Dr Alverston Bailey, Contributor
This week, we will be discussing pornography and the pros and cons regarding its usage.
Pornography is described as the display of overt sexual matter which excites the viewer.
The word comes from the Greek porne (prostitute) and graphien (write), and describes "writings by/or about prostitutes".
There are many different kinds of pornography.
Soft porn - describes pictures or movies that show people who may or may not be naked, but who are posing in a sexy manner, the women posing in these pictures are called 'cheesecake' and the men 'beefcake'.
Hard porn - is the term which describes pornographic pictures or movies which show people having sex.
Hard-core porn - depicts sexual acts which are violent or degrading.
Porn can also be described as amateur, fetish, orientation-based (gay, lesbian and bisexual), race-oriented (e.g. Asian, black, Latino, interracial), voyeur pornography (e.g. hidden-camera porn), 'upskirt' pornography, etc.
Pornography is distributed using a variety of media - printed literature, photos, sculpture, drawings, paintings, animation, sound recording, film, video, or video games and the Internet.
History
The origin of porn is obscure, but it was widely used by the Greeks and Romans in songs and paintings and was quite common in ancient Eastern cultures. The Indian Kama Sutra and the Arabian Perfumed Gardens are the best-known historic works.
Who uses porn?
The Kinsey study revealed:
48 per cent of females and 36 per cent of males had some erotic response to sexy films. 60 per cent of females and 59 per cent of males had some erotic response while reading erotic literature. 32 per cent of females and 77 per cent of males were stimulated by viewing pictures, drawings and other portrayals of sexual activity. 14 per cent of females and 47 per cent of males were stimulated by erotic stories told to them.In the late 1960s, the report of the US Commission on Obscenity and Pornography indicated that about 80 per cent of boys and 70 per cent of girls have seen erotic material of some sort by the time they reach 18.
Pornography in the United States is now a multibillion-dollar business and in 2002, US$4 billion of porn videos were sold and 11,300 hard-core films released.
Surprisingly, the average age at which an adolescent first views a porn magazine is now 13 in the USA . I suspect the figures might be quite similar in Jamaica. In 2003, there were 1.3 million porn websites and more than 20,000 images of child porn are posted on the Net each week.
Males have been found to make up two-thirds of users of sexually explicit Internet sites and account for 77 per cent of online time. Fifty-one per cent of women reported they never download sexual material.
Religion and porn
Many religious groups discourage their members from viewing or reading pornography, and support legislation restricting its publication. For them, sex should be primarily for procreation and they believe that porn induces erotic thoughts which causes one to lust. They also argue that it is addictive and leads to self-destructive behaviour.
Protection of minors
The advent of very liberal views nowadays regarding porn poses a clear and present danger to our children since they are obviously being exposed to hard-core porn at a very early age when they are most impressionable.
Adequate steps must, therefore, be put in place to protect them. Hard-core materials should be restricted to adult book stores, mail orders and parent-controlled cable channels. The widespread availability of porn - soft and hard - on the sidewalks and in mainstream stores should be discouraged.
Child protection
Protecting children from watching porn on the Internet is a real challenge and we recommend the installing of web filters and blocking software in schools, homes and Internet cafés. Some commercially available web filters are: Net Nanny, Safe Eyes, Cybersitter, Cyberpatrol, Filter Pack, Net Mop and Wise Choice Net.
There are many sides to the porn story. Let your conscience be your guide.
Sources:
Marshall, W. - Use of Sexually Explicit Stimuli by Rapists, Child Molesters and Non-offenders - Journal of Sex Research (1998): 26
Brunniehner, Tanja - Relationship Between Pornography and Abuse - The Advocate. PAVA. Duluth MN (November 1996)
Carrera, Michael - The Complete Guide to Sex
Dr Alverston Bailey is the immediate past president of the Medical Association of Jamaica.
Cons
Encourages the domination and humiliation of women. Undermines a man's sensitivity to women's legal rights, including the right to withhold consent to sex. Is harmful to female actors exposing them to sexually transmitted infections and sexual trauma. Promotes violence against women. Could encourage kinky sex -involving bondage and sadomasochism. Reinforces sexual and cultural attitudes that encourage rape and sexual harassment. Creates marital disharmony due to unrealistic expectations of one or both partners. Encourages extramarital sex, thus undermining the institution of marriage. Promotes promiscuity, especially in teenagers. Causes porn addiction, which is compulsive loss of control and continued use of porn despite adverse consequences to health, family and job security.Pros
The wide availability of pornography may reduce violence against women by giving potential offenders a socially acceptable way of regulating their own sexuality by encouraging them to practise solo sex (masturbation).
It can rekindle the fire in a dormant relationship since the visual stimuli can enhance arousal during foreplay. Couples can use it to gain a better understanding of human sexuality and the wide array of sexual expressions that are possible. The erotic stimuli provided by porn enhance solo sex, which is regarded as safe sex.
