Porns Insignia: Breaking the Porn Myth 

The question which has left most philosophers and experts in their field with conflicting views is the contemplation of which came first to exist between the chicken and the egg. Fast forward to modern time, the human mind is so connected to vast sources of media, one can’t help but ask a similar question; whether our actions or the influence of media sources is what came first to form our human intuition. With the rise of more accessible technology, experts tell us that pornographic media viewers are at an all-time high, one can’t help and ask themselves what sort of mark is left on our persona as a cause of this. The following paper argues with todays high viewership of media, it is difficult to deny the influence of pornographic media and the mark implanted onto our consciousness, resulting in longterm effects on our persona which conjointly gets cast out into our society and affects our culture. The personal insignia that the media leaves on us is an obvious one. I believe there is no interaction that doesn’t lead to some sort of effect on us.

Now if a five-second frown or a smile from someone can have an impact on you, imagine being in front of a screen for hours on end. What we listen to and watch sets its mark within us and personally influences us for better or worse. Pornography is a widely accepted epidemic, with it being so much more accessible now than ever, “the porn industry generates $13 billion each year in the United States,” (Covenant Eyes) because of this drastic incline in viewership, we should be asking ourselves about the effects of pornography at the individual level and it’s further effects on society. To be clear, this paper is not about the ‘morality’ of this issue, nor does it argue against the legality of pornography. Pornography is consumed in every nation on the planet, and there is no brilliant idea on how to slow down the viewership within the lines of this paper. My aim is to challenge our mentalities about porn. The point I wish to raise within my paper is not whether porn should be denied as a form of protected free speech, but instead whether porn is a form of expression deserving of tough criticism. The purpose of my paper is to expose the myth that pornography is good or at least not that bad.

Along with breaking certain myths that come along with the wide acceptance of pornography. These myths surrounding porn exist largely because societies push to make pornography more acceptable. Perhaps you think I am assuming nothing but a noble fiction, but many of us I would hope, agree that the world is a better place when we treat others not merely as gratifying objects but as persons to be valued. Randy Spears, a very successful pornographic actor who was featured in a numerous amount of films including directing some of them, spoke about the numbing effect of pornography in an interview “I looked at women like objects, there was no emotion involved in the act of ‘making love,’ what was ‘making love,’ I have sex for money, I was a prostitute, I couldn’t feel anymore,”(Spears) The dehumanizing effect of porn is essentially the major problem with this industry.

Scenarios such as this one are not unique to the porn industry, Jenna Jameson, another pornographic actress who won multiple adult-film awards, in an interview with Anderson Cooper was asked what she would do if she ever had a daughter who wanted to get into porn. As an advocate of ‘liberating porn,’ Jameson’s following response would startle many, “I’d tie her in the closet,” she replied, “only because this is such a hard industry for a woman to get ahead and get the respect that she deserves. I fought tooth and nail to get where I am, and it’s not something I would want my daughter to go through. It’s not something that any parent would choose for their child,” and this is an important point to bring up because one can’t help but ask, why does the Queen of Porn think the industry is a hard place for a woman to find respect? Porn shapes a persons concept of beauty. It trains people to measure the value of others based upon how much desire they feel for them. In an interview with Dr. Farshid Moshrefi, a clinical psychologist for more than ten years now, gave me same important insights into the dehumanizing aspect pornograhy influences us into.

The three main points brought up during my interview, among many others as he pointed out. The most common effects are: it raises expectations of a certain look that is portrayed within the form and how our consciousness demands the desire for that look, the level of aggression and violence that is portrayed in pornographic films is then acted out on in the bedroom settings, followed by the formation of sexual disorders, people cannot climax because they train their mind to stimulate itself with the film. Pornography trains the brain to associate sex with sexual fantasies of countless disposable women, and even though it takes only a few seconds to see the pictures, it takes years to forget them. Just look at the example of Kim Kardashian, despite the opening of her clothing store, a hit tv-show, and successful career, Kardashian continues to live with ‘the one who got famous because of a sex tape.’

One of Colin Stokes strong arguments during his TED Talk on how movies teach manhood speaking towards how as children we absorb what we view. It is not a coincidence that there is a spike in hateful crimes as mentioned by Stokes. Were the people born hateful before they committed the crime or were they influenced by a movie, for example, Star Wars that has male leading roles that use “the Force.” I believe somewhere along the way people picked up on this aggressiveness, they perhaps saw it in a pornographic film, interacted with it in some way through media which in turn left a mark on their persona and then caused them to just react in what they were once exposed to. Resulting in this person now influenced by media which then forms a part of our society for the worse due to the porn influence which they viewed at a point in their lives. What is portrayed in pornography has a bigger role within our society than what we give it credit or importance to. Many are waking up to this now which has me believe is why we have a rise in social awareness as to the effects of pornography. To brush off this topic as a ‘religious motivation,’ would be a grave mistake.

Consider the growing group on Reddit.com calle NoFap, an online community who are challenging each other to put away porn and masturbation. This community began not because of religious motivations, but because its members wanted to see how quitting porn and masturbation would improve their overall health and well-being. “About 64 percent report that their tastes in porn have become more extreme or deviant. Among 27- to 31-year-olds on NoFap: 19 percent suffer from premature ejaculation, 25 percent are disinterested in sex with their partner, 31 percent have difficulty reaching orgasm, and 34 percent experience erectile dysfunction. After committing to no masturbation/porn, 60 percent of those on NoFap felt that their sexual functions had improved.” (Christian, Scott) Alexander Rhodes, the founder of the NoFap community describes himself as agnostic, within the group NoFap many members themselves consider themselves as atheist or agnostic, and currently there are well over 400,000 online members.

Breaking the myth that only religious people are the one who oppose porn. There are others who oppose it because of personal experience, social science, or medical research has shown that porn is not conducive to their well-being. Most people don't realize when watching porn how mechanical and premeditated everything is. It's meant to be seen as two people passionately hooking up, but it's anything but. Usually both performers have to take drugs to get through it and perform, you have a director telling you what position to take, make more noise/less noise, stopping and going to apply makeup, camera position, when to orgasm.

It truly becomes 'acting' to these people and a 'job', and the basic act of human connection and intimacy becomes dehumanized. Some of the health effects is pointed out by Dr. Sharon Mitchell, founder of the Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation, says that “66 percent of porn stars have herpes,” breaking another myth that pornography is safe for the actors themselves. Beyond the probability of infection and disease, the sex work itself is a matter of great concern.

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