Tyler Tesmen
THST 400
4/19/15
What Does it Mean to Have a Pornography Addiction? In almost every major city you visit, on almost every commercial break during a televised show, you see sex. Sex and its appeal has become one of the most dominating marketing tools in today’s world. Anyone can watch a simple Carl’s Jr. commercial and see for themselves. As much as many people would like to abstain from these “immoral” and “impure” marketing schemes, it is often simply too difficult to overcome. As humans, we love sex; it crosses each one of our minds on almost a daily basis. It is ingrained in our very being through our hormones and genetic makeup to desire and lust for sex. And in today’s modern culture, pornography has become the medium by which people can fulfill their sexual desires and needs with hardly any effort. In the year 1997 only about 17% of the U.S. populous had internet access, while today that number has exploded to nearly 70%. It is hard to imagine a world today without internet access, and thus without pornography. It has become such a common aspect of so many people’s lives that it is often not even regarded as morally wrong among many people. What many people fail to realize is the negative impact that pornography, when used in an improper context, can have on one’s life: both sexually and with intimacy. Pornography puts the other sex in an objectifying manner, where it is purely a physical and lustful relation, without regards to the notion that real people are emotional beings with needs other than sexual wants. As Joseph Gordon-Levitt said while talking about his film Don Jon, “Rather than engaging in with a unique individual and listening to what the other has to say, right at this moment, we put people in boxes with labels. We objectify each other.” Now it is not to say that porn has no place in modern society. It is often quite the contrary, where most feel that pornography can be useful when used safely and in proper context. However, more often than not, porn is abused by many and leads to some very serious consequences: ultimately, addiction. It is important to look at the statistics, understand the porn industry itself, and understand how porn plays a role in many of our lives to better understand how porn addiction can come about. This paper will argue that pornography can become a serious addiction and can even lead to an inability to have an intimate, meaningful relationship with another person. One of the most apparent ways to grasp the seriousness of pornography is to look at statistics regarding it. While these statistics are not altogether exact, as with any statistic, it is still truly telling about the level to which porn plays a role in so many of our lives. After responding to an East London survey 97% of boys and 80% of girls, between the ages of 16 and 20 said they had viewed pornography before. In the U.S., one in three women regularly watch porn while about 70% of men between the ages 18 and 24 visit a porn site at least once per month. These statistics show the very high frequency with which pornography is viewed by both genders. Many times watching porn is often associated as being a male dominated act, and while it may be true that men are the majority of those who watch porn, females often find themselves taking part in viewing as well. By 2017, it is projected that a quarter billion people will be accessing mobile adult content from their phones or tablets. The numbers of those viewing porn continue to grow, in a positive correlation with the improving technology becoming rapidly available to us, making it easier and more convenient to watch porn. One in five mobile searches are for pornography and 24% of smartphone owners admit to having pornographic material on their mobile handset. In today’s world, pornography is no longer an element of those people viewed as “impure” and “immoral”. Porn is prevalent in the lives of many churchgoers. Because pornography is kept hidden in most of the lives of those who watch it, many church members are trapped in a cycle of sin and shame. They believe that they are the only ones who are struggling with this temptation. 64% of Christian men and 15% of Christian women say they watch porn at least once per month. As per the U.S. Department of Justice, “Never before in the history of telecommunications media in the United States has so much indecent (and obscene) material been so easily accessible by so many minors in so many American homes with so few restrictions.” Pornography has become such a norm in so many young adults lives these days that it is no longer understood to be an exception. One of the most challenging problems facing young adults today in the porn atmosphere, is that it no longer holds restriction on what is normal and what is not. For example, 32% of boys and 18% of girls have seen bestiality online and 39% of boys and 23% of girls have seen sexual bondage online. These are staggering statistics, and show the true nature of what those who watch pornography are exposed to. These types of pornography only further complicate the sexual understandings of the young adults viewing them and can lead to very serious consequences in their ability to have real intimate relationships. Altogether the statistics are staggering and the enormity of the porn industry cannot be overstated. Now it is time to take a look at the porn industry itself and how powerful of an entity it really is. The porn industry has grown into one of the most economically successful enterprises of the modern era. The industry started after the Second World War but faced harsh criticism from the conservative ideology of the time. Ronald Regan and George Bush, faced from pressures of the public and the Attorney General, launched an assault on the porn industry ultimately trying to undo its business. Yet, America’s appetite for sexually explicit material only increased and soon it began to boom. Hard core video rentals in the U.S. rose from 75 million in 1985, the end of the Regan-Bush offensive, to 665 million in 1996. In 1996 the porn industry collected over $8 billion in revenues. Fast forward to the present day and that number has risen to over $13 billion, with over $3 billion being generated from online porn alone. The United States is often considered as being one of the toughest, if not the toughest Western Industrialized nation on sexually explicit material. Yet despite this, the United States is by far the world’s leading producer of porn. The porn industry however has begun to experience a decline in its revenues. This is due to the availability of free porn that can be easily accessed on the internet. Sites such as PornHub offer viewers the ability to browse thousands of different videos from different categories of porn, all with the convenience of not having to pay. In the industry, actors are often depicted as being people who lack personality and common sense. They have sex without condoms more often than not and many admit to using drugs: 79% of porn performers have used marijuana and 50% have used ecstasy. These porn stars are often revered as false idols by those who venerate them. Yet these “stars” are people who often even admit to not liking themselves. They are in an industry that requires them to sacrifice themselves in an often degrading fashion for the pleasure of those who watch. One of the leading categories in the porn industry are amateur videos. These are videos that are often home-made hard core videos of people filming themselves. Today anywhere from one fifth to one third of the hard core videos being sold in the United States are classified as “amateur”, featuring, at least to some degree, the work of nonprofessionals. These amateur videos create in those who watch them the idea that this is the way you are supposed to be having sex. No longer is it just professionals doing it, but this is how “normal” people are having sex, and they think that in order to be normal they should do what they might be seeing in these amateur videos. This only begins to set up the unrealistic expectations in the bedroom for those who watch porn and when these expectations are not met, it can lead to a dependence on porn to reach that climax they desire, and can ultimately lead to addiction. The porn industry is one of the biggest in America, bringing in billions of dollars every year, and with the continuing convenience of technology, it does not appear that this industry will be slowing down anytime soon. Often pornography use and other hypersexual activities are not seen as activities that can be causes of addiction. It is viewed purely on a morality basis and is disregarded from a scientific standpoint. However, one must look to the true definition of how addiction is created, “Addiction occurs when pleasure/reward pathways are hijacked by exogenous drugs such as cocaine or opioids, or by natural processes essential and inherent to survival such as food and sex. The same dopaminergic systems include the ventral tegmental area with its projections to the nucleus accumbens and other striatal salience centers.” This demonstrates that the same neuro processes that cause addictions from drugs such as cocaine are the same processes in natural actions, such as sexual activities, including watching porn. One of the biggest problems facing pornography addiction is the brushing off of its impact on people by society. There is a tendency to trivialize the possible social and biological effects of pornography. The sex industry has successfully characterized any objection to pornography as being from the religious or moral perspective. The sex industry will then dismiss these objections presented as being a breach against people’s First Amendment rights. It is extremely important that we as a society begin to view addiction to pornography in a more scientific light, rather than obscuring as a subjective viewpoint. Sexuality has deeply rooted moral ties, and these often conflict with the scientific standpoint. The evidence is out there, presented for us to see and develop a more coherent and realistic understanding of the possible addiction problems faced by people who use pornography in a risky way. It is up to us to use this knowledge to know help people become more aware of this issue and understand the very real consequences it can have in people’s lives. When one looks to the Merriam Webster, the word addiction is defined as a strong and harmful need to regularly have something or do something. Going by this definition alone it is hard to imagine most rational people as not including porn as a possible addiction under this definition. A study was recently conducted by the University of Cambridge on porn addiction, and what they found was very interesting. According to the study, porn users react to porn cues in the same way that drug addicts react to drug cues. Cambridge found that compulsive porn users craved porn, but did not have higher sexual desire than controls. This finding aligns perfectly with the current model of addiction, and refutes the theory that higher sexual desire causes compulsive porn use. The research conducted by Cambridge University is the first step in bringing to light the reality of porn addiction. In the study, researchers found strong evidence of sensitization in compulsive porn users. Sensitization is hyper-reactivity to cues that leads to craving to use, and is considered to be the core addiction-related brain change. Another strong indicator is that compulsive porn users did not like the porn they are watching any more than the control group did. This aligns perfectly with the addiction model as addicts experience strong cravings to use, but don't like "it" (in this case porn) as strongly. This is a very important finding as it completely contradicts the notion that those who have a hard time controlling their porn use simply have stronger sexual desires. This study only furthers what most have concluded: that the internet can induce pathological learning, and can cause the same brain changes as seen in drug addicts. Addicts in most circumstances are described as having a quantitative problem: that is they simply use too much and need to cut back. But porn addictions also have a qualitative component: they change sexual taste. Scientists once held the belief that our brains were hardwired after childhood. Today, it is known the brain is neuroplastic and can not only change, but that it works by changing its structure in response to repeated mental experience. One of the biggest components of this change is the reward center of the brain. A brain chemical, dopamine, is released, giving us the thrill that goes with accomplishment. It also consolidates the connections between neurons in the brain that helped us accomplish that goal. Dopamine is also secreted at moments of sexual excitement. Porn scenes thus fire the reward center. The images then get reinforced, altering the user's sexual tastes, whether you recognize it or not. Now with the ability of diagnostic scanning, it has proven that porn use can alter the reward center of the brain in the same way as drug use. Once the reward center is altered, a person will compulsively seek out the activity or place that triggered the dopamine discharge. A damaged dopamine system makes one more tolerant to the activity and needing more stimulation, to get the rush and quiet the craving. In porn the most obvious change is how the sex is full of aggression and sadism. As tolerance to sexual excitement develops, it no longer satisfies; only by releasing a second drive, the aggressive drive, can the addict be excited. Teenager’s brains are especially plastic, and because of this, and such easily available access to porn sites, the sexual tastes and the romantic longings of these boys have become dissociated from each other. Pornography addiction is a very important topic to be discussed because of not only the quantitative problems it brings, but also the qualitative issues.
Pornography use can have the potential to lead to addiction in certain circumstances, as previously acknowledged. Ultimately the biggest issue facing people who struggle with pornography addictions is having a difficult time being intimate with another person and thus developing a stable and meaningful relationship. “If pornography addiction is viewed objectively, evidence indicates that it does indeed cause harm in humans with regard to pair-bonding.” To give an example, the recent meta-analysis by Dr. Hald strongly supports and clarifies previous data demonstrating a positive correlation with regard to pornography inducing violent attitudes against women. This is a serious issue that needs to be addressed. People who watch porn, especially from an early age, are often led into believing that what they are doing is the proper context in which a sexual encounter happens. This is an extremely dangerous way of thinking. Pornography use has been linked in many studies as being a leading cause for engaging in potentially risky sexual behavior. For example, a study found that men who viewed porn every day averaged almost five times more lifetime sexual partners than non-users. This in turn is associated with other risky behaviors, such as not using contraception at last intercourse, smoking, binge drinking, drug use, and poorer mental health. Viewing pornography also often leads to people having sex at an earlier age and hastily engaging in sexual activities with new partners. Pornography has the potential to lead people to engage in dangerous activities, both sexually and non, which can have powerfully detrimental effects on the user. Ultimately, pornography use in this sense leads to an inability to have an intimate and meaningful relationship with a partner. Studies have found that people who watch porn are more prevalently engaging in the “hookup culture” that is so evident in today’s youth. This hookup culture phenomenon has become damaging to so many of these youths in their ability to experience intimacy with a partner rather than just engaging in physical sexual acts. As with this type of behavior and lack of connection with our partner’s, people who engage in this sort of lifestyle often find themselves unsatisfied with their partners. As previously discussed, pornography leads us to objectifying one another and the consequences lead to this unsatisfaction that so many habitual porn users face. These porn users, while they may still find their partners attractive, find themselves having to use porn to even be turned in order to have sex. Often times, men who watch porn have unrealistic expectations in the bedroom for their partner, and try to engage in “pornified sex” where they are performing acts that have seen in porn, thinking this is satisfying for their partner when in reality this couldn’t be further from the truth. These behaviors in the bedroom ultimately lead to the consequences these men often face of being dumped, while the women do not tell them this reasoning as to why they are dumping them. This leads the men to continue this cycle, failing to be able to establish an intimate connection with their partners. Ultimately, boys need to be taught at a young age about real sex and the intimacy that goes along with it. Young boys are watching porn as their guide in their sexual lives and it can lead to a potentially permanently addled sexuality thanks to the presence of porn during this highly plastic period of brain development. If these boys can be taught the realities of sex life they will most often encounter in the real world, and also be taught about the falsehood of porn, then they can create for themselves a more stable and intimate relationship with their partners. Addiction to pornography is an issue that must be discussed now before the damages it can cause are irreparable. This paper has shed light on just how vast and powerful the porn industry itself is, leading into what pornography addiction is and how it alters our brain, and finally discusses how this addiction can have seriously negative implications in people’s intimate lives. Pornography has its place in society, but it needs to be taken for what it is: a false reality.

Works Cited
Braithwaite, Scott et al., The Influence of Pornography on Sexual Scripts and Hooking Up Among Emerging Adults in College. New York: Springer Media, 2014.

Diu, Nisha. “How Porn is Rewiring Our Brains”. Telegraph, November 15, 2013. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/10441027/How-porn-is-rewiring-our-brains.html

Covenant Eyes. “Pornography Statistics: Annual Report 2015.” Accessed April 19, 2015. http://www.covenanteyes.com/pornstats/

Schlosser, Eric. “The Business of Pornography,” U.S. News & World Report. February 10, 1997.

Hilton, Donald L. and Watts, Clark. “Pornography Addiction: A Neuroscience Perspective.” Surgical Neurology International (February 21, 2011) http://www.surgicalneurologyint.com/article.asp?issn=2152-7806;year=2011;volume=2;issue=1;spage=19;epage=19;aulast=Hilton

“Cambridge Study: Internet porn addiction mirrors drug addiction”. Your Brain on Porn (July 10, 2014) http://www.yourbrainonporn.com/cambridge-university-brain-scans-find-porn-addiction

Doidge, Norman. “Brain scans of porn addicts: what's wrong with this picture?” The Guardian (September 26, 2013) http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/26/brain-scans-porn-addicts-sexual-tastes

--------------------------------------------
[ 1 ]. Braithwaite, Scott et al., The Influence of Pornography on Sexual Scripts and Hooking Up Among Emerging Adults in College. New York: Springer Media, 2014.
[ 2 ]. Diu, Nisha. “How Porn is Rewiring Our Brains”. Telegraph, November 15, 2013. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/10441027/How-porn-is-rewiring-our-brains.html
[ 3 ]. Diu
[ 4 ]. Diu
[ 5 ]. Covenant Eyes. “Pornography Statistics: Annual Report 2015.” Accessed April 19, 2015. http://www.covenanteyes.com/pornstats/
[ 6 ]. Covenant Eyes. http://www.covenanteyes.com/pornstats/
[ 7 ]. Covenant Eyes. http://www.covenanteyes.com/pornstats/
[ 8 ]. Covenant Eyes. http://www.covenanteyes.com/pornstats/
[ 9 ]. Schlosser, Eric. “The Business of Pornography,” U.S. News & World Report. February 10, 1997.
[ 10 ]. Covenant Eyes. http://www.covenanteyes.com/pornstats/
[ 11 ]. Schlosser
[ 12 ]. Covenant Eyes. http://www.covenanteyes.com/pornstats/
[ 13 ]. Schlosser
[ 14 ]. Hilton, Donald L. and Watts, Clark. “Pornography Addiction: A Neuroscience Perspective.” Surgical Neurology International (February 21, 2011) http://www.surgicalneurologyint.com/article.asp?issn=2152-7806;year=2011;volume=2;issue=1;spage=19;epage=19;aulast=Hilton
[ 15 ]. Hilton and Clark
[ 16 ]. Hilton and Clark
[ 17 ]. “Cambridge Study: Internet porn addiction mirrors drug addiction”. Your Brain on Porn (July 10, 2014) http://www.yourbrainonporn.com/cambridge-university-brain-scans-find-porn-addiction
[ 18 ]. Your Brain on Porn
[ 19 ]. Your Brain on Porn
[ 20 ]. Your Brain on Porn
[ 21 ]. Doidge, Norman. “Brain scans of porn addicts: what's wrong with this picture?” The Guardian (September 26, 2013) http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/26/brain-scans-porn-addicts-sexual-tastes
[ 22 ]. Doidge
[ 23 ]. Doidge
[ 24 ]. Doidge
[ 25 ]. Doidge
[ 26 ]. Doidge
[ 27 ]. Hilton and Clark
[ 28 ]. Hilton and Clark
[ 29 ]. Braithwaite
[ 30 ]. Braithwaite
[ 31 ]. Diu
[ 32 ]. Diu
[ 33 ]. Diu