I found this article on Alternet today, and I absolutely love it. The ever-increasing availability and accessibility of porn is undeniable. As Tarrant points out,
“‘Sex’ is the number-one search term used around the globe. Every second, people spend $3,000 on Internet porn. There are an estimated 370 million Internet porn sites, and industry revenues surpass earnings by Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo, Apple, and Netflix combined.”
If that doesn’t qualify as popular, then I don’t know what does. The popularity and importance of porn is compounded by the fact that many youth are taking it upon themselves to learn about sex via pornography, due to a lack of comprehensive sex education. Not everyone is a fan of porn though; there are plenty of people who have taken a stance of moral opposition for one reason or another, and these people wish to disestablish porn in society. I have my doubts about the realistic nature of this stance. I mean, really, how well has that worked for other things? Think drug-free advertisements and abstinence-only education…
Efforts to eradicate pornography and its prominence in society will never be entirely successful. Instead, our time would be better spent raising awareness about the influence pornography has in our lives and the way it can affect our interactions within relationships and sex. The first step is starting a conversation: people want to talk about these things; however, there is a lack of a socially acceptable forum in which to do this. By at least starting a dialogue about all of the effects (both positive and negative) associated with consumption of pornography, we will be able to encourage and facilitate healthier interactions within sexual relationships. So what are you waiting for? Let’s talk about porn!
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