Pornography—a multi-billion dollar industry—has taken over American homes, destroying families, marriages and corrupting our youth.
According to a new book published in September 2010 called the “The Social Costs of Pornography: A Collection of Papers,” by Mary Anne Layden and Mary Eberstadt, porn negatively impacts many facets of society. The book originated from a conference of social scientists who gathered in December 2008 at The Witherspoon Institute to discuss this growing obsession. The Institute, “an independent research center that works to enhance public understanding of the moral foundations of free and democratic societies,” as described by their Web site, gathered numerous experts across various fields to determine the social ramifications of this corrosive phenomenon. Ms. Layden, director of the Sexual Trauma and Psychopathology Program at the University of Pennsylvania and Ms. Eberstadt, a research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, compile the findings of this highly-qualified group in their book.
The original report titled, “The Social Costs of Pornography: A Statement of Findings and Recommendations,” was released at a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on March 16, 2010. The bipartisan report allowed liberals, conservatives, traditionalists and feminists, as well as those in the medical and legal arenas to come together to address the growing problem of porn and its destructive ethos. Contrary to what many liberals argue, these findings attest that porn is not a private matter affecting only the individual. Rather, it is of grave social concern, impacting how men perceive and treat women, as well as how they relate to the opposite sex.
The social scientists discovered that male viewers of porn are more likely to believe that rape victims enjoyed being raped. They are also more likely to admit to having committed rape and favored less stringent sentences for convicted rapists. Married men who use porn are more likely to believe that sex before and outside of marriage is acceptable and showed less desire for children, including a lower desire for female children. Moreover, porn use also tended to result in reduced sexual satisfaction among men in a sexual relationship with a woman. Oftentimes, these men find their female sexual partners to be less attractive, and sex and affection to be less satisfying. Hence, when private behavior, such as addiction to pornography, adversely manifests itself in society by how men and women interact and treat one another, it ceases to be a private matter and becomes a serious social problem that needs to be addressed.
The study also delves into the effects of porn use among women who are fast-becoming addicted to pornography. A 2006 survey released by Internet Filter Review—which helps protect families from unwanted pornography with tools like Internet filter software—showed that 17 percent of women said they struggled with pornography addiction, andthat one in three visitors to pornography sites were women. A total of 9.4 million women traffic such sites per month. According to the 2008 U.S. Internet Pornography Statistics, about 30 percent of Internet pornography consumers are women. There is no doubt that the easy and widespread accessibility of porn via the Internet is posing a serious threat to the well-being of the male and female psyche. Women suffer the same side effects of porn use as men. Porn use cheapens the meaning of sexual intercourse to a purely carnal desire and separates its physical component from its emotional value.
According to the U.S. Pornography Industry Revenue Statistics of 2006, the United States is the fourth largest producer of porn in the world, raking in billions of dollars per year. The total porn industry revenue for the United States in 2006 was $13.3 billion; worldwide pornography revenues ballooned to $97.06 billion. Due to much consumption of porn, an addict's understanding of relationships, sex, marriage and children, becomes deeply rooted in the graphic, derogatory images of women and men as sex objects—oftentimes portrayed being treated violently as the acceptable status quo.
This is even more problematic as children and teens are likely to have more contact with porn and are being exposed to it at earlier ages. Most children are exposed to pornographic images before the age of 12. Research has shown that porn greatly damages a teenager’s self-esteem, character and relationships, as well as puts them at a higher risk for sexually aggressive behavior. “Pornography is deforming the healthy sexual development of these young viewers, and is used to exploit children and adolescents,” said Ms. Layden. Moreover, porn is a great risk factor for youth because it promotes sex without responsibility and disconnects sex from its deeper, relational meaning. Thus, pornography teaches youth that self-gratification supersedes a mature, loving relationship that requires discipline and sacrifice.
As a social problem with such destructive power, porn should no longer be protected by the First Amendment. Free and easy Internet access to pornography should be banned. The dignity of every woman and child should be our main priority. If we continue to let porn invade our homes, families, marriages and the lives of our children, we will be fostering a civilization bent on destroying itself. For without love and true respect of the human person and of the sexual act as an expression of sacred love within the bond of marriage, we will become nothing but carnal beasts devouring our own. In “Love and Responsibility,” first published in Polish in 1960 and then in English in 1981 by Karol Wojtyla—who would later become Pope John Paul II—the then-priest states that true love can only be experienced as a sincere gift of self. It is only once an individual uses his sexual freedom responsibly and selflessly that he will discover his natural splendor.
Feminist and civil rights activist Andrea Dworkin once said, “Pornography is war on women.” The Witherspoon Institute’s new study shows that porn is more than just war on women—it is a war on humanity, human dignity and civilized society.
-Loredana Vuoto is President of Eloquence, LLC, a speechwriting and writing services firm in Washington, DC. She is also the Editor of Reflections.
