If you’re reading this page, you may be wondering how pornography could hurt a man or a woman.  In today’s society, it can be difficult to see how pornography can be harmful.  The pornography industry has made great strides in leading the American public to believe that there is nothing wrong with porn and that it can actually be good for relationships.

The pornography industry has renamed itself the “adult entertainment industry” to make it more acceptable to the public.  Thus, many people view their pornography use as simply engaging in entertainment.  They are unaware of how pornography use can damage their marriages, families, careers, as well as themselves.

What many people don’t understand is that pornography is an addictive substance.  We now have neuroscientific evidence that shows how pornography is just as addictive as a narcotic.  Of course, the pornography industry would never admit to this.  This is explained more fully in the section entitled “The Addictiveness of Porn.”

As with any drug, a tolerance soon develops.  More of the drug is needed to achieve the same effect.  Thus, people begin spending more and more time online viewing porn.  They may spend hours at night online, often losing much-needed sleep.   The amount of time they spend online also takes them away from their spouses, families, work, and other responsibilities.  Eventually, their pornography addiction consumes their lives.

Like other drugs, dependence eventually develops causing people to crave pornography.  Many have lost their jobs because of their addiction.  The need for a “fix” is so strong that they access pornographic websites at work.  When caught they are fired from their jobs.

As the addiction progresses and a greater tolerance develops, addicted people will turn to more extreme forms of pornography.  This includes hard-core, violent, and highly deviant forms of pornography.  Forms of pornography that men and women once found repulsive are now the only forms that can arouse them.  Some people will even turn to child porn, and if caught, they can be convicted and sent to prison.

Many people have incurred huge amounts of debt from purchasing pornography.  Some have actually stolen money from family members, friends, companies, and even churches to support their addiction.  For some, the addiction gets so strong that they decide to act out sexual scenes with prostitutes, leaving them vulnerable to contracting and spreading sexually transmitted diseases.

Pornography affects the way men view women.  Their ability to relate to women in a healthy way is compromised.  Because much of the pornography online is abusive toward women, men develop a distorted view of sexuality and relationships.  They acquire an appetite for deviant sexual relationships.    Men become callous toward women, trivialize rape as a criminal offense, and have a decreased desire for relational sex.  They also have a decreased desire to make a commitment to marriage and have children.  They view non-monogamous relationships as normal.  Some men are so conditioned to be aroused by porn that they can no longer perform sexually with real women.  More information on this can be found in the section entitled “How Porn Hurts Marriages.”

Pornography teaches women that in order to be loved and desired by men, they must look and act like porn stars.  They come to believe that the highly dangerous and painful sex in pornography is normal and that they should enjoy it.  Pornography is even teaching women that they must reject their femininity and be as sexually aggressive as men.  Ultimately, viewing pornography does not empower women.  It enslaves them more by promoting a form of sex that uses and exploits women.

Overall, pornography use promotes selfishness.  With pornography, there is no need for a relationship, intimacy or responsibility.  Pornography divorces sex from the unitive and procreative acts.  It simply reduces sex to a recreation activity.  By viewing porn and masturbating, men and women are simply using other people for their own selfish desires.

What starts out as “harmless adult entertainment” can turn into an addiction that controls a person’s life.  Contrary to what the pornography industry says about porn, there is no good that can come from it.  Face it, if pornography was healthy, those who use it would be the healthiest people in our culture.  The evidence clearly shows that this is not the case.

If you or someone you love are struggling with pornography, there is hope.  No one needs to be enslaved to it.  If you or your loved one are ready to get help for this addiction, click here for more information.