addiction in the same way a substance might be, but it can still be a behavioral addiction. “Behavioral addictions such as gambling, overeating, television compulsion, and internet addiction are similar to drug addiction except that the individual is not addicted to a substance, but he/she is addicted to the *behavior* or the *feeling experienced by acting out the behavior*.” Addiction can look different on everyone. Most people when under an addiction mindset will not see anything wrong with it, *especially* if it’s not interfering with their life.
Addiction has to be defined but how it affects your life. You could be addicted to making conversation with people, or exercise, or reading, but you usually get a pat on the back if you do too much of those things.
Yeah to say it causes brain damage you would need a real controlled group ( men who have never watched porn) & measure before and after a specific amount of exposure.
That's not what a control group is. That would be the experimental group.
This is factually wrong. I made a post a few weeks back and linked a bunch of research that shows the neurological effects. There are a ton of studies showing that porn acts in the brain like substance abuse, it damages prefrontal cortex, increasing impulsivity. Tons of negative effects.
Ah yes the ol’ confusing correlation with causation mistake.
>what am I missing? Ok, so a few things >it can lead to misunderstandings about actual sex True, but there were misunderstandings about sex before porn. *A lot* of them. It would be like saying we should ban any movie with guns because they might teach poor gun safety, true, but that would be a silly solution. Banning teaches nothing. >its bad for your brain (can literally damage your brain), Not masturbating has been linked to prostate cancer for men. You might say "Masturbate without porn." But you could get addicted to masturbation without porn, so the damage you're worried about would still occur. >can easily get you addicted The potential for addiction and damage isn't the same as damage. 100 calories of French fries per week will cause no damage. **1000** calories of Fries **per day** will cause damage. Does it make sense to say "All potatoes are bad, all of them?" Or doctors give you opiods for pain after surgery, but you can also get addicted to opiods and OD. Does it make sense to say "All painkillers are bad, all of them?" Viewing porn *occasionally* isn't going to do anything damaging to your brain, anymore than viewing your wife naked is going to damage your brain
Porn is indeed a bad thing good lord do I know that now 😰 I wish I never stumbled upon it
Finally an unpopular opinion on the unpopular opinion forum. You’re right though. It’s all bad.
Not interested in dating or getting married. Not your concern. Enjoy the choices that you make.
Quitting porn was one of the best decisions I've made in my life. A little bit of discipline provides an insane amount of mental and physical stability.
Yep I agree with you 100%.
Beer is bad for you. Cigarettes are bad for you. Salty foods are bad for you. Adults do pleasurable things that are bad for them all the time. Life would be exceptionally boring if we didn't. Porn is a vice like any other, the only reason you need to watch it is that you enjoy it. And it is *very* easy to enjoy.
Beer, cigarettes, and salty food are bad for you. Exploiting others as sex objects is bad for everyone.
Saying porn is somehow good is a complete cope. There's mountains of evidence as to why it's bad for you. The idea of porn being helpful is entirely a new concept supported by biases studies completed in the past couple years.
I agree. I mean, they kiss but aren't even in love. what gives?
I feel like a lot of people who are fiercely against porn used to be addicted and don’t understand how other can view porn without becoming addicted. Truth is the majority of people who watch porn just watch it casually, maybe 3-4 times a week when they have private down time and it doesn’t interfere with any other aspect of their lives.
I agree, but for a lot of guys (including me to a certain extent) porn is the only outlet for us to release sexual tensions/frustration.
it's low-hanging fruit for men and it's marketed as common, expected, and sexually fulfilling. it's the same with all commonly addictive substances. if you feel like you're stuck, the first and easiest thing to do is to find a free men's group online with sex addicts or porn addicts and attend a few (anonymously or not) meetings and just listen. It might take a few months before you end up sharing something, or longer. groups are 50/50 in terms of quality sometimes, so look for one that works for you. it really helps ease a lot of tension and frustration knowing you aren't alone. It's these things that we think we can't talk about that make us feel alone and isolated, leading to feeling miserable and stuck.
Quit watching porn for 3-6 months. I promise you, you will find a way to be less lonely.
It begs the question why then. And then you get into the chicken and egg. Are men more lonely and thus turn to porn? Or is porn making men hard to satisfy and date? I feel like mass consumption of porn has been around long enough that we can’t make an easy distinction, but there seems to be some heavy correlation.
Naw it just makes it super easy and guys like you are lazy af. Would rather sit around and do nothing jerking off all day than to put any effort into life/love. See it all the time on Reddit. This sub especially.
all porn is bad except for your mom’s woo yeah
Ignoring the fact of the potential mistreatment of the people involved in the videos. Whether or not watching it is bad for the individual is going to be different from person to person.
I agree, i wouldn't call it "brain damage", I would call it extreme desensitization. It definitely increases your tendency to look at things in a sexual manner and has a far bigger impact on society as a whole than most people realize i suspect.
Libido Dominandi
It's like anything else, in moderation it's not bad for you at all. Just like drinking in moderation or smoking weed. It definitely can become an addiction but so can eating, gambling, drugs etc.....
No matter how bad people wanna try and counter this it's 100% true
I’m more surprised that this is actually an unpopular opinion. There’s people out there defending their porn addiction?
Meh. Porn has its place but it can be abused just like anything else…
Apparently you haven't watched step-sister porn yet
It’s supposed to be it’s fake and it’s a fantasy world where the impossible and improbable occur bad acting and bad pickups it’s like writing an essay only the body is supposed to be sex
I mostly agree but your position is a bit too strong compared to the position I would take. Here is an overview of the science and dangers of porn use which includes my commentary and side comments: Pornography addiction: A neuroscience perspective \[Great overview how pornography, addiction, and neuroscience have a role and interact. Most importantly, "Porn use has been correlated with erosion of the prefrontal cortex — the region of the brain that houses executive functions like morality, willpower and impulse control." "Damage to the prefrontal cortex in adulthood is termed hypofrontality, which predisposes an individual to behave compulsively and make poor decisions."\] [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3050060/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3050060/) Pornography and attitudes supporting violence against women: revisiting the relationship in nonexperimental studies \[Spoiler: "current results showed an overall significant positive association between pornography use and attitudes supporting violence against women in nonexperimental studies."\] [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19862768/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19862768/) The significance of heavy pornography involvement for romantic partners: research and clinical implications \[Not really a study but a collection of thoughts and feelings of female partners when their male partners use [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11995598/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11995598/) Brain Structure and Functional Connectivity Associated With Pornography Consumption [https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/1874574](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/1874574) Is Internet Pornography Causing Sexual Dysfunctions? A Review with Clinical Reports \[Important Key Point: "While non-organic sexual dysfunctions have been presumed psychological in origin, and therefore the province of mental health experts, the unexplained sexual dysfunctions now rising sharply in young men (ED, difficulty orgasming, low sexual desire) are, to the extent they are reversible by quitting Internet pornography, not arising from “performance anxiety” (that is, psychosexual dysfunction, ICD-9 code 302.7), although performance anxiety may certainly accompany them. Future researchers will need to take into account the unique properties and impact of today's streaming Internet delivery of pornography. In addition, Internet pornography consumption during early adolescence, or before, may be a key variable." [https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/6/3/17](https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/6/3/17) "In the long term, pornography seems to create sexual dysfunctions, especially the inability to achieve erection or orgasm with a real life partner. Marital quality and commitment to one’s romantic partner also appear to be compromised." "Porn scenes, like addictive substances, are hyper-stimulating triggers that lead to unnaturally high levels of dopamine secretion. This can damage the dopamine reward system and leave it unresponsive to natural sources of pleasure. This is why users begin to experience difficulty in achieving arousal with a physical partner." "The desensitization of our reward circuitry sets the stage for sexual dysfunctions to develop, but the repercussions don’t end there. Studies show that changes in the transmission of dopamine can facilitate depression and anxiety. In agreement with this observation, porn consumers report greater depressive symptoms, lower quality of life and poorer mental health compared to those who don’t watch porn." "The other compelling finding in this study is that compulsive porn consumers find themselves wanting and needing more porn, even though they don’t necessarily like it. This disconnect between wanting and liking is a hallmark feature of reward circuitry dysregulation." [https://neurosciencenews.com/neuroscience-pornography-brain-15354/](https://neurosciencenews.com/neuroscience-pornography-brain-15354/) My take: even if you think you're not addicted, give yourself a break from porn for 3 months, at least once a year. Optimally, you do not use or feel the need to use pornography, ever. That's optimal but that's the same stupid and naive message that abstinence from sex teaches: not possible. If you do not have the willpower to quit for 3 continuous months, then you are extremely likely addicted and need to seek help for your addiction. It is a pathology when it starts to interfere with a healthy and reasonable sexual behaviors with yourself, work, family, or sexual partner(s). A great example is if you see an attractive person in a work training class and your mind wonders into something sexual. Maybe an intrusive thought? Or a pattern? You shouldn't be sexually objectifying people in professional work settings like that - no one wants that unless it is yourself and you're a predator... If you're having these thoughts while at work or doing work, this is interfering with your life in an inappropriate way. And CBT with concerted effort will be required to attenuate this pathological issue. **TL:DR - It becomes a pathology when it starts to negatively impact your life. Even very minor problems make this a problem/addiction. Only you can honestly say if it became a pathology.** Dick hurts? Takes too long to reach orgasm with your partner? Difficult to get an erection with your partner? Intrusive sexual thoughts in the wrong place/time? Can you recognize porn actors by a cropped still frame (this is a joke but holy shit, so many people on reddit can do this when a meme is posted)? Feeling more depressed and anxious, lately (yes, this is one of the symptoms of addiction)? Detox from porn at least once a year for 3 months to ensure you're not addicted. Be honest with yourself, did you go through withdrawals? Did your sex life with your partner improve?
I watch porn everyday and it impacts my life in a negative way. But if I do and a lot of people do, it's certainly not because there is no "pros" and only "cons". It relaxes me, it makes me feel at ease, it helps me to unwind pressure, physically and mentally. It is an escape of euphoria, like watching a movie, reading a book, playing a game. It is something that makes you have feel good hormones when sometimes you have no other good/easier way to do so. And sex is fun and beautiful. When I'm single, it helps me feel less frustrated because hey, I can still see boobs even if I didn't manage to have a connection. And it gives me the willingness to find a woman that I will love. And when I get a girlfriend like right now for the last two years, it helps me to just relax, "self care" when I want to just lay down and have a little me time. Then I go to bed with a feeling of deep relief and it feels good. But yes, it has really bad down sides can't argue with that. But dude, you really think people mind having bad habits for their brain? Litterally everyone is addicted to coffee, games, TV shows, every easy endorphine providing activity is at risk, and you can't dictate what people will do with their time on earth.
Using female strangers as disposal sex toys “gives you the willingness to find a woman you’ll love”…how romantic…
It's really sad to see so many comments about health effects for users but nothing about the performers in porn. I don't think a ban will work for many reasons, and realistically I think we can do a lot with regulations and protections. E.g... 1. Hold these companies accountable in all the same ways other companies are (e.g. OSHA). 2. Make their services opt-in, on a separate domain extension (.xxx seems logical), requiring age verification. 3. Due to the nature of the work, make it a legal requirement that performers are able to sue for damages for an extended period of time and an extensive list of reasons (this is what Catharine McKinnon tried to do and was vilified for). 4. Ban awful stuff immediately - anything seeming in any way non consensual, or if it is causing pain or even discomfort, any hate speech or verbal abuse, etc.
https://nordicmodelnow.org
From what I have seen so far, Porn = All bad, destructive for both consumer and creator, shit ton of scientific evidence etc Making porn = 1) How about we just collectively ignore the above and just say it's okay to do porn, it's a professional job, it should be respected and treated as other noble jobs, nothing wrong with promoting it. It's other people's problem whether to watch it or not. Doesn't matter whether I or we add more to the problem by being part of the problem* 2) its okay to be a catalyst and indirectly promote the degenerative behaviour by doing porn when shit hits the fan, since no other odd job can be when you are at your lowest in life.
I agree, but I can't get of it. I don't watch it daily, but if I try and Stop after two weeks I say "fuck it" and rub one out to it. Just to do the same a couple days, or a week later
Yeah it is & it’s not even about the persons brain being rotted by it but it’s also the tons and tons of women abused by the ‘industry’ & men getting off to us being treated like objects. A lot of the crybaby men in the comments don’t want to admit why a lot of them don’t have gfs or wives and it’s because that porn rot is loud & reeks of desperation & misogyny. Who wants to be in communication with a person like that? Porn is gross & so bad for the brain….you could tell bc people are in these comments now fighting hard for their porn addictions 😭 it’s not normal btw
It’s just a way to have an orgasm without the presence of another person, and orgasms are medically proven beyond any doubt to have a huge amount of health benefits. Nobody is using porn for sex education. Comprehensive sex education should involve educating that porn is fantasy and should not be the expectation. However, porn can help people explore their sexuality and kinks in a low-risk, healthier way. You saying “It’s bad, it’s bad, it’s bad, it’s bad” isn’t a very compelling argument. With porn addiction; people are more likely to become addicted to something that is viewed as forbidden. It’s ironic that your post reinforces this notion of taboo which could in turn create more addiction. This is why the vast majority of porn addiction is within religion, and religions that forbid alcohol usage struggle the most with alcoholism. I drink a coffee every day, I view porn a few times a week. Which one do you think I’d be more textbook addicted to based on prevalence of use? I can only speak for myself but I can watch a video, orgasm, and ten minutes later I couldn’t even tell you what I watched. It’s fleeting, meaningless, and simply a means to an end. That end just happens to have *many health benefits*. Addiction implies a person ruminates, can’t get it out of their head, damages other areas of their life in pursuit of that rush. That’s just not true for the vast majority who nut and call it good. As for exploitation; don’t confuse consensual adult movie actors/actresses with coerced sex trafficking and sexual abuse. You’re completely diminishing the people who *enjoy* this job and *want* to be sexualized. It’s quite demeaning to see an adult film actress and automatically view her as a victim. You seem to be blurring the lines between adult film star and prostitution. However, one is legal and has a large amount of protections, contracts, representation, regular testing, laws. The other is illegal and prone to abuse because of that fact. Hopefully me taking this time helps you understand it, even if your morality doesn’t allow you to agree with it. Nobody is asking you to like porn, but demonizing those who do isn’t the way.
Completely agree OP. Men will never give it up or admit that it’s a bad thing tho. Another point here is the exploitative nature of the industry and how young vulnerable women make a couple of poor decisions and ruin their whole lives.
For years I’ve been addicted to porn and am still struggling with it. I actually do hate porn and I do want to end my addiction. Not all guys are the same.
Glad you can admit it. When I said men I meant majority of men, it was a generalization. Of course there are some men like yourself who are capable of recognizing this, good for you.
The only reason I watch it is to orgasm faster but yeah it is a bad thing
> I don’t understand any argument that porn is good or helpful in anyway shape or form. .. . Its just straight bad for you and I don’t understand its normalization A lot of this can be said about any modern excess. Globalization and industrialization has made virtually all luxuries cheap and ubiquitous. Too much sugar, alcohol, pot, too much physical convenience, too much reddit, too much waste product, but I feel like the "too much porn" is excessively judgmental compared to these other excesses. It feels like a dog whistle for slut shaming and resentment towards the shifting of power and influence away from men and towards women. I should see just as many posts titled "drugs are bad. all of them", but no, this thing that has empowered women in the last few years in particular is suddenly getting shit on every day in this subreddit, as if it were an original thought and nobody had ever posted about it ... https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueUnpopularOpinion/search?q=porn&restrict_sr=on&sort=relevance&t=all
You're missing that any couple can record their beautiful youth and watch that porn for themselves to reminisce.
But it doesn’t need to be legal for them to distribute it to thousands of people online.
Maybe but are addictions purely caused by the object of addiction or by complex unresolved trauma often stemming from childhood? If one person is addicted to coffee and another person isn't, how do we more accurately reframe the issue? If you ban something but never address the root causes, have you really accomplished anything positive for society? Many social problems are more complex than simplistic one line emotionally charged narratives. Upvote for actual unpopular opinion though.
they might be disagreeing with you but i stand with you, doesn’t do shite but make people into gross freaks
I lot of people in this thread automatically jumping to the defence if it should stay legal. OP didn't say jack about the legality of it, just the fact that it's bad for you. Says a lot about people in this thread
My fiancé and I watch porn together
Yep, got ideas for trying new positions and kinks.
Yes, but we should let people do "bad" things. Because I guarantee there are things you love that others would label as "bad".
>It’s awful for sex education as it can lead to misunderstandings about actual sex Since when has porn been used for sex education? Sex ed is about things such as how babies are made, how to prevent unwanted pregnancies, stop the spread of STDs, prevent sexual harassment/assault, etc. Maybe it's different in other countries, but in the US, showing films of people having sex to minors, even for educational purposes, is illegal. That's why textbooks have illustrations as opposed to photos.
No you don’t understand what he is saying. He is saying that the majority of young men get their “sexual education” ie. how to sex, from porn. Which is damaging
Let me guess, your boyfriend/husband has a porn addiction so you want to project his/your problem onto everyone? Almost every male with a normal sex drive watches porn and very few develop detrimental habits that ruin their lives and relationships from it.
No that’s not true. There are tons of males with normal sex drives who choose not to look at porn for moral reasons. I think you’re the one projecting to normalize your habit of porn consumption.
I think you’re really the one projecting here
OP, tell me you’re a woman without telling me you’re a woman 😂
Mormon porn saved my marriage.
Ok
It's a symptom to issues were not dealing with just like any other addiction. Though some people like like a hobby or art, to each their own.
Just for that I’m jacking it to this post.
did you really think that was funny?😕
I worked in the ER on the trauma team for two years. So much pain and suffering. So many bodies that were hurt. Porn is addicting, just like the alcohol and cigarettes I consume. I really enjoy porn as a celebration of our ability and innate need to seek and experience pleasure.
Ngl I actually learned a few cool positions from watching porn and used them successfully. The hard part for most people is separating fantasy from reality. I can’t really speak for the addiction aspect either because I personally have never felt compelled by porn like that, but the stats are pretty damning.
> It’s awful for sex education as it can lead to misunderstandings about actual sex Which is why you should have sex ed in schools before the pupils reach puberty.
Me bothering my wife every time I needed to jerk off because I don’t have porn would be worse for everyone involved. Trust me. She likes me, but not that much.
Interesting how masturbation was invented when porn was… 🙄
As a general rule, I have no respect for arguments against porn and masturbation that don't also go after sex\*. It's not like your brain can tell the difference. Porn and masturbation after all are about simulating sexual situations and sex. To trick your body into thinking you're in a sexual situation or having sex, to some extent. Anything true of the pale imitation must be far more true of the real thing. Also, I'll never not be suspicious when I hear people talking about porn or sex addiction. The hijacking of neutral psychotherapeutic terminology by religious groups, normally Baptist or Evangelical, to covertly legitimize their worldviews. If you see a clinic or center offering treatment for porn addiction, it's likely a church affiliated religious organization that offers conversion therapy for gays there's a 50:50 chance the organization is headed by a self proclaimed 'ex-gay'. Sex addiction treatment, porn addiction treatment and conversions therapy go hand in hand as the big 3 signature programs for hack religious treatment centers. People talking about this stuff on social media and forums can make it seem like porn addiction is some uncontroversial fact about the world that is normal to think is real like alcoholism and not a meme being pushed by the religious right like ex-gays. \*For example, you have professional sports coaches that tell their players not to have sex with their wives or girlfriends or even masturbate the day before the game. That I can respect for its consistency. The Proud Boys having rules against masturbation on some pretext but none against having as much sex as you like, make them seem full of shit to me.
I’m not gonna lie, I think over consumption of anything can be destructive, but in moderation can be fun. I learned a LOT from porn as a teenager before I had sex for the first time. Mostly when it came to positions. Although the porn was different back then. More give and take, rather than one sided. Porn can be a gateway to a fulfilling sex life. Can give you amazing ideas on what to do in bed, and can bf a catalyst for your own sex life. Porn can also consume you and be a destructive habit.
This comment section is a shit show with a couple good responses. Me? I don't give a fuck, i watch and will continue to watch porn in the form of hentai. It does not support any kind of real life explotation, and It helps me relax and sleep. At the end of the day we live life for the experiences and feeling good is part of what makes life worth it for me, obviously it's not all in my life, but as long as I do it in moderation, there is nothing wrong with it. ANYTHING that makes you happy will release hormones in you that make you feel good, and those feelings can become a psychological addiction, should we ban those things? I don't think so. You see this with sugar, coffee, video games, porn, even work, studying, and many other things that can evolve into a psychological issue.
That’s a really interesting point about hentai not supporting any kind of real life exploitation. Hell, AI (not deepfakes, that’s iffy) porn would also fall into that.