Pornography is Addictive
Numerous research studies, as well as overwhelming anecdotal
evidence, indicate pornography use is addictive. Counselors and therapists are virtually
unanimous in their view that as pornography use grows, the materials become
more and more coarse and in some cases lead to acting out. Dr. Victor Cline, an expert on sexual addiction, found that
there is a four-step progression among many who consume pornography.
- Addiction:
Pornography provides a powerful sexual stimulant or aphrodisiac effect,
followed by sexual release, most often through masturbation. - Escalation:
Over time addicts require more explicit and deviant material to meet their
sexual "needs." - Desensitization:
What was first perceived as gross, shocking and disturbing, in time
becomes common and acceptable. - Acting out
sexually: There is an increasing tendency to act out behaviors viewed in
pornography.
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I am so sick of hearing this, the internet is addictive, porn is addictive, phones are addictive, sex is addictive, drugs are addictive, money is addictive, video games are addictive, chocolate is addictive, exercise is addictive, work is addictive, TV is addictive etc....Seriously STOP with the BS. If it's addictive I'm going to place my money on the person's personality NOT the actual substance
This idea does not do justice to what addiction really is.
The degree to which pornography is addictive is the same to which video games , snickers bars, and hair highlights are addictive.
Stretching out addiction to include stuff like this does not help you argument, it hurts the issues that actually involve addiction.
Years ago I discovered that my ex-husband was secretly indulging in pornographic magazines. A friend of mine counseled me that if that was the worse he was doing, I had nothing to worry about.bSome 10 years later, he announced that he was leaving me for another woman, and I discovered that he had been browsing really raunchy pornographic sites on my computer, including "meet a skank" singles ads for all of the towns he was traveling to on business trips.
I have to add a note here that I struggled for years with an inability to please my husband as much as he desired. I was molested as a child, so there were just some things that were beyond my comfort zone in our sexual life. I have no doubt that he reached a point where reading about/viewing all of the kinky sex wasn't enough. And since I was less than enthusiastic about participating, he decided to go elsewhere to get his satisfaction.
I blame the fact that he chose to sleep with other women as a character defect on his part. But I believe that pornography played the key role in his motivation.
You said you blame your husband's character defect for his decisions. So imagine if he had not had pornography or raunchy personals ads at his disposal: do you really think things would have been radically different? There are two different approaches to dealing with an addict: you can blame the substance (War on Drugs, etc.) or you can blame the addict (therapy, support groups, etc.). The two approaches differ on their views of the human psyche; in my opinion it is impossible to adopt both simultaneously.
You could also say that video games are addictive too because people enjoy watching, playing, using. Things that people like are goign to show signs of addiction. Just because people feel happy when doing the task doesnt mean it is laced with addiction
All in all, whether pornography is addictive or not isn't the primary issue. There is nothing inherently destructive in addiction regardless of the fact that many addictions are and can be quite destructive. Making the case for pornography addiction does not make a clear case for a cynical view of it in total.
No, like any other behavior, one can engage with pornography either in a healthy manner or with unhealthy extremes. Our culture extols the value of religion in general and one religion in particular, however, and again, one can approach religion in a healthy manner or in unhealthy extremes. I believe we are all familiar with the results of the latter.
All of this to say, to single out pornography is a dodge of the real issue - human beings who are incapable or unwilling to behave in healthy ways regardless of the subject of the behavior. To be a sexual creature is quite healthy as is it healthy to indulge in one's fantasies either alone or with others freely consenting. If one's behavior doesn't result in self-destructive actions either episodic or consistent, there is nothing relevant to critique. Nevertheless, whether it be one's sexual life, one's religious life, one's work life, hobbies, or any other behavior, if one is prone to destructive actions toward oneself or others, some professional help is needed.
No blanket statement can be made regarding the harmfulness of pornography because there are many individuals who indulge in pornography responsibly without self-destructive behaviors or harm toward others. Individuals who cannot require assistance. Individuals who would ban pornography entirely, even for those who can behave responsibly, also need professional assistance for the tendency to extend their individual rights and liberties beyond reason and respect.
You ignore though that pornography is damaging to the women who are in it. People want to argue that it's freedom of sexual expression etc but it really is just a bunch of garbage the industry pulled out of their arses. Women are raped all the time in the industry - whether you want to admit it or not. I have a zero tolerence for violence against women - what is YOUR tolerence for violence against women? How many raped women are you willing to watch - 1, 2....100? You just don't know. I know they have these disclaimers at the beginning of every porn but the industry has been caught over and over again violating these laws.
Another thing to think about is that a lot of women who go into the porn industry were/are also prostitutes. Many of which have been raped and beaten etc - and porn seems like the lesser of the two evils in most situations, so many will turn to it. How do you KNOW for sure the women in the porn you are viewing weren't coerced into sex trades? How do you know they weren't pimped into the industry? I mean - you just don't. And I think once more people start to place emotions, lives and struggles on the women they are viewing in porn and the possibilities they might be living - they may not find it so sexy.
http://www.sagesf.org/html/about_main.htm
Google it and you will find that there has been plenty of documentation to support that Porn is Addictive. I can also vouch as one who has dealt with people across the desk that are addicted to it that it has addictive tendencies. Though it does not rank in the calibar as alcohol, cigerettes, drugs, etc.
I've never claimed that pornography cannot be addictive. It most clearly has been and will be. No, my point is that pornography isn't the only focus of addictions. Clearly, one can behave in addictive ways toward almost any particular issue. The addiction is a manner of relationship with a particular subject matter. It is not the subject matter at fault but rather one's relationship to it. The rather benign activity of making purchases at a store can be taken to such addictive extremes that it requires professional help. Would you so easily conclude that the act of purchasing an item is inherently addictive and, in general, unhealthy? I don't believe you would, however, that is the logic of your conclusion with pornography.
If one is prone to addiction or, to use another term, obsession, one focus is as good as any other. Addictive eaters need help, however, it's rather erroneous to conclude is addictive and unhealthy and ought to be banned forthwith. No, it is not pornography at issue but rather the inability of certain individuals to form a healthy relationship to it. Those individuals most likely are unable to form healthy relationships in other areas of their lives as well. It is they who are unhealthy, not pornography or the focus of their immaturities.
I have come to the conclusion I have about Pornography based on what I have seen that it can do to peoples lives. I do not base my premise on the opinions of others, though their opinions are none the less important.
Beleive it or not, we deal with people who are compulsive buyers. To them, what they do is not healthy. So, I cannot honestly say what I would say to that question.
You are right, Porn is not the only focus of addiction, it is one of many.
Let ask you this: Why is it necessary to form a healthy relationship to Porn? Why is it necessary to form a healthy relationship to Alcohol? From the standpoint of those who I help out of addiction, they do not desire to have any relationship any longer with the addiction be it healthy or un-healthy.
First and foremost, this doesn't show that pornography is 'addictive,' but simply that its use changes over time. A person doesn't watch pornography and then need it. That hasn't been demonstrated. Moreover, my objection is that your use of negative sounding words (e.g. 'deviant' and 'gross') makes this argument skewed. Nothing that you have said here is actually objectively bad. You have not sufficiently demonstrated that any of this is harmful to anyone, other than your own conceptions about sexuality and morality.
I agree that it doesn't make a person NEED it... However, I've seen it make people really angry when they can't get their view on. My father would get outraged and he totally wanted to isolate himself with his porn . Just as any addict wants to isolate themselves from their families so that they can protect their addiction .
If there are so many studies "proving" your case beyond the shadow of a doubt, how about you post some of them?
http://surgicalneurologyint.com/article.asp?issn=2152-7806 ;year=2011;volume=2;issue=1;spage=19;epage=19;aulast=Hilton
Its from 2 neurosurgeons from texas. They have religious affiliations but ask pretty objective science based questions on the reality of natural addictions. Its looks like an exciting realm of research to be done in the neuroscience world.
Is that evidense for you? Maybe it's too hard for you to grasp but many familes have been torn up because of porn in the same way that alcohol / drugs have (whether you want to call it an addiction or not, it can still lead to problems found similar in families facing other addictions - very emotional and very hard problems). When I was a kid - I was just a hurdle in the way of my fathers porn viewing and so he was pretty horrible to me - emotionally and physically abused (to note - my father was never abused in any way growing up, so it's not like this behavior was something he learned from a father or mother figure).
When a man chooses porn over his chosen partner and continues to say that it has nothing to do with her and that he really does love her - what would you call it? If a man who has become obsessed with porn can't even get it up for actual, real sex - what would you call it? Healthy sexuality my ass.
addiction, habit, obsession - whatever you want to call it... I mean, obviously it's not a CHEMICAL addiction but psychological addictions do and can exist...