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For many of us, and specially for younger people, the first and main contact with sex was not in a sex class, talking to our parents or even in sexual experiences itself, but through porn. The problem with this is that porn is not real sex, not even real life, or people. But for many people and, again, specially for youth this is not such a clear difference, since they lack real-life reference and experiences to counterbalance the images created through pornography.
What are those images?
The sex depicted in porn is as far away from real life than a rabbit is from Bugs Bunny, showing a reality in which everyone is horny all the time, with big penises and ever-lasting erections. Women are showed to have “perfect bodies”, capable of intense and hurtful sex activities without concern by their own pleasure or safety.
In gay porn, the popularity of bareback (sex without a condom and internal ejaculation) scenes seems to ignore the aspects of STI and HIV presence, specially for not showing the use of lubrication and the care one should take in more challenging practices (i.e., fisting, or double penetration).
Lesbian or bisexual women are extremely fetishized by the porn industry, and in many cases being presented as part of a fantasy “completed” by the presence of a man or sexy toys and other objects.
It is also important to highlight the increasing consumption of trans-themed porn, which seems to contribute to the constant sexualization and violence to this community, specially trans women.
COVID-19 and porn
A recent study described longitudinal changes in pornography use habits in the American public over the early course of the pandemic, with a particular focus on such use during the earliest and most restrictive lockdowns in the U.S.
Their finding shows that immediately following the height of the first wave of pandemic-related lockdowns, more people reported past-month pornography use than at other follow-up time points. However, the follow up of the data shows a downward tendency for men and women alike. This could be explained as an attempt to avoid negative effects of a harmful consumption of pornography, in stressful situations porn consumption can increase in a escapism coping mechanism that can lead to addiction and other sexual health disorders.
References:
Grubbs, J.B., Perry, S.L., Grant Weinandy, J.T. et al. Porndemic? A Longitudinal Study of Pornography Use Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in a Nationally Representative Sample of Americans. Arch Sex Behav (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02077-7
