Let’s Talk About Sex, Baby: Cigarette Smoking and Porn Consumption is Injurious to Health
-Written by Dr. Anjali Mediboina, House Surgeon, ASRAM
Sex is a fascinating subject. For some, it’s a physiological act meant for reproduction. For others, it’s a means for pleasure. It can be a simple escape, or the purest form of intimacy. And yet, it’s a topic that is never meant to be spoken of, at the risk of appearing crude and vulgar. It is this stigma that has caused numerous health disparities, from mental health issues to undiagnosed health conditions.
So, in an effort to normalize it, let’s talk about sex, baby.
Cigarette Smoking and Porn Consumption is Injurious to Health
Pornography /pɔːˈnɒɡrəfi/ A term that describes printed or visual material containing the explicit description or display of sexual organs or activity, intended to stimulate sexual excitement.
I feel like people have a very complicated relationship with porn. Is it good to watch it? Probably not. Will people watch it anyway? Yes. In fact, pornographic material from different periods of time in history have been found, the earliest being the Venus of Willendorf, dating to almost 26,000 years ago.
So, is watching porn okay?
Upon googling this question, I was surprised to see the innumerable lists of negative effects porn can have on humans- first and foremost being the fact that it sets completely unrealistic and harmful expectations as to what sex should be like. Studies by the researchers at Middlesex University in London have found that young people who view porn ‘tend to hold less progressive gender role attitudes’. Watching porn has also been associated with sexual insecurity, erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation and body dysmorphia. There is also reports of desensitization to sexual stimuli, i.e. when watching too much porn, one could get potentially desensitized and therefore would have to search for more intense or extreme sexual content in order to get stimulated.
There is a lot of conflicting research on the topic. For example, there are multiple studies and analyses that say watching porn has been linked to sexual aggression in both men and women. But there are also a good amount of studies that refute this fact, the best one being a meta-analysis by Ferguson and Hartley, who argue that mainstream pornography could not be linked to sexual violence, and rather is associated to reductions in sexual violence.
Similarly, there is a bit of a debate regarding porn addiction. Recently, DSM-5 published in March 2022 does not recognize porn addiction as a diagnosis, despite multiple papers reporting otherwise. Some researchers have classified it as an ‘internet-use addiction’, while others have classified it as a subset of ‘compulsive sexual behavior’. Furthermore, because of this contradicting research, there is also a deficit in treatment modalities for porn addicts, with a negative prejudice towards female addicts (here, I strongly recommend the book series Addicted by Krista and Becca Ritchie, which captures addiction in an extremely realistic and respectful way).
Despite all these negatives, the porn industry (or, better called the adult film industry) is one of the largest industries in the world, reportedly making around $5 billion a year. According to statistics released by Pornhub, there were 42 billion site visits in 2019, with 89% Indians logging in via mobile devices.
Now, let me talk about another negative to porn: It’s not just harmful to the watcher, but also to those who film it, too.
At this junction, let me also take the opportunity to recommend you the Shameless series by Rosie Danan. The duology (both of which can be read as standalones) have main characters who are porn stars. Aside from the romance (which, on an unrelated note, is extremely swoon-worthy) the books subtly highlight the downsides of being in the industry from both male and female perspectives.
There is a high risk of contracting STDs; most recently, there was a syphilis outbreak in the UK, causing many actors to put work on hold. California produces most of the world’s adult content and legally, under the California Occupational Safety and Health Act, every employer is required to ensure a safe working environment for the employees. However, these laws are completely ignored, with actors working in below standard conditions.
Drug abuse is also a major problem; many male actors regularly use injections, pumps and erectile dysfunction medication (such as Viagra), in order to maintain erections. However, overuse of these medications can cause lasting damage, such as priapism.
Adult film stars have struggles with mental health issues, with increasing rates of suicide among performers (unfortunately, I could not find actual numbers). Actors face cyberbullying, shaming and even assault. Furthermore, getting out of contracts is extremely hard, with the companies and sites profiting off the videos while the actors themselves barely get anything. Mia Khalifa, former adult star and now sports commentator, had started a petition to get her content removed from porn sites- she reportedly only made $12,000 from her videos, while the sites that host them are still making millions.
To sum it all up:
- To answer the question is porn good or bad, there is no answer. There are no confirmed results as to whether porn is good or bad in most of these papers; and if there is, said result will most probably be refuted in another paper.
- Also, did you know? Researchers who study the effects of pornography, especially women, receive death threats from hate groups.
- The porn industry has horrifying working conditions, and desperately needs reform.
To quote Mia Khalifa:
“Men who are yelling at me, are the same men who are clicking on me”
Look, porn will exist and continue to exist. But, there needs to be some strict regulation- better working conditions for the actors, making ‘ethical porn’ and doing away with and punishing the molka or hidden cam videos on the sites would be a major improvement. Also, and I can’t say this enough, proper sex education, so that kids/people won’t have to rely on porn to know what exactly is supposed to happen during sex.
