Is it ok to watch porn?
- Chuck
- 52 minutes ago
- 4 min read
When I was younger, we were thought at school that there was nothing wrong with self-pleasuring, they explained it was part of the normal development of any human. The topic of pornography was never brought up, but in normalizing self-pleasuring for teenagers, I feel like somehow indirectly it endorses the consumption of adult content. Most people that will satisfy themselves would accompany it with the use of adult entertainment.
After watching an interview with several women that had been abused in the adult entertainment industry, I felt compelled to write this article and raise awareness on the impact of consuming that kind of content.
The size of the Beast
The adult entertainment business is highly lucrative. I’ve stumbled upon an article that compared the revenue efficiency amongst some of the largest companies in the United States and Only Fans ranked first by far. I recommend reading the article linked below for a better understanding.
https://worldvisualized.com/article/onlyfans-ranks-1-in-revenue-efficiency-surpasses-top-tech-giants
For those who have no idea of how big of an industry that is, another article estimates the annual revenue of the adult entertainment business in 2023 at 58.8 billion USD with a projected estimated income of 74.7 billion USD in 2030. In order for you to compare, the music industry’s estimated revenue for the same year, according to a simple Google search, was 28.6 billion USD. It’s easy to see how perverted the world is, when looking at how big of a market porn consumption is.
I simply wanted to illustrate the Beast that the “adult” content industry is. I put adult in quotation because those statistics don’t take into consideration the soft porn that is now sprinkled in almost all the TV shows watched by everyone, not only adults. If you’ve watched “Game of Thrones” you’ll understand exactly what I mean. Most of the TV shows today feature a good amount of adult content, and many other platforms will house illegal adult content. The revenue from those other sources is not accounted for in the statistics presented earlier. In my opinion the numbers are much higher than what we may think. Sex sells, open YouTube and compare the thumbnails of videos with million views vs 10k views.
Does my consumption hurt anyone?
I will answer this one very succinctly. Yes, it does! It hurts everyone, let’s start by the “actors”;
The “Actors”
Did you know that two of the most popular words used when searching for explicit contents are “Youth” and “Teen”. According to an article linked below, a UK non-profit organization called the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) that processes data web access in 50 countries located on 4 continents, states that in 2019 they were able to confirm 132,676 URLs that had child abuse imagery. Those children are NOT actors, they are victims, and so are many other said “actors” in the industry.
According to another website, 79% of the revenue made through human trafficking is from sexual exploitation. The children mentioned earlier are trafficked:
“As a major form of organized crime, human trafficking generates about $150 billion annually. Out of the estimated 40.3 million people enslaved globally through human trafficking, 79% are sexually exploited.”
Another article had similar statistics stating that:
“According to the UNDOC [2••], females experience sex trafficking at disproportionate rates, with women and girls, respectively, representing 77% and 72% of the individuals experiencing sexual exploitation. Others have estimated these rates to be even higher with some sources suggesting that up to 99% of sexually trafficked individuals are women and girls [3, 15•]. Most trafficked individuals enter sex trafficking before the age of 18, with the average age of first sex trafficking experience ranging from 12 to 15 years [15•, 16•].”
Now you understand my point concerning the “actors” being hurt in most of the adult content videos. I’m even going to push the reflection further in asking, is it common for people, even in consensual circumstances, to have no damaging effects from “acting” in adult videos? Can someone really be 100% sane as they come out of years of working in the industry? I personally believe everyone gets hurt.
The Viewer
Watching pornography does hurt the viewer. A simple Google search provided this list of the side effects from watching pornography:
“Psychological and emotional effects
· Stress relief: Some users may use pornography as a way to cope with stress, boredom, or negative emotions.
· Mental health: Frequent use can be linked to increased feelings of isolation, anxiety, and depression.
· Self-esteem and body image: Pornography can negatively affect body image and contribute to lower self-esteem, especially with frequent exposure to unrealistic portrayals.
· Cognitive changes: Pornography can alter brain function and impact cognitive processes, particularly in areas related to pleasure and reward.
· Compulsive behavior: Some studies suggest a link between internet pornography consumption and compulsive sexual behavior, sometimes described as an addiction.”
Conclusion
In the light of what was just said, in my opinion it’s it's not ok to watch pornography, it hurts everyone. If you’re a parent watching it, would you like for your children to do the same? Would you watch those videos with your children? If you’re an adult, do you understand that the woman in the video is a woman as is your sister or your mother, or your niece or anyone you love or appreciate? I say woman, but this goes for men too. That “actor” could be your neighbor, your friend, your cousin, your daughter, your brother, your son, your mother, your sister, your significant other…anyone you care for.
Do not partake and encourage, by watching, the abuse of so many. If you feel stuck and are struggling to stop consuming that content, pray that God delivers you from it, He Is Mighty and will set you free. If you’re a non-believer I would still recommend you try to pray, even if it’s your first time…it works. If you do not want to pray, seek professional help, they will assist you.
I wish you all the best, stay blessed!
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