The Problems With Pornography

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The topic of pornography is an emotive subject. It is one of those subjects that everybody seems to have a strong opinion about. The narrative is often an extreme binary—anti-porn or pro-porn—rather than being more nuanced and informed by the vast and continuously growing science of sexology.

One of the biggest concerns that people have about pornography, understandably, is the dark side of trafficked girls forced to have sex in front of a camera, and the illegal pornography on the dark web. The other main concerns are the worry that pornography negatively influences men’s attitude towards women, and any potential addictive effects.

Let’s talk about it.

Concerns about pornography and trafficking

Yes, it is true, but it is uncommon. The mainstream pornography available is not made with trafficked people. Crucially, it is easy to make sure that you’re watching ethical pornography. Pornography made by reputable and legitimate production studios employ willing performers who make their own choices and who are offered fair pay.

Mainstream pornography made by men for male erotic pleasure is often not appealing to many women, but it doesn’t mean women are mistreated. There is now a growing number of pornography productions that are made by women for women, which are also ethical. If you want to make sure you’re watching ethical porn, the best way to do so is to pay for your porn (free porn is less monitored), and it is easy to make a quick and easy background check on the production studios of your porn. Or you have the option to access platforms like OnlyFans where sex performers have full control of their work.

Let’s look at another issue. The great majority of the cocoa beans that make the everyday chocolate that you enjoy comes from West Africa, notably the Ivory Coast. It has been reported that trafficked children are forced to work on cocoa plantations, an issue that is documented, yet not discussed. Most importantly, the journey of the cocoa beans from West Africa to your chocolate bar is so complex that it is virtually impossible to be sure that your chocolate was made ethically (even your luxury ‘Belgian’ chocolate may be a product of illegal labour). Yet, I don’t see chocolate being such an emotive topic, and I certainly don’t see anyone trying to ban chocolate, or being shamed for enjoying it.

I’m firmly against all people trafficking and slavery. Why be selective about it? Let’s address this problem across all industries.

Why is talking about pornography generating so much discomfort? Because it has to do with sexual pleasure and fantasies (an uncomfortable subject); because it is a common religious prohibition (producing major moral conflicts); and because it is wrapped in much noise, misinformation, and pseudo-science (an inflated or incorrect narrative of its dangerous effects, often fuelled by highly moralistic views).

Of course, illegal porn made with trafficked people should absolutely stop and those involved should be prosecuted, but banning mainstream legal pornography won’t solve the problem. In fact, it will make the problem worse as more people, especially young people, would have no other choices but to go on the dark web to meet their erotic curiosity. One thing that we won’t ever change is that young people are curious about sex, and one way or another they will find a way to meet that need.

Mainstream porn is nothing more than legal adult entertainment. As for the illegal porn on the dark web that people most commonly call ‘child porn,’ let me be clear: it is not ‘porn,' it is vile sexual abuse. The popular narrative is that people view such criminal images as a result of an escalation of ‘porn addiction.’ It is not true. People who watch such images have a pre-existing interest in them, no matter how much legal porn they watch. Studies show that people simply don’t watch something that is against their morals or their values or things they find disgusting. Blaming sexual offences on ‘porn addiction’ is absolving people of their own responsibility (It wasn’t me, it was my addict), and it can actually do a disservice to the safety of the public.

Does pornography negatively influence men’s attitude towards women?

Porn is not sex education. The porn industry never wanted it to be. Yet, most young people with a burgeoning curiosity about sex turn to porn for their sex education. This is not a porn problem, it is a poor sex education problem. If our society could manage to have proper inclusive sex education, porn would become less attractive to young people. Unfortunately, sex is such an uncomfortable conversation for many people that I think it will take a long time before we will provide good sex education.

Young people getting their sex education with porn will definitely learn the wrong lessons: ‘My penis should be very large and very hard all the time,’ ‘Vulvas should be hairless,’ ‘Penetration should last for 30 minutes,’ ‘There is no need for good preparation before sex,’ ‘A woman should scream if she enjoys sex,’ etc. The lack of sex education is actually detrimental for both men and women, and will contribute to unpleasant and anxious sexual experiences.

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There is no scientific evidence that watching pornography causes bad attitudes towards women, but it can increase negative attitudes if people have pre-existing misogynistic attitudes. Once again, porn is not the problem, but the endemic misogyny (which pre-dates internet porn) is the real problem.

Of course, it is much easier to point the finger at porn than to do the long hard work of changing our society and its attitudes towards sex education and misogyny.

Let’s look at another issue. We know that fast food is bad for our health. Some of us over-indulge to the point of being dangerous. Would banning fast food help? Or should we provide our young people with much better education on food and cooking classes? Blaming fast food would be ignoring the people’s individual responsibility for their choices.

Unlike fast food, there is no evidence that mainstream pornography is bad for health. Unlike chocolate, it is easy to access ethical porn, yet pornography remains the most controversial subject.

The myth that pornography is addictive

This is another one of the common worries (and myths) when people speak of the problems with porn. Although the term ‘porn addiction’ is popular, it has not been clinically endorsed. The only diagnostic criteria that we have is ‘compulsive sexual behaviour disorder’ (ICD-11). Given that pornography is so popular, if it was really addictive, therapists would be seeing millions of people knocking on their doors. But we don’t. The number of people struggling with porn is relatively small. Also, most who seek help have self-diagnosed either by doing some online tests, reading an anti-porn book, or doing some internet searching, but most don’t even meet the criteria for compulsive sexual behaviours. Most people struggling with porn are those who feel shame because of intense conflicts with relationships, morals, values, and their erotic world. The people who have genuine compulsive behaviours with pornography are usually those who use it to attempt to regulate underlying emotional problems. Stopping watching porn won’t resolve those emotional problems; it might actually make them worse. Good therapy should be focused on addressing those emotional problems rather than helping people stop watching porn. When people resolve their emotional problems, the compulsion dilutes by itself.

There is so much porn panic noise that it can be hard to decipher proper information to make your own opinion about it. I think it is really important to turn to the sexology science rather than moralistic anecdotes. An independent and helpful website, Porn Science, offers a collection of the vast scientific research on porn.