Let's Start Out By Talking About Porn

A college instructor once told my class that we are the porn generation. We literally carry it in our pockets, have it with us as we’re driving, and have access to it wherever we go. Just don’t access it on the campus wi-fi, please and thank you.

This is incredibly true. The internet is near universal. Access to any sort of pornographic image is available at the touch of a button. It’s as difficult a time as any to remain pure in that sense. And pornography, despite media’s portrayal, doesn’t just affect males. Girls can be addicted to, and struggle with the aftermath of, viewing porn. Not only that, but through pornography young girls are exposed to unrealistic, disgusting, impossible standards. False images of what women look like or are expected to act like flood the world around them at the most impressionable of ages.

It’s not just on our phones or in sketchy shops on the side of the highway. It’s in malls, on TV, in magazines (and not just ‘those’ types of magazines…), and any form of media. Everywhere you look, porn is being sold to you. Blown up Victoria’s Secret advertisements on billboards or on the side of otherwise seemingly safe websites. I know I sound like a crotchety, old man telling young whippersnappers to stay off his lawn, but darnit, I want photoshopped, bikini-clad models and beefed up, shirtless men to stay out of the advertising that I’m unwillingly exposed to.

Thank you.

Studies have shown the addictive aspects or porn and the detrimental effects it has on the brain. The taboo around it doesn’t help, either. Limited or nonexistent availability to open communication about porn makes it nearly impossible for those needing help to seek it. Chances are, those suffering are blind to the long-term problems that their addiction causes and refuse to believe it’s even a problem at all.

Porn is cheating. It may be a socially acceptable form of cheating, but it’s cheating nonetheless. It’s not okay. Young children are getting exposed to this everywhere they go. Conversations at the lunchtable or in the schoolyard revolve around things they know about sex from TV or rumors that they heard from other classmates. Normalizing images of sex while keeping it taboo or unsafe to talk about isn’t the way to go. Which is why this fight is so important. Kids shouldn’t have to go to the internet for their questions about relationships and sex. Keep an open, respectful, informative, age-appropriate dialogue with your children. Make sure they know that they have a safe setting to get answers for those questions.

Arm yourself with tools for this fight. Porn is a reality. But that doesn’t mean it has to stay that way. Educate yourself on the dangers of pornography. Learn about the sex trade business and how it affects young girls across the world. It’s not pretty stuff. Talk to your friends about it. Be the annoying person who shares the heck out of well-informed articles. Dress modestly. Pray for people involved in the porn industry. Pray for the generations of people who will suffer and struggle all their lives. Pray for yourself. It’s not easy to avoid temptation. But avoiding the sources of that temptation is a whole lot easier than trying not to fall deeper and deeper after the first misstep.

It’s not something that should be taken lightly or joked about. It’s something I’m very passionate about and willing to talk about in depth. I’m frustrated with the way sex is portrayed in the media. I encourage you to search for the Porn Kills Love movement if you’re interested in finding ways to actively be a voice for change.