Merriam-Webster’s online simple definition of pornography is “movies, images, etc., which show or describe naked people or sex in a very open and direct way to induce sexual arousal.” Since porn may not be more and more relevant in today’s world (if only because it has been around for centuries), throughout history it has become more available and prevalent. The issues with pornography on the internet are debatable, but an important point to discuss is the idea that viewers of these videos may believe that what they see in them should translate to the real world.
Most pornographic videos online portray women as:
- Sexual objects. Women are seen as an object that exists solely to give a man sexual pleasure.
- Objects of physical aggression. 45% of scenes in pornographic videos contain at least one act of physical aggression, including spanking and spanking.
- Sex-crazy animals. In porn, women want to have sex all the time. They are always eager, always available and never say no. They enjoy all sexual acts, often without discussing what they are doing beforehand.
While women are objectified in pornography, men don’t necessarily have it easy either. They are rarely fully present (often silent) and often always depicted as being in a state of constant excitement.
Reciprocity is also too rare in online pornographic videos. When it comes to orgasms, men do it alone 51% of the time, meaning the woman’s pleasure is totally ignored. The oral sex category isn’t much better, with men getting fellatio 80% of the time and reciprocity of it only exists in 31% of the scenes.
The problem isn’t that pornographic videos exist or that people watch them and use them as a sexual outlet, sexual activity, or way to get new ideas. The problem is that the content in the videos is starting to normalize. The problem is that in today’s society, men may start to think that hitting, gagging and hitting women during sex is okay without talking about it first. The problem is, men might think there’s something wrong with them if they don’t want to do the aforementioned things. The problem is, women may think there’s something wrong with them if they’re not always eager and available to have sex, or if they think they should say yes to sexual activities they might not be comfortable with.
Something needs to change in the porn industry, and it can start with showing women giving consent, showing less physically aggressive acts, and showing men who aren’t always in a constant state of arousal. The sooner the producers of pornographic videos realize this, the better off people will be in the real world.