Porn

 The pornography industry is not a new one, but it has seen unprecedented growth with the rise of the internet. In past decades, people seeking sexually explicit material had to go out of their way to find it, but now it is easier than ever to access pornography.

Meagan Tyler, a sociology lecturer, writes: “While exact figures are often debated, there is a general consensus that the market for porn rivals those for popular music, Hollywood movies, and professional sports.”

According to the internet survey site SimilarWeb, up to 20% of web searches are related to porn, and four of the top 20 most-trafficked websites are porn sites. With such an unprecedented amount of pornographic material being created and accessed, it is more important than ever to consider the impact that pornography has on society. The influence of pornography on women is especially significant.

Although scientific research has not reached a consensus about the impacts of pornography consumption, there are many negative outcomes that are closely linked to pornography use. Even though a causal relationship can’t currently be proven, it would be unwise to ignore these correlations.

“Scientifically the situation for pornography and harm effects is similar to that of smoking and lung cancer. It is not possible to prove that smoking is the sole cause of the cancer, but there is sufficient correlational data to conclude that it is highly likely that smoking is a causal factor in the etiology of lung cancer,” wrote scholar and editor Catherine Itzin.

Many argue that pornography consumption is harmless, a personal choice that affects no one but the viewer. However, we cannot help but be influenced by the media we consume, and this media in turn influences our relationships and the way we view the world around us.

Various studies have found that anywhere from 33% to 88% of the internet’s most popular pornographic videos portray sexual violence or aggression, mostly towards women, according to a report from Fight the New Drug.

Many insist that these graphic depictions of violence have no effect on the way the average consumer views or treats women in everyday life, but how could it not? Nobody is immune to the effects of the content they choose to consume, and this is especially true of pornography. Videos that demean women and glorify violence and abuse cannot possibly be without impact on men’s real life relationships with women.

Apologists for the pornography industry insist that, far from demeaning women, female porn stars are uniquely empowered because they own their sexuality and are not ashamed of it. While healthy sexuality within a relationship can certainly be empowering, the type of sexuality portrayed in pornography is degrading and tends to treat women as sexual objects. Even if these women voluntarily choose to participate in the creation of pornography, self-objectification is still objectification.

And the question of whether those women are willing participants in the creation of pornography is a real one. The porn industry has notoriously been linked to countless cases of sex trafficking, coercion and fraud. Pornography may be commonplace, but it is not without significant consequences. From its correlations with sex trafficking, sexual assault, domestic abuse and significant relational issues, pornography negatively affects everyone that comes in contact with it, whether directly or indirectly. To make matters worse, women bear the brunt of the consequences, although they tend to view pornography less than men.

As long as there as demand for pornography, it will continue to be created and consumed. The only truly effective solution for this growing crisis is for our communities to become fully aware of the harm pornography does, and consciously and collectively choose to turn away from it.