The Benefits of Pornography

In view of the sexual harassment scandals that seem to be unfolding daily, and the moment of cultural reckoning we are experiencing re: what constitutes permissible behavior, I had posted earlier a piece on Steemit, titled, Are Men Sex Monsters?

The person who took exception to my point of view, works in the sex industry. She tried, as best she could (English is not her first language), to convince me that I took too narrow a view of pornography. Men are natural predators, she argued (in more graphic terms) and women are quite alright being sex objects. It would be worrying, she added, if she were not seen as one.

In response, I was forced to take the deeply unfashionable position that, despite appearances, pornography actually does us harm and is responsible for many societal ills - for a fuller discussion of what I term the Pornification of Popular Culture, please, read my OpEd on Truthout, here.

Further, I cited a Buddhist principle that I thought apt —namely, that sex divorced from love or spiritual connection, was like licking honey from a very sharp blade.

Well, then, half of Western culture is bleeding retorted the porn advocate, informing me she was a Buddhist herself, and I was being naive.

Maybe so but, despite our human weaknesses, I do maintain that we are more than mere monkeys, rubbing our private parts for pleasure. Nothing is without its price, I thought, keeping my response to myself this time and saving it for my blog. Short-term gratifications do have long-term consequences and one need not be a porn addict to realize how it can be ruinous for mind, body and spirit.

I'll let you do your own research, dear reader, on how a regular intake of pornography stands to harm our general quality of life, relationships, etc... But, for starters, I'll offer this piece for further reading:

15 Scientifically Explained Reasons Why Porn Isn’t Healthy For Viewers Or Society

To riff off Wilde's quip quoted above (that it is only the intellectually lost who argue), one would think it self-evident that pornography is for the morally-lost. It should be easy to point out the more wholesome virtues of sex within a committed relationship, or abstinence from the visual violene of pornography—even though that requires a greater discipline than most of us seem capable of.

But, we live in contrarian times, where simple facts, like ethics, are contemptuously overlooked, in favor of self-defeating, self-indulgence. Sex sells, we are told (and shown) everywhere we turn. If it feels good, just go for it. You first, you deserve it. And, so on, and so forth...

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