Porn for Thought.
Porn is used for all sorts of reasons: arousal, boredom, education, loneliness, and unfortunately it can be a very hard habit to break due to its addictive aspects. But, it's deemed harmless in a society where sex couldn't be glorified and encouraged enough, but at whose expense? It's harmless when viewing it from the surface-level perspective-it's just a screen right?
For some of us, porn is layered and has deep wounds. A lot of people have been exposed to porn at a very young age whether it was willingly or unwillingly. Creating neural pathways that are very difficult to undo and can affect people's relationships with themselves and other people especially when it relates to the physical. The truth of the matter though is that there's a spectrum for how porn affects people, but in this blog post, I want to talk specifically about the problem with porn for those who do consider themselves to have a healthy relationship with porn. “Healthy” in this case is defined as having no links to trauma, addiction, poor self-esteem, and other problems of that sort. But this post can be applied to anyone too.
Even when considering a healthy relationship with porn, something I have taken note of is the overt sexism, misogyny, racism, and pedophilic tendencies seen in porn. Even if your consumption of porn is healthy and not self-destructive, by just being a consumer, there are things being supported and funded that are all in all not healthy for society. I am well aware of what is on the Internet, and the unfortunate truth is that the internet does not hold any limits, there are no laws on the internet. There is a lot of porn based on sexual abuse, and a handful of porn is created without consent and is genuine footage of rape and sex trafficked victims.
The porn industry is just another business that exploits the vulnerable for profit who already may have low self-esteem, come from abuse or neglect, poverty or homelessness, foster care system, or are LGBTQ. In many respects, porn IS sex trafficking when you really break it down. Many of these people are young and vulnerable, and most already have experienced trauma, making it easier to manipulate them. Trauma works in very weird dangerous ways, and these people may be doing what they’ve always known or are unable to understand what is happening to them due to the manipulation and lack of resources, but in the end, it’s profiting those above who know this about them and are taking advantage of it.
Without demand there is no supply, the more consumers there are for porn, the more the porn industry and sex trafficking industry prey upon vulnerable people. The two go hand in hand, and unfortunately, there really is no clear separation between the two as they look exactly the same. Think about that. There is a common misconception that sex trafficking is like the movie Taken with Liam Neeson, don’t get me wrong, that kind of s**t does exist, but more often than not it is mental abuse and manipulation that creates victims of sex trafficking. It’s what happens behind the scenes that is representative of the truth, but we don’t get to see that. It’s a growing business that oddly enough, is not spoken out about or prioritized by public officials.
No matter what your stance is on casually consuming porn, just acknowledge the fact that you don’t know what's happening behind that camera, or what that person is going through or has gone through that led them to sell their body. Looks can be deceiving, and just because someone says they are happy and they look like they want to be there, that doesn’t mean that is what's actually happening, especially with the knowledge we have about how many victims of sex trafficking are forced into making pornographic videos. Anything can be staged, even the individuals who have their own personal platform like only fans. You don’t know who is truly running that account, if that person is suffering through trauma and abuse, or if they even get to keep that money. If you knew that trauma brought them to that place, in a lot of ways you are exploiting them too, even if they are willingly there.
Of course, there may be outliers who really want to be there, but how can we overlook the majority that is being abused and manipulated in order to support the small privileged group who do say they enjoy it. Holistically, it perpetuates abuse rather than liberating people.
The purpose of this post is to have an awareness of what your porn consumerism contributes to, this awareness can be applied to anything else you consume as well. It’s a reminder that without demand, there is no supply. It is humans on the line here, children on the line. This pain and chaos that continues to grow will inevitably crush the world and humanity further. YOU have the power to stop this. Protest by not consuming what perpetuates sex trafficking and abuse among all humans.
It’s unfortunate that something so horrible is also so mind-damaging and addicting for consumers. If you struggle with porn addiction, you are not alone and you should not be ashamed of yourself. Have compassion towards yourself and know that you can overcome such a drug by seeking out help. Overcome your addiction not just for yourself, but for those suffering at the expense of it. See through this corrupt industry that has taken advantage of everyone involved, consumers and the people being used.
Think twice about why social media platforms may shove sexual content in your face. Think about why algorithms may work in such a way. How many people must be involved in this industry profiting off of vulnerable people being exploited? Why is sex work and porn more normalized than ever, while the sex trafficking business is making the most money it ever has?
