Watching porn - healthy or unhealthy?

The eternal question that hounds most of us, (especially men!) is whether porn good or bad? Some will self-righteously assert that porn is an extremely bad thing to watch. Other commonly-heard refrains are that porn is disgusting and only people with loose or no moral fibre do porn. If you were only to go through their mobile phones you will probably be shell-shocked to see lewd suggestive messages, which may not exactly be porn but are just as extremely deprecating. Well a joke is a joke and porn is porn right? Since the beginning, man has always been consumed with thoughts of the sexual act. Right from cavemen’s depiction of lewd scrawls which can be carbon-dated back to the stone age, to the downright graphic pencil sketch of a nude on a toilet wall, nudity and sex have always come up on top whatever the year. Today we see female models endorsing products right from a hairpin to a lobotomy. Nobody ever objects to that but the mere mention of pornography, and suddenly everybody is either blaming the west or screaming for the marines.

Once A-Porn a time… Bedtime Tales!

The sexual instinct in humans is extremely strong and does not really understand concepts like monogamy or fidelity. These are concepts that humans have introduced to tame the supposedly-animal instincts to some semblance of civility. Therefore in most of the civilized societies, monogamy is the ideal where the blessed union of souls is affected by means of a contract called marriage, which is the foundation for family. The legally-weds then are supposed to have sex within the framework of marriage which then leads to children and family. The logic is simple - Responsibility! Under a contract of marriage, the sexual fires are stoked and encouraged for procreation. It is the parents’ responsibility to fend for and take care of the children born within the framework of the contract. The law dictates thus and so does society. Sexual intercourse can continue well after the children grow up for maintaining intimacy amongst the partners. That is what most people should be doing anyway according to the moral and social laws laid down by society. So is monogamy responsible for pornography? Just maybe! With family and society laying down the dictates of monogamy with it being the most desired trend. Plus the fact that they even have religion endorsing family then the sexual instincts get relegated to the shadow realms i.e. banished to the deep inner recesses of the mind where it lurks and is expressed in the form of pornography. The more our collective social consciousness banishes the sexual instinct, the more it will come out in distorted forms.

Take the example of the average Joe who has been physically faithful to his wife. His mind wanders to the cheerleader after the game but then there is very little he can do about it other than fantasize about her, (Not a good idea to go home and tell the wife, right?) so he might indulge in masturbation or think of her when he has sex with his wife. So pornography, namely the adult movies or erotic books or photographs or the porn websites that we have immediate access to are nothing but someone getting rich at your expense. By dangling what you cannot have and getting rich in the bargain.

Pornography shows those acts that one cannot normally indulge in or those acts which are quite impossible, but for a few lucky ones to indulge in. Group sex, anal sex, leather & whips, bisexual sex, gay sex, teenage sex, animal sex you name it and pornography delivers it in high definition. It is just as addictive as cocaine and can be a regular addiction requiring treatment. Which is why pornography and porn movies are associated with sexual crime against women. Now they have special porn editions for women too so one can include crimes against males too.

So is it a good thing or bad?

The decision is very individualistic just as sexuality is such a subjective thing. Every mind has its own peculiarities and desires. Pornography can distort reality greatly by showing things which can be difficult to attain. Look at it from this viewpoint. When Superman hurls himself off a building how many of us are willing to try that? Then pornography is similar. Just as you wouldn’t try being Spiderman in real life but can relate to it as it expresses some quality of super-heroism in you, which can be safely expressed by Clarke Kent or Peter Parker on-screen then the same should hold true for Long Dong John and Marie Vixen! However watching too much porn can also be a sign of depression, and if you are one of those who kick-starts his morning with a porn movie then after you are through you can thumb the directory for a good counsellor/therapist as you could need help with relationships.

Generally people with relationship problems or anxiety can get into the porn trap whereby everything else pales into oblivion. Much like alcohol and crack cocaine. Just that the symptoms can remain hidden and nobody will be the wiser. In small doses, even pornography can help people spice up their sex lives (Yes, even married couples!) and help people know alternate names for the anatomy.

Finally it is an individual’s choice. For some people it is never enough. The true worshippers of the human body who like to express their appreciation of the sexual act in its most uninhibited, unfettered form. We have no objections as long as, we repeat, as long as all people involved are aware of what they are doing and are over the age of legal consent.