Women & Porn

Do you feel like you’re the only girl to ever look at porn? Did you know that 62.1% of women have seen porn before the age of 18(1), and 17% struggle with it?(2) In the past, pornography and masturbation have been framed as male issues. This belief has left many women feeling isolated while fighting against porn. Perhaps you started watching it as a means of sex-ed. You find that porn feels thrilling to watch. But your brain is actually releasing massive amounts of natural chemicals like dopamine, the pleasure hormone.(3) The rush disappears quickly and you are left desiring to get it back. So you watch porn again, and again...

Many would say porn isn’t dangerous, but truthfully there’s nothing normal or healthy about it. In fact, as porn consumption increases, the brain becomes desensitized to it. This means the hormone, dopamine, doesn’t “rush” like it used to. Did you know that addiction comes from dopamine desensitization?(4) Not to mention the porn industry uses your body’s normal sexual desire and the rewiring of your brain to make money. Pornography is not the place to seek romantic or sexual advice. Rather, porn takes your normal sexual desire and twists it into something that leaves you feeling ashamed and alone. You deserve to feel relationally connected to people in your life and to have a healthy and fulfilling sex life. Sex is about connection and love. Porn disconnects, destroys, and treats sex (and you) like disposable trash.

Whether or not you’ve seen it only a handful of times or are struggling with it, here’s why you should stop.

Porn sets unrealistic body standards

Porn views women as sexualized bodies, nothing more. Not to mention a body that is skinny, yet also curvy. Busty with a good butt, but also fit. The list goes on. What makes you beautiful and truly attractive is your intelligence, personality, and your natural body.

Porn normalizes violence against women

A team of researchers looked at 50 of the most popular porn films... Of the 304 scenes, 88% contained physical violence and 49%, verbal attacks.(5) Porn openly hurts and abuses women. No one should ever treat you like that, especially in situations where you are completely vulnerable. Violence in porn dangerously allows men to hurt and abuse women. Degrading women isn’t sexy and it definitely isn’t love. When you love a guy, that doesn’t mean he’s allowed to do or say anything he wants. You deserve more.

Are you using porn to escape real life?

“I ran to porn whenever I was lonely, yet it only breeds loneliness. It also became a crutch if I ever was bored, disappointed, or angry at myself.”

If you are struggling in real life, seek real help with health professionals. Talk to your parents or friends. You might be surprised that they want to help you and be with you in whatever difficulty you are going through.

Need help? Visit: www.joinfortify.com or www.fightthenewdrug.org

Women & Porn 1 Sabina, C., Wolak, J., Finkelhor, D. The nature and dynamics of internet pornography exposure for youth. (2008) Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 11 (6), pp. 691-693. | 2 Logue, Ph.D., Jeff. “Pornography Statistics: Who Uses Porn?” SAGU, 22 Oct. 2015, https://www.sagu.edu/thoughthub/pornography-statistics-who-uses-pornography/. | 3 Laier, C., & Brand, M. (2017). Mood changes after watching pornography on the Internet are linked to tendencies towards Internet-pornography-viewing disorder. Addictive Behaviors Reports, 5, 9-13. doi:10.1016/j.abrep.2016.11.003 | 4 Volkow, Nora D et al. “Addiction: decreased reward sensitivity and increased expectation sensitivity conspire to overwhelm the brain’s control circuit.” BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology vol. 32,9 (2010): 748-55. doi:10.1002/bies.201000042 | 5 Bridges, Ana J et al. “Aggression and sexual behavior in best-selling pornography videos: a content analysis update.” Violence against women vol. 16,10 (2010): 1065-85. doi:10.1177/1077801210382866