Wednesday, Mar 01 2023

Pornography influences sex education

Original posted by isadaya

I want to report this post

Scientific Articles

Explanation of the Post

Over the years, the age of first exposure to pornography has been decreasing among adolescents, just as we are told by Addison, J; et al. in “Pornography use among adolescents and the role of primary care” (2022), therefore, some authors tell us that the study of the consumption of pornography must be carried out through an impartial understanding of its impact. Its stigmatization must be stopped since leaving the topic confined or “underground” only limits the understanding of its effects on the sexual health of adolescents. Likewise, they seek the promotion of literacy in pornography, in order to use it as an intervention tool with the purpose of teaching sexual health, since among the most negative effects of the consumption of pornography, it stands out that adolescents are exposed to unrealistic beliefs and attitudes about sex, coming to perceive sex as physical and casual rather than emotional and relational. Specifically, they stimulate dialogue on the topic of pornography, since being a present reality in the lives of the majority of the population, which continues to proliferate thanks to access to the Internet. Not giving it a space for discussion and representativeness only continues to stimulate the misconception of sexual life in adolescents, when in reality its positive and negative effects can be balanced to give clarity to the discourse.

In addition, a contribution by Aidan McGlynn in “What can philosophy contribute to ‘education to address pornography’s influence’?” (2022) is about considering the context in which we could contemplate a sexual education in such a way that we can understand pornography, adding philosophical interpretations that create healthy spaces of communication. That way we will better understand the symbology and messages that pornography contracts, analyze and understand what is reflected.
On the other hand, in a study conducted by Manoj Kumar Sharma, et al. (2019). Happy Baglari, Priya Singh, Is porn use becoming a modality of sex education among teenagers? Attributes the beginning of the use of pornography to the lack of opportunities to discuss these issues in the school and family context, as well as the curiosity to explore these issues through the literature available on online platforms. Excessive use of the Internet to overcome curiosity during adolescence and early adulthood about many topics, including sex, generally drives people to access the Internet, which usually becomes excessive for some users. To confirm the veracity of these claims, a UK report showed that 60% of adolescents (N=2500) use pornography to learn about sex to fill the gap in sex education. 75% even admitted that they created unrealistic expectations (Unión Nacional de Estudiantes, 2015). 88% of male adolescents and 58% of females had not received sexual education. They used books, magazines or pornography to find out more about sex (Mamulwar et al., 2015). Users in the younger age group are learning about sex from what they, their peers, or their partners see in pornography (Flood, 2009).
According to other study, which focuses mainly on cisgender heterosexual boys and young men in Australia, they may experience or perpetuate a range of harms in their romantic and sexual encounters with women due to expectations that they adhere to problematic ideals and norms concerning masculinity and heterosexuality (Waling et al., (2023). Among the results, pornography was found to have negative effects on young men’s perceptions but they recognized having an absence of skills to address it, especially due to the lack of critical thinking. One of the main ideas is that critical pornography literacies should be developed to provide young people with a set of skills to assess pornography and understand how it may shape their views and expectations concerning sex and pleasure.

Finally, before all that has been presented, we consider that the consumption of pornography has cognitive implications in adolescents and on their conception of sexuality, therefore, from the primary spheres, the space should be expanded to deal with sexual education.

Other sources

I want to report this post

3 Comments

  1. Pornography can have a significant impact on the sexual education of young people, most commercial pornography presents an unrealistic and distorted image of sex, which can lead to unrealistic expectations about sex and sexual relationships.
    Also, pornography can present an objectified and dehumanized image of people, especially women. This representation can lead to the objectification of people and a lack of respect for them, as well as the normalization of sexual violence and lack of consent. It can also lead to a lack of empathy and understanding for the needs and desires of sexual partners.
    It is important that young people understand that pornography is not an accurate reflection of reality and that they should seek information and sexual education from more reliable and respectful sources. Additionally, parents and educators need to have open and honest conversations about sexuality and pornography, providing young people with a context to understand what they are seeing and experiencing.

    I have based my comment on scientific evidence that we can find in the following articles:

    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160252709000715?casa_token=a9qlBUYfnSEAAAAA:Uhg1ACk6j7Ylu8EJpm1T1thLVhItDEXC9cnaLqiHR6qvn5026d15Z1wD2UzjqsKVdV6jEjoB5fEQ_g

     
    https://rodin.uca.es/bitstream/handle/10498/23518/S%C3%A1nchez,%20Pazo,%20E..pdf

  2. As a group we are agree with the text, because the studies had approved the negative consequences of view pornography at early ages. The study cited here carried out a survey of 100 students and 100 parents of a school about the consequences of pornography. More than 80% agreed or strongly agreed that pornography is the drug for teens of the 21st century.
    Pornography and its incidence in the adolescent psychosexual development: Triviño Burbano, María Vanessa; Salvador Brito, Jeanneth Paquita I.

  3. It is very important to talk to young people about sexuality in a more complete and balanced way. Pornography can influence how they see this issue, and so we need to improve sexual education from the early stages of their education. This would help them to have a healthier and more balanced idea of sex and promote an educational environment that helps them to better understand this aspect of life.

    As we can see in the article “Internet sex addiction: A review of empirical research” Pornography can affect how young people learn about sex. Many videos and photos show a false and exaggerated version of sex, which can cause them to expect unrealistic things in their relationships. In addition, they often show people, especially women, as if they were objects without feelings. This can make us treat people without respect and see sexual violence as normal.

    It can also mean that we do not understand the needs and wishes of our partners. It is very important that young people know that pornography does not show what sex really is like and that they look for information on the subject in more reliable and respectful places. Parents and teachers should also speak to young people openly and honestly about sex and pornography so that they understand what they are seeing and living.

    As the article “In the dark: young men’s stories of sexual initiation in the absence of relevant sexual health information” shows This is especially true for young homosexuals, since as in some families it is not a space where they can speak openly about their sexuality they end up “learning” from pornography and can result in many sexually transmitted diseases or especially in homosexual men injured because they are poorly informed.

    As the article “In the dark: young men’s stories of sexual initiation in the absence of relevant sexual health information” shows This is especially true for young homosexuals, since as in some families it is not a space where they can speak openly about their sexuality they end up “learning” from pornography and can result in many sexually transmitted diseases or especially in homosexual men injured because they are poorly informed.

    It can also mean that we do not understand the needs and wishes of our partners. It is very important that young people know that pornography does not show what sex really is like and that they look for information on the subject in more reliable and respectful places. The article “Pornography and the Male Sexual Script: An Analysis of Consumption and Sexual Relations” also highlights this issue. Parents and teachers should also speak to young people openly and honestly about sex and pornography so that they understand what they are seeing and living.

    Bibliography:

    GRIFFITHS, M.D., 2012. Internet sex addiction: A review of empirical research. Addiction research & theory, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 111-124. ISSN 1606-6359. DOI 10.3109/16066359.2011.588351. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/citedby/10.3109/16066359.2011.588351?scroll=top&needAccess=true

    Kubicek K, Beyer WJ, Weiss G, Iverson E, Kipke MD. In the dark: young men’s stories of sexual initiation in the absence of relevant sexual health information. Health Educ Behav. 2010 Apr;37(2):243-63. doi: 10.1177/1090198109339993. Epub 2009 Jul 2. PMID: 19574587; PMCID: PMC2866104. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19574587/

    Sun C, Bridges A, Johnson JA, Ezzell MB. Pornography and the Male Sexual Script: An Analysis of Consumption and Sexual Relations. Arch Sex Behav. 2016 May;45(4):983-94. doi: 10.1007/s10508-014-0391-2. Epub 2014 Dec 3. Erratum in: Arch Sex Behav. 2016 May;45(4):995. PMID: 25466233. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25466233/

Submit a Comment

I want to report a comment