You have every right to decide what is right for you, and write an opinion piece about your beliefs.
But It is irresponsible and intellectually dishonest to cherry pick data to fit your opinion, while using non-experts’ opinions to dismiss the scientific data that doesn’t support your opinion.
#1: You chose to base your “scientific” argument on claims made by Fight the New Drug, but their findings are far from “overwhelming.”
Did you even look at their evidence or you simply cite the group because their mission statement fit nicely with your opinion?
I took the time to examine one of their claims: “The evidence that porn can harm relationships and partners is overwhelming. [3]”
There were eight studies to back up their claim of “overwhelming” scientific evidence, were overwhelmingly conducted in the United States.
Here’s a breakdown of the studies cited:
- 1 U.S. study of 296 participants in a romantic relationship (75 men, 221 women) reported “The data imply those relationships where both partners used SEM or where both partners abstained from SEM use had similar levels of intimacy, commitment, and relationship satisfaction present.”
- 1 review by 8 authors (7 in U.S., 1 in Scotland) looked at the sexual difficulties of men under 40 and possible correlation with the use of pornography with the aim of “proposing a possible direction for future research of this phenomenon.”
- 1 study based in Provo, UT, examined the relationship between porn and hooking up and discussed the findings “with an eye toward mitigating potential personal and public health risks among emerging adults.”
- 1 Canadian study among 340 female participants in committed relationships reported, “Participants reporting more honesty showed higher satisfaction and lower levels of distress, and participants disclosing mutual use showed lower levels of distress, although no differences were reported in satisfaction.”
- 1 study by U of Missouri on 617 married or cohabiting couples concluded “Specifically, male pornography use was negatively associated with both male and female sexual quality, whereas female pornography use was positively associated with female sexual quality.”
- 1 study from Boise State on 782 college students completing an online questionnaire found “Higher frequencies of SEM use were associated with less sexual and relationship satisfaction.”
- 1 study from Univ. of Denver on 1291 unmarried individuals in romantic relationships found “The only difference between those who never viewed SEM and those who viewed it only with their partners was that those who never viewed it had lower rates of infidelity. Implications for future research in this area as well as for sex therapy and couple therapy are discussed.”
- 1 article was a “paradigm case portrait of female romantic partners” based on a sample of 100 personal letters.
To summarize:
- 3 studies say that couples who watch porn together are no different than couples where neither partner watches porn.
- 1 study says that women should watch porn, but not their men
- 1 study reports that honesty is good
- 1 study reported “lower rates of infidelity” for couples that watch no porn, but does not define what that means.
- The Utah study examined the relationship between pornography and hooking up
- 1 study could only recommend more study on the relationship between porn and male sexual problems
- 1 article looked at 100 letters.
That’s not exactly the definition of “overwhelming scientific evidence.”
#2: You point to a 2015 meta-analysis from 7 countries that demonstrate porn consumption is linked to both verbal and sexual aggression.
Since you wanted to bring up sexual aggression, here is a list of rape statistics by country.
Japan, Canada, India, Turkey, Hong Kong have some of the world’s lowest rates of rape, and yet prostitution is either legal or readily available, while people can still use the internet to watch porn.
Pornography is readily available and prostitution is basically legal all over Europe except France, and every country except Sweden has a lower rate of rape than the U.S., with most of them being 3 to 10 times lower.
Do these countries fall into your
How do we explain these differences?
When does correlation actually mean causation?
#3: Your point about porn training men to objectify women basically ignores all recorded history.
150 years ago, wives were the property of their husbands. Are you seriously suggesting that women were not objectified back then because there was no porn?
How about the idea that things used to be better for women when men were reading Playboy?
If you want answers, talk to your grandmother. Or watch Mad Men.
Society is far closer to giving women equal opportunity in their choice of careers, salary level and ability to push back against sexual harassment than it was even 20 years ago.
These kinds of articles that claim to be researched-based misinform people and do a tremendous disservice to the conversations that need to be had between men and women.
