As Audre Lorde once said in her book, Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power, "Pornography is a direct denial of the power of the erotic, for it represents the suppression of true feeling. Pornography emphasizes sensation without feeling.” (goodreads.com) Pornography is a multibillion-dollar industry built on oppression and abuse defines pornography as “the depiction of acts in a sensational manner that elicits a rapid and intense emotional reaction” and society as “a community, nation, or large group of people having common traditions, institutions, and collective activities.” interests.” Pornography not only contaminates the way people see the world around them, it dismantles the foundations of society. It destroys families and negatively affects children. In addition to degrading standards of morality and free expression, it enslaves people to addiction. Scientists and psychologists have linked pornography to negative black plasticity. Pornography, although it appears to be empowering and liberating, leaves destruction and addiction in its wake. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayAlthough the Internet is a tool that can be used for countless goods, the infiltration of pornographic material is a danger to developing minds. Pornography is the most accessible it has ever been. From iPhones to laptops, it's always just a click away. Easy access to pornographic material is a concern for a child's development and well-being. In 2005, a case study showed that 42% of children between the ages of 10 and 17 had experienced unwanted exposure to pornography in the past year. (Wolak, Janis, “Unwanted and Wanted Exposure to Online Pornography in a National Sample of Youth Internet Users.” February 2007, 247, 248-49). Technology has advanced exponentially since 2005, making pornography even more accessible and thus increasing the risk of unwanted pornographic exposure. A child's developing mind is extremely malleable and can absorb large amounts of information in short periods of time. A child seeing multiple unfamiliar bodies performing incomprehensible acts can be scary and confusing. After being told what sex is, they automatically associate sex with pornography. Children are unable to distinguish between pornography, which is a fantasy world, and sex, which is natural and healthy. Because pornography is aggressive and dramatized in nature, early exposure to pornography normalizes the premise that sex is violent. Studies have shown that a child who has had contact with pornography is ten times more likely to engage in high-risk sexual activities, such as having multiple sexual partners and lack of safe sex. Raising sexually confident children is the goal of most parents. If pornography is the primary way a child learns about sex, they are more likely to be a victim of sexual violence. Pornography disrupts children's mental development and negatively affects their social well-being. “Pro-porn” activists often argue that pornography coincides with the sex-positive movement. The sex-positive movement is the philosophy and social movement that promotes all sexual orientations and self-expression of individuals. They try to normalize and destroy the stigma around sex and sexual issues. Some sex-positive advocates argue that pornography is an art form that utilizes sexualityhuman as a form of self-expression. What they don't take into consideration, however, are the facts. While encouraging sexuality and self-expression is good in theory, pornography is the opposite. Most of the porn seen in America is cast, scripted, produced, and rehearsed. The individuals in the film are not their own directors. All major porn actors are under the direct control of their managers and producers. They have no “self-expression” or say in the matter. Porn is not an art form. There is no character development, plot, or complex thematic resolutions. This is remarkably contrary to what sex positivity advocates claim. “Porn stars” have no sense of self-expression. Additionally, almost all porn seen in the United States is heteronormative, so it doesn't give minorities a voice or platform to express themselves. The vast majority of pornography consumed by people in the United States lacks self-expression and diversity. Therefore, pornography is not inherently sex-positive. It is clear that pornography is an unrealistic fantasy that does not portray sex in an accurate light. It is an unattainable fantasy that cannot be achieved and therefore must lead to desperation. Let's assume for a moment that porn was completely realistic and achievable. Let's assume that ordinary people can contort themselves and adapt to the standards of the porn industry. Give up the possibility of conceiving a child. We assumed that having sex for multiple hours was achievable and not boring or tiring. Forget about the needs and feelings of the person you are having sex with. Even while living this fantasy, something is missing. You're not having sex. You are a simple artist who lacks intimacy and love. These two qualities coincided with sex. Pornography does not require intimacy or love. Separate dignity, communication and affection from sex. These are qualities that all healthy sexual relationships should include. Porn is a fairytale fantasy that misrepresents sex and therefore ends in desperation. Similar to how Photoshopped images give an unrealistic perception of beauty, pornography gives an unrealistic portrayal of sex. As a result, it lowers self-esteem in men and women. Mainstream porn in the United States does not offer representation for people of color or people who have different body types. The human brain is programmed to deal with the surrounding environment. (QUOTE) Women will find themselves comparing their bodies to those of adult film actresses. Likewise, men also struggle with body image and compare themselves to male porn actors. As the famous psychologist Jonathan Doyle said: “This low level of self-esteem often leads a person to explore pornography as a source of release. The high levels of dopamine secreted in the brain can provide short-term positive feelings that remove feelings of low self-esteem, even if only for a short time. However, the feelings soon return and are often stronger as the addict feels worse due to worry about the content he or she has accessed or fear of being caught. (QUOTE) Watching pornography plants seeds of unrealistic expectations that even the average individual cannot meet. For example, the sounds porn stars make or the way their bodies move can cause great insecurity and psychological distress. Due to the fact that men and women compare their sexual encounters to pornography, their self-esteem is lowered. Pornography is also harmful to marriage. Researcher, Patrick Fagan, Ph.D. found that 56% of divorces had a partner interested in porn. In the United States alone, 40% of the population regularly watches porn. Apart from thelack of reality, love and passion, porn causes sexual frustration among married couples. Although it provides a temporary sexual high among married couples, it is harmful to any marriage. According to a study conducted by the American Sociological Association in August 2016, couples who view pornography are twice as likely to divorce. (Samuel Perry, 'Till Porn Do Us Part? Longitudinal Effects of Pornography Use on Divorce" American Sociological Association, 2017) As the leader of the research, Samuel Perry stated, "Younger Americans tend to view pornography more often than older Americans, and older Americans in general have more stable marriages as they tend to be more mature, financially established, and likely already have more time invested in the relationship.” Since marriage is a key component to a thriving economy and society, porn is essentially tearing the world apart. One could argue that pornography is exercising the American right to free speech and expression. The First Amendment states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or restrict freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. It would seem logical that pornography is good because it is protected by the Constitution of the United States of America. However, other heinous acts were protected by the Constitution, such as slavery and segregation. Just because something is legal and protected, doesn't mean it is healthy or good. Furthermore, obscenities such as pornography are not protected by the Constitution. In the case Chaplinksy v. New Hampshire 1942 (315 U.S. 568, 571-572) the Supreme Court declared: “There are certain well-defined and narrowly limited classes of speech, the prevention and punishment of which have never been thought to raise any constitutional problem. These include that which is obscene and obscene... It has been well observed that such expressions are no essential part of any exposition of ideas, and have so little social value as a step towards the truth that any benefit which may arise from them is clearly outweighed by the social interest in order and morality”. The First Amendment was created to protect people's right to express their ideas and engage in civil debate; pornography does none of these things. Pornography has had a strong correlation with the degradation of morality and the increase in crime. According to a 2016 Stanford study, “despite a lack of formal research, FBI statistics show that pornography is found at 80 percent of violent sex crime scenes or in perpetrators' homes.” It is a common scientific fact that the brain learns by repeating actions and concepts. It makes sense that someone who views violent pornography would model sexual encounters on violent porn. Although it can be argued that pornography provides a release of tension and therefore decreases the risk of violence against women. However, this argument makes little logical sense. For example, porn encourages users to see women as objects, dehumanize their partners, and abandon communication between sexual partners. For people who tend to gravitate towards sexual violence, pornography will increase the likelihood of becoming sexually violent. One of the most viewed genres of porn is rape. Even though these are actors who don't actually get raped, it's toxic. Researcher Diana EH Russell, who published her peer-reviewed paper titled Pornography and Rape: A Causal Model, wrote: “(1) Pornography predisposes some men to want to rape women orintensifies the predisposition in other men already so predisposed; (2) undermines some men's internal inhibitions against acting out their rape desires; and (3) undermines some men's social inhibitions against acting out. (Political Psycholoy Volume 9) It stands to reason that pornography that appeals to a rape fantasy leads to sexual violence. Pornography has a strong correlation with sexual crimes and increased immorality. One of the most used pro-porn arguments states that pornography is feminist and empowers women. They argue that porn sites run by women for women use their sexuality and bodily autonomy as an art form. Although porn sites like this exist, they are not accessible. Some of these sites like "Frolic.me" and "Crashpad" charge hefty subscription fees and pay-per-view fees to ensure that their actors are paid fairly. These feminist porn sites are not accessible to most people who regularly view pornography. Other sites like “pornhub” have thousands of free videos that continually fetishize and oppress women and minorities with prominent genres like “tranny,” “barely legal,” “asian,” “fat black girl” and countless others. These objectifying and crude gender names are reason enough to question the site's ethicality. As famed feminist Gail Dines states in her book Pornland: How Porn Has Hijacked Our Sexuality, “Anyone who is willing to feed on women's bodies and use it as raw material to make a profit has no right to call himself a feminist” (Dines, 38 . ) Merriam Webster's Dictionary defines feminism as "the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes." However, when women are used only for their sexuality and not their talents or personalities, porn cannot be seen as feminist. Another example of how porn is destructive is the negative effects it has on the human brain. Pornography addiction is a widespread epidemic. In 2015, the University of Cambridge conducted an experiment in which MRI scanned the brains of men who watched pornography. The study found that after being exposed to pornography and experiencing a “sexual high,” increasingly extreme pornography is required to create the same effect. (Neural correlates of sexual signal reactivity in individuals with and without compulsive sexual behaviors, 2015.) Similar to a drug, after prolonged exposure to pornography, your brain needs more and more porn to reach a high. This may result in a compulsive activity to search for it. Pornography addiction causes neuroplastic changes. Neuroplasticity is how the brain rewires and repairs itself. This feature of the brain is responsible for learning parts. Similar to a drug, pornography produces a strong release of dopamine, the chemical that makes the body “feel good.” Dopamine strengthens neural connections, causing the human body to need to perform the same activity in the future. This causes brain cells to be rewired to promote the human body to perform certain actions. This causes a cycle. The more pornography is watched, the more dopamine is released, which causes a strong urge to watch more pornography. As Dr. Norman Doidge wrote in his book How The Brain Changes Itself, “Porn viewers develop new maps in their brains, based on the photos and videos they see. Because it's a “use it or lose it” brain, when we develop an area of the map, we want to keep it active. Just as our muscles get impatient for exercise if we've been sitting all day, so do our senses257.
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