Medical Porn
A University of Montreal researcher set out to compare the attitudes of men in their 20s who had viewed online pornography with those who hadn’t. That study had to be cancelled, because 100 per cent of the subjects admitted to viewing this type of material.
Pornography clearly has many negative aspects, from degradation of women (and men) to exploitation of children and body image problems for both genders. It has been accused of ruining marriages and sex lives, because what happens in real life doesn’t meet porn-fuelled expectations. An anonymous article on this subject in Men’s Health even claimed that the writer’s parents eschewed sex on the first night of their honeymoon because of pornography. They later divorced.
Yet, experts are starting to see a positive role for moderate viewing of legal pornography. That same University of Montreal researcher, Simon Louis Lajeunesse, wound up interviewing young men who had viewed pornography. It should come as no surprise that 90 per cent of it came from the Internet, which has a cornucopia of often free content of this nature.
Lajeunesse found that “most boys seek out pornographic material by the age of 10,” and “quickly discard what they don’t like or find offensive.” Single men in his study watched porn, on average, three times a week for 40 minutes. Those in a committed relationship watched an average of 1.7 times a week for 20 minutes.” They rarely viewed it as a couple.
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A key finding of this 2009 study is that “pornography hasn’t changed their perception of women or their relationship which they all want as harmonious and fulfilling as possible.”Lajeunesse also notes that “men don’t want their partner to look like a porn star.” He essentially dismisses the concept of porn addiction, at least in the men he studied.
On the opposing side, the website yourbrainonporn.com argues that when the adolescent brain meets high-speed Internet porn, very bad things can happen. These include depression and porn-induced erectile dysfunction. According to Italian urologist, Dr. Carlo Focesta, watching too much porn won’t make you go blind, but it may make you impotent. “It starts with lower reactions to porn sites,” he writes. “Then there is a general drop in libido, and in the end it becomes impossible to get an erection.”
This site also quotes Dr. Donald Hilton, a neurosurgeon at the University of Texas, who calls pornography “a supranormal stimulus, which means something that we usually don’t encounter in nature.” He analyzes this from the perspective of neuroplasticity, the idea that the brain can rewire itself over time.
Hilton says that pornography addiction engages the same brain areas as addiction to drugs and alcohol, engaging powerful reward mechanisms such as dopamine release. Yourbrainonporn.com also has testimonials from recovering Internet porn addicts, some as young as 14. They’ve even coined some terms for going cold turkey on porn, including “Rebooting,” “Fight the New Drug” and the “No Fap Challenge.”
One of the more entertaining aspects of the brain/porn connection is something called “The Coolidge Effect.” Legend has it that U.S. president Calvin Coolidge and his wife were touring a farm separately. She noted the rooster mating repeatedly and said, “Tell that to the President.” When told, he asked if it was the same hen every time. “No, Mr. President, it’s a different one each time.” “Tell that to Mrs. Coolidge,” he is reputed to have said.
The point is that mammals show heightened interest in sex if presented with a new partner. Online pornography, with its infinite supply of new partners, may well engage this evolutionary mechanism, especially in males. A recent book, Why Married Couples Don’t Have Sex. . . . At Least Not with Each Other! by Toronto psychologist Sara Dimerman explores how married couples develop inhibitions. She reveals that she and her husband share their bed with two cats and a dog, so there are six eyes staring at them. She also expresses, on her blog, helpmesara.com, major reservations about her 15-year-old daughter wanting to see Fifty Shades of Grey.
As for the good place for pornography, many experts believe it is in the bedroom (or wherever) and viewed together by a couple. This may counter the negative conditioning of sitting alone in front of a computer, and introduce some new spice into lovemaking.
University of Calgary researchers Marley N. Resch and Kevin Alderson found that honesty about porn- viewing habits promoted greater relationship satisfaction in their study of 361 university students. Just watching together didn’t necessarily make the relationships better. However, they found “those who use pornography mutually sometimes to all the time reporting lower distress levels than those who reported rarely or never using pornography with their intimate partners.”
Devices like Google’s Chromecast can bring that racy content to your big screen, in high definition with full audio. Or you can just snuggle around the laptop.
Dr. Tom Keenan is an award winning journalist, public speaker, professor in the Faculty of Environmental Design at the University of Calgary, and author of the new book, Technocreep, (www.technocreep.com).
Pornography clearly has many negative aspects, from degradation of women (and men) to exploitation of children and body image problems for both genders. It has been accused of ruining marriages and sex lives, because what happens in real life doesn’t meet porn-fuelled expectations. An anonymous article on this subject in Men’s Health even claimed that the writer’s parents eschewed sex on the first night of their honeymoon because of pornography. They later divorced.
Yet, experts are starting to see a positive role for moderate viewing of legal pornography. That same University of Montreal researcher, Simon Louis Lajeunesse, wound up interviewing young men who had viewed pornography. It should come as no surprise that 90 per cent of it came from the Internet, which has a cornucopia of often free content of this nature.
Lajeunesse found that “most boys seek out pornographic material by the age of 10,” and “quickly discard what they don’t like or find offensive.” Single men in his study watched porn, on average, three times a week for 40 minutes. Those in a committed relationship watched an average of 1.7 times a week for 20 minutes.” They rarely viewed it as a couple.
Advertisement
A key finding of this 2009 study is that “pornography hasn’t changed their perception of women or their relationship which they all want as harmonious and fulfilling as possible.”Lajeunesse also notes that “men don’t want their partner to look like a porn star.” He essentially dismisses the concept of porn addiction, at least in the men he studied.
On the opposing side, the website yourbrainonporn.com argues that when the adolescent brain meets high-speed Internet porn, very bad things can happen. These include depression and porn-induced erectile dysfunction. According to Italian urologist, Dr. Carlo Focesta, watching too much porn won’t make you go blind, but it may make you impotent. “It starts with lower reactions to porn sites,” he writes. “Then there is a general drop in libido, and in the end it becomes impossible to get an erection.”
This site also quotes Dr. Donald Hilton, a neurosurgeon at the University of Texas, who calls pornography “a supranormal stimulus, which means something that we usually don’t encounter in nature.” He analyzes this from the perspective of neuroplasticity, the idea that the brain can rewire itself over time.
Hilton says that pornography addiction engages the same brain areas as addiction to drugs and alcohol, engaging powerful reward mechanisms such as dopamine release. Yourbrainonporn.com also has testimonials from recovering Internet porn addicts, some as young as 14. They’ve even coined some terms for going cold turkey on porn, including “Rebooting,” “Fight the New Drug” and the “No Fap Challenge.”
One of the more entertaining aspects of the brain/porn connection is something called “The Coolidge Effect.” Legend has it that U.S. president Calvin Coolidge and his wife were touring a farm separately. She noted the rooster mating repeatedly and said, “Tell that to the President.” When told, he asked if it was the same hen every time. “No, Mr. President, it’s a different one each time.” “Tell that to Mrs. Coolidge,” he is reputed to have said.
The point is that mammals show heightened interest in sex if presented with a new partner. Online pornography, with its infinite supply of new partners, may well engage this evolutionary mechanism, especially in males. A recent book, Why Married Couples Don’t Have Sex. . . . At Least Not with Each Other! by Toronto psychologist Sara Dimerman explores how married couples develop inhibitions. She reveals that she and her husband share their bed with two cats and a dog, so there are six eyes staring at them. She also expresses, on her blog, helpmesara.com, major reservations about her 15-year-old daughter wanting to see Fifty Shades of Grey.
As for the good place for pornography, many experts believe it is in the bedroom (or wherever) and viewed together by a couple. This may counter the negative conditioning of sitting alone in front of a computer, and introduce some new spice into lovemaking.
University of Calgary researchers Marley N. Resch and Kevin Alderson found that honesty about porn- viewing habits promoted greater relationship satisfaction in their study of 361 university students. Just watching together didn’t necessarily make the relationships better. However, they found “those who use pornography mutually sometimes to all the time reporting lower distress levels than those who reported rarely or never using pornography with their intimate partners.”
Devices like Google’s Chromecast can bring that racy content to your big screen, in high definition with full audio. Or you can just snuggle around the laptop.
Dr. Tom Keenan is an award winning journalist, public speaker, professor in the Faculty of Environmental Design at the University of Calgary, and author of the new book, Technocreep, (www.technocreep.com).