It is apparent, that pornography is a serious problem of the 21st century not only in the USA, but also in other European and Asian countries. Pornography leads to perverted sexuality, because it affects psychological development.
Sociologists and psychologists say that addiction to pornography deconstructs person’s sexuality and provides perverted attitude towards sexual development and behavior.Sociologists state (Craven 2005) that nowadays pornography tends to promote the perverted view of sexuality and sexual relations. Therefore they try to find answer whether pornography produce negative psychological consequences. For example, Dr. Victor Cline, professor of psychology at the University of Utah, says that in the late 20th century the exposure to pornography aimed at producing profound behavioral and psychological changes and at providing alternative approach to interpretation of sexual relations. However, according recent researches it is revealed that pornography leads to family disruption and sometimes to sexual pathology.
It is mentioned that exposure to pornography is influenced by four factor syndrome defining the effect and experience of pornography use. The four factors of pornography influence:1. Addiction effect means that a person psychologically addicts to pornography and can’t imagine his relations or his life style without it. Moreover, if a person addicts to it, he/she comes back more often and for longer time, because pornographic material provides powerful stimulation in sexual arousal and is followed by certain sexual release. Thus pornography leads to idea that normal sexual relations can’t exist without watching pornography (Fernandez 1999).2.
Escalation effect means that a person requires rougher and more explicit sexual material to stimulate sexual relations. This effect is sometimes compared with drug and alcohol addictions, because the need is increasing and a person wants more stimulants to be provides with the same effect as in the first time. For example, men may become obsessed with pornography, if a wife/girlfriend talks him into doing deviant sexual activity. Nevertheless, pornography may put an end to relations, if a partner refuses to go further. It is apparent that exposure to pornography creates conflicts and disrupts reality leading in such a way to divorce or separation.3.
Desensitization. Sociologists think (Craven 2005) that pornography creates wrong attitude towards sexuality, because it makes people think that “originally perceived as shocking, taboo breaking, repulsive or immoral (even though still sexually arousing) material” are nowadays common and completely acceptable. Furthermore, pornography promotes the idea that “everybody does it” and thus many people are influenced.4.
Acting out. Pornography is associated with a tendency to act out everything that was witnessed in the pornography movie. In such a way pornography stimulates sexual seduction of children and actually sexual aggression against women. Moreover, pornography promotes sexual activities with more than one partner, etc. simply saying, the outcomes of pornography are partner switching and increased numbers of reported group sex as well as fetishism, voyeurism, necrophilia and exhibitionism (Vanskike 1998).
However, sociologists admit that every person addicted to watching pornography will be inevitably affected by all four factors mentioned above. Thus a person will demonstrate gradual degenerating potential because of pornography consumption. Pornography is told to strongly affect psyche of a person exposed to pornography for long term. These suggestions are confirmed recent investigations which have revealed the impact of pornography on memory work. Further, it is suggested that experience of either emotional or sexual arousal is locked in person’s brain “by the chemical epinephrine and become virtually impossible to erase” (Craven 2005).
According to sociologists, pornography creates strong combination of chemical response and visual stimulation producing powerful physiological phenomenon.The other sociological studies assume (Craven 2005) that “many sexual deviations occur (or are learned) through the process of masturbatory conditioning. Vivid sexual [images] memories, and fantasies are masturbated to which at the moment of climax further reinforces their linkage in the brain and leads in time to the increased probability of their being acted out in real life behavior”. Thus pornography is a sexual stimulation influencing person and creating perverted reality.Pornography causes strong psychological and chemical response and stimulates sexuality in wrong way. Nevertheless, pornography isn’t necessarily bad if consumed in small quantities, because it touches natural human sexuality and powerful human experience.
Sex isn’t treated casually even nowadays and pornography tries to break the stereotypes, although not too successfully. Certainly, casual approach to human sexuality mustn’t be associated with perverted sex view. Thus creating casual sexual relation, pornography has chosen the wrong direction persuading people that exaggerated sexual activity is a commonplace in contemporary society (Fernandez 1999).Sociologists have found neither positive effects of pornography nor improvements in sexual behavior or sexual relations as well as in attitude towards opposite sex.
Sociologists state that pornography doesn’t tend towards “higher view” of sexual relations and humanity. Instead, it creates perverted perceiving of intimacy, dehumanizing view of women and dysfunctional view of relationships in general. Dr. Cline provides rather original view of pornography. He stated: “If there is some suspicion that the drinking water, for example, is contaminated and people are getting ill after drinking it the burden of proof shifts to proving it is safe - rather than having final conclusive proof that it is indeed toxic”.
The same is with the area of pornography (Vanskike 1998).
