Porn, again

A quick follow-up to the surprisingly popular mini-post on porn. Granted, apocalyptic predictions of pornographically-inspired sexual violence aren’t very accurate (hat tip to commenter Plinko for the second link), and I also think that society has done a decent job of weathering the sexual revolution and its aftermath. But to my mind, the most compelling case against pornography is grounded in personal experience rather than social doom-saying, mainly because the over-consumption of anything (from porn to calories) is bad for you. Here’s Naomi Wolf:

After all, pornography works in the most basic of ways on the brain: It is Pavlovian. An orgasm is one of the biggest reinforcers imaginable. If you associate orgasm with your wife, a kiss, a scent, a body, that is what, over time, will turn you on; if you open your focus to an endless stream of ever-more-transgressive images of cybersex slaves, that is what it will take to turn you on. The ubiquity of sexual images does not free eros but dilutes it.

Other cultures know this. I am not advocating a return to the days of hiding female sexuality, but I am noting that the power and charge of sex are maintained when there is some sacredness to it, when it is not on tap all the time. In many more traditional cultures, it is not prudery that leads them to discourage men from looking at pornography. It is, rather, because these cultures understand male sexuality and what it takes to keep men and women turned on to one another over time—to help men, in particular, to, as the Old Testament puts it, “rejoice with the wife of thy youth; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times.” These cultures urge men not to look at porn because they know that a powerful erotic bond between parents is a key element of a strong family.

Does this mean I favor outright censorship? No, although less draconian measures that restrict local access to pornography seem pretty reasonable. I also think that occasionally indulging in a dirty magazine or whatever is totally consistent with a healthy libido. But the rate of pornographic consumption described in, say, this article is something else entirely. And I think there should be room for developing (or restoring) shared norms that discourage the over-consumption of pornography in lieu of outright censorship.

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A quick post-script: This entire discussion has been totally dominated by male commenters. If any female readers are interested in weighing in on Wolf’s article or the larger debate, I’d love to hear them out.