Is watching too much porn destructive to the mind? (man, gay, partner)
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Pretty straight forward question. Are there negative side effects to watching too much porn? Such as...you begin to view and treat women differently, expect different things from them, have trouble approaching women, have trouble maintaining relationships, have trouble with cheating, have trouble getting off during sex, have trouble being turned on by normal women?
Is any of this and more stuff out there to be blamed on watching too much pornography?
Not exactly.
First of all, it needs to pointed out that ALL MEN WATCH PORN. Sure, some watch a lot more of it than others, but we all watch it from time to time.
That said, porn is only a part of a much larger system of cultural messages that can, and often do, transmit troubling messages about women, masculinity and relationships. And this system can influence people in negative ways. But does porn, specifically, have some unique power to twists minds and hearts that other kinds of media do not?No, I don't think that is very plausible...
I remember my younger cousin(17) and I went to go pick up Some food our family ordered for thanksgiving. And on the road he was bragging to me how he lost his virginity like 3 weeks before. But he then told me he was disappointed because and I quote, "The girl wasnt shaved, that's nasty. All the chicks in porn are shaved and i dont like hair". When I heard this I was laughing, don't get me wrong i prefer the same thing but it shows you just how warped his mind was and the standard and expectations that years of watching porn placed in his mind. I had to tell dude not all women are shaved, love facials, and prefer anal sex.
First of all, it needs to pointed out that ALL MEN WATCH PORN. Sure, some watch a lot more of it than others, but we all watch it from time to time.
That said, porn is only a part of a much larger system of cultural messages that can, and often do, transmit troubling messages about women, masculinity and relationships. And this system can influence people in negative ways. But does porn, specifically, have some unique power to twists minds and hearts that other kinds of media do not?No, I don't think that is very plausible...
That's actually not true. There's some real nutty types of men out there who do not watch it. They're not nutty b/c they don't watch it -- but because they have very very strong opinions against how porn is destroying the world, etc. Of course there's ones that say that and sit home watching it but really there are a few that are very militant in thought about it and find it reprehensible. Also pretty sure monks don't watch porn either & they're men.
First of all, it needs to pointed out that ALL MEN WATCH PORN.
Eh? Pornography is nothing essential to human sexuality (no, not even men's). It'd be more reasonable to make the claim that all men masturbate. That would at least be based on scientific knowledge.
Opinion time: No man watches pornography. Those "men" who watch pornography are really teenage boys trapped in men's bodies. Men are not so obsessed with sex that they just have to watch strangers doing it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RogersParkGuy
That said, porn is only a part of a much larger system of cultural messages that can, and often do, transmit troubling messages about women, masculinity and relationships. And this system can influence people in negative ways. But does porn, specifically, have some unique power to twists minds and hearts that other kinds of media do not?No, I don't think that is very plausible...
Not sure what other kinds of media you're talking about. Research has found violence in the media to be risky as well. However, the difference has always been that one is dealing with real people experiencing real things and the other allows us to maintain a clear distinction between the real world and the scripted.
Further, researchers have been likening pornography to sources of actual physical addiction, in that it triggers so-called "pleasure centers" in the brain in ways similar to junk food and drugs. Haven't heard of any studies finding this to be the case with any other sort of media. So it's reasonable to assume there is no such effect.
Do you watch movies with men doing heroic things that everyday men don't do?
Do you then expect everyday men to do these things?
Interesting you should make the comparison -- because while I expect you're being flippant and dismissive, there are numerous studies pertaining to this very thing, both with regard to men and porn AND women and televised and movie fiction and the masculine figures portrayed there.
All of it has to do in one way or another with subconscious expectations.
Now, let's step back a moment and take a look at the original question: It wasn't whether porn would cause the effects in question, but rather whether too much porn could possibly have negative consequences for a man mentally.
ITEM versus TOO MUCH ITEM, the differences being exposure and participation in the event. I'd wager you're at least passingly familiar with the phrase too much of a good thing? We all know a piece of candy (excluding diabetics) isn't going to do any harm. Two pieces? Pretty much the same thing.
It's no leap of genius to KNOW that too much candy is a bad thing. Either we've done it at some point OR we've seen someone do it, and the OBVIOUS effects (sick stomach, possibly the technicolour belch) aren't difficult to discern.
But the human mind isn't a puddle of vomit (despite that some minds I've encountered have been veritable cesspools). You don't get to see it, smell it, poke it with your finger. It's made up of thought, consideration, notion, imagination, opinion, internecine reaction, closed-mouth consideration, etc.
Maybe you take in a shift in expression over a statement and you know the hearer was affected. But it was just a statement, and while some are more inflammatory than others, how would something so small have such an instantaneous effect?
A porn movie, or at least a scene or two from one (does anybody really watch that stuff from beginning to end?) before one has jerked and sprayed and cleaned up. Short, sweet, to the desired point.
But another... and another...
A sexual fixation, not because of anything unhealthy but because of what begins as a mere preference and then deepens into a clear-cut preference... into not merely preference but practice...
And practice makes perfect, right?
Take women and the "heroes" of movies today. It wouldn't/doesn't affect every woman, certainly; but wouldn't you agree that there has been a trend toward not merely setting the bar higher but projecting a certain level of unattainability?
How many women have you heard cite something "everyone knows" based on a popular theme in movies and/or television? Some positive and some negative?
I know that I have stood for women arriving at or leaving a table (within reason) since my early youth; but after that movie came out with Hugh Jackman and Meg Ryan some years ago (cannot recall the name, nor care, but this particular bit was in all the commercials) I was actually ridiculed for my actions because 1) women weren't accustomed to this and 2) when a man did it in their thinking it could ONLY be because of some movie.
Exposure to these things DOES have an effect on social trends, and social trends have an effect on behaviours and beliefs, for better or for worse. It doesn't happen overnight, but it most assuredly does happen.
Eh? Pornography is nothing essential to human sexuality (no, not even men's). It'd be more reasonable to make the claim that all men masturbate. That would at least be based on scientific knowledge.
A few years back, researchers in Canada decided to do a study (I couldn't find the report about it; I'll keep looking) to see whether men who watched porn exhibited more misogyny than men who didn't watch it. They study had to be abandoned. The researchers couldn't find any men who hadn't watched porn.
Not sure what other kinds of media you're talking about. Research has found violence in the media to be risky as well. However, the difference has always been that one is dealing with real people experiencing real things and the other allows us to maintain a clear distinction between the real world and the scripted.
Further, researchers have been likening pornography to sources of actual physical addiction, in that it triggers so-called "pleasure centers" in the brain in ways similar to junk food and drugs. Haven't heard of any studies finding this to be the case with any other sort of media. So it's reasonable to assume there is no such effect.
I am talking about media in general, from fashion magazines to Jerry Springer. All convey problematic messages about human relationships. Frankly, I find Jerry Springer far more offensive, sadistic and exploitative than most mainstream porn. At least people watching porn know it is a fantasy, Jerry Springer encourages real people to spill the real details of their real lives to a howling, hateful audience.
As far as other media not having any effect: if they don't, why are tens of billions of dollars spent every year on advertising?
Not all men watch porn. For that matter, not all men masturbate. On the other hand, most people (men and women alike) masturbate and consume some form of pornography on a fairly regular basis. It's just that many aren't comfortable admitting it. Others conveniently--and inaccurately-- determine that the materials which arouse them aren't pornographic, while the materials consumed by others are.
As for pornography, it is nothing more than the expression of sexual fantasy. It is harmless in and of itself. Culturally, it generally doesn't become an issue unless someone chooses to assess pornographic materials through a prism of religious or political ideology. On a personal level, virtually anything (politics, the internet, TV, religion, work, etc.) can be addictive to an individual with an addictive personality. However, such an addiction is a function of the individual, not of the cultural media being consumed.
Pornography comes in a vast array of forms: written and visual, female-oriented and male-oriented, straight and gay, conservative and experimental. About the only thing legitimate research has found of pornography is that it's concomitant to sexual arousal.
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