Male Porn Consumption: Female Safety and Sexuality
Porn is often discussed in a nonchalant, casual setting, and more than often discussed in a very nonchalant, casual way. Certainly, if you find yourself caught in a conversation within a male friendship circle, you will have to endure the unfulfilling competition of who watches the kinkiest, most radical, and outrageous material – for then, they must applaud and crown him some kind of sex king. The truth behind this type of relaxed approach to more extreme pornography, is that it reflects how easily accessible sexually violent videos are to the public, and how women are endangered by what is widely known and accepted to be a ‘normal’ everyday aspect of sexual life.
If men are ever caught discussing the negative impacts of porn (which is rare), you’ll notice it tends to centre around (surprise, surprise) themselves. Countless tales are exchanged surrounding erectile dysfunction, desensitisation to sex and unrealistic expectations. Whilst all true, and valid reasons to boycott pornography, these narratives serve as merely shallow and subsidiary observations, failing to also acknowledge the legitimate, and oppressive issues that arrive from ‘offensive’ porn. The much harder-to-swallow truth is that male pornographic consumption directly correlates to increased violence against women and girls. While some may perceive this as a radical, ‘feme-nazi’ train of thought, I point your attention to the government issued independent report entitled ‘The relationship between pornography use and harmful sexual behaviours’, last updated January 2021. This primary research report produced some shocking and horrifying findings and conclusions, which I intend to outline and expose.
First, addiction to pornography skews how the brain views and interacts with the female body. This manifests itself in a harmful objectification of women, and a disdain for bodies that do not conform to mainstream beauty standards perpetuated by the male gaze. In seeing women purely as sex objects for their sexual wants and needs, verbal misogyny is thus normalised, such as storytelling in peer groups and insulting name-calling. How many times have the words ‘bitch’ and ‘slag’ been thrown at women refusing to cater to this male gaze? When did catcalling ever substitute a compliment? These derogatory attitudes endanger women, forcing them to be pelted with cruel shouts and entitled touches, in what should be safe environments of everyday life.
With this objectification of women comes a deeply entrenched sense of male sexual entitlement. The approach they have to sex comprises only of female complicity to men’s wishes, with a complete and utter disregard for female wants. This is due to the lack of equal pleasure expressed in pornography; women are presented as being used to complete male sexual needs. In turn can come a lack of awareness or concern for consent, as explicit agreement to partake in any given sexual act is left (almost entirely) out of pornography accessible on the leading global porn sites. As a result of this, and the violent nature of most pornography, men are not made aware of how to approach real life sexual encounters respectfully, which in many cases can lead to verbal or physical coercion.
By now, the extreme and violent complexion of porn is something many of us know and are familiar with, however, the normalisation of physical aggression during sex is something that plagues sexual life still. Unrealistic expectations for the pursuit of violent sexual acts such as choking, slapping, and hair-pulling have become extremely normalised in pornography, to the point where men may assume women desire it without even needing to ask. This rings true for other more extreme acts, such as group sex and anal, that many men may deem to be ‘normal’ or desired. When in truth, for some, these acts not only violate the basic decency of consent, but also without proper knowledge, can lead to physical injury and emotional manipulation. It is this influx of ‘kinky’ porn, that causes men to desire (and sometimes expect) more extreme sexual situations, which leads them to view women’s sexual worth in relation to how kinky they are, and how willing they are to push the boundaries and forgo their own wants and needs. This forces a toxic agenda on women who may not be interested in these sexual extremes, confining them to a label of ‘boring’, ‘vanilla’, or ‘bad in bed.’
What’s worse is that there is little proactive regulation of extreme pornography, making it extremely easy to access unlawful material on legal porn sites. As described in the government’s report, current research at Durham University has found ‘content on the landing pages of the top three porn sites in the UK that could be classified as extreme [illegal] pornography, as well as content that is in clear contravention of the sites own terms and conditions.’ This means that, most likely, porn users across England and Wales are accessing illegal material unknowingly.
In conclusion, nothing good comes from the consumption of extreme pornography. Not only does it manipulate the brain and ruin how you interact with sex, but it also violates female sexuality, endangers women, and continues to reimburse an industry riddled with abuse.
Stop watching now.
Edited by: Millie Nutburn