The effect of porn on teenage boys and young men

[DeviTheGaelet]

Did anyone else hear the section on R5 about porn addiction the other day? They spoke to a doctor who is looking into the defects of porn on men. A study in Italy found 40% of young men were having erectile issued, of those 60% were psychologically caused ( I think those were the stats).
The doctor suggested that watching porn during adolescence is training men to be aroused by purely visual stimuli and the visual stimuli are not realistic. As a result they are not being wired to find the smells and touch of actual sex arousing. As a result they are having election issues.
He described porn as "stunt sex" and said it was creating a generation of men who's sexual relationships were with their hand and a screen rather than another person.
I found it really interesting. We talk a lot on here about the harm porn causes women and girls but I've not heard so much about the impact on boys.
I think this should be discussed in PSHE in schools. Maybe this will be the personal impact many men need to see how harmful porn can be.

[SpeakNoWords]

I heard most of it too, and thought it was interesting and discussed intelligently.

It definitely could be discussed in PSHE lessons. What I though was helpful on the R5 discussion was the fact that it was the men themselves discussing it, and the harm it had caused them.

[DeviTheGaelet]

Yes me too. Refreshing to hear. Also quite scary

[WhenSheWasBadSheWasHorrid]

Hi devi I think it would be a great idea to discuss this in school.

I think sexual health councillers in the uk have seen an increase in erectile dysfunction in younger men due to porn use.

Very damaging to these young men (and their poor girlfriends if they ever
end up with a girlfriend)

[KeepCalm]

As a mother of 3 girls this terrifies me. When I was in my late teenage/twenties porn wasn't as easily available but my BF from back then has almost ruined his next relationship & marriage due to over use of it. (I'm talking 20yrs on)

I'm just grateful I saw sense and didn't marry him but am STILL wondering how to help my DDs through the minefield that is adolescence.

[Cookingongas]

I missed it- can anyone link? I can't find it online. The impact porn has in the younger generations is a real issue- for girls and boys. Misogyny is often detrimental to men and women.

[BertrandRussell]

Misogyny and the patriarchy is bad for men.

No shit, Sherlock.

[DeviTheGaelet]

player.fm/series/the-daily-interview/giving-up-porn

[DeviTheGaelet]

player.fm/series/the-daily-interview/giving-up-porn

[Yankeedoodledickhead]

I think porn is seriously damaging to boys and young men. And I already discuss it sensitively with my son who is 9.

I look back on my own adolescence (it really wasn't that long ago to be honest) and shudder to think about the distorted views that boys were projecting onto the likes of me and my friends. We had an unrealistic image of what boys wanted us to behave like, look like, even smell like.

I remember watching The Sex Education Show and thinking, yes, I've heard that before, when the boys expressed their opinion of women. And I really believe we should be tackling those opinions in a better way.

[qwerty232]

Gail Dines is excellent on porn, including its impact on boys. This is well worth a watch.

[BertrandRussell]

Is this going to be something else men are going to expect women to fix for them? Many women have been saying how damaging porn is for ages, only to be met with disbelief and derision...........

[HerOtherHalf]

I hate to think what effect the availability of porn is having on recent / current generations. When i was a teenage boy, becoming sexually aware, we had to make do with things like the lingerie section in the Freemans catalog and watching French films on BBC2 in the hope there might be the odd shot of boob. Occassionally we'd get hold of a copy of Mayfair or whatever which compared to what's available today was very tame. The attitudes i see towards sex and women on predominately male forums are quite shocking and a lot of young guys seem to think that what they see in porn should be the norm in an intimate reationship.

[Oblomov16]

Very interesting. I do agree that porn these days is very damaging and not realistic of real relationships.

[lovelearning]

I hate to think what effect the availability of porn is having on recent / current generations.

HerOtherHalf, the longterm consequences don't bear thinking about

[Fatrascals]

Porn can no doubt be extremely damaging and I hate to think of my 2 ds being exposed to it so young etc.

It's here to stay though (at least for the very foreseeable future) and nearly every child is going to be exposed to some stuff us adults may never even have considered.....so it is how we teach our children/teenagers etc to put it into a context and how to teach them about the WHOLE picture of sex, emotions, feelings , relationships.

[Postagestamppat]

That is really interesting research. The nature of porn also probably means the exploring with each other bodies that happened when I was a teenager (and older - before it got boring!) is less likely to happen. Trying to copy porn rather than trying how to figure it yourselves may add to this problem. Maybe add sexting as well which reinforces the visual aspect of arousal. I am scared for my daughter and nephews too.

[QueenLaBeefah]

I just feel very sorry for teenagers/young adults now. Porn is ruining something which should be amazing.

[HelenaGWells]

We should ALL be worried about how much porn is around and the ease of which it can be accessed. It doesn't do ANYONE any good imo. If consenting adults want to access it on an occasional basis that's their perogative but I think this current generation are way past that. It's far to easy to find and access and the stuff they are accessing is NOT in any way good or healthy.

[qwerty232]

As someone up-thread said, in the past it was the odd copy of Mayfair being passed around at school. Now the darkest, most degrading porn is accessible from a mobile device which almost all children have from around the age of 11.

God only knows what impact that will have on their sexual development.

[DeviTheGaelet]

it is how we teach our children/teenagers etc to put it into a context and how to teach them about the WHOLE picture of sex, emotions, feelings , relationships
The research suggests that porn is damaging to brain development and response to sexual stimulus so I don't know if educating people about porn and relationships will help. It suggests to me there is not a safe way for young people to watch porn. Maybe that's a bit scaremongering though.
I am already thinking how to discuss this with my 12 year old ds. Might get him to listen.

[sashh]

Not heard it, but thought I'd add this in to the mix

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0441whb

Tyger Drew-Honey's parents made porn and this is him investigating the affects of readily available porn.

[Kahli]

I do have very strong feelings about porn and the manner in which it has shaped lads' perceptions about girls.

Unfortunately I don't seem to have enough self- confidence to raise this subject with my son.

I guess I just hope he doesnt look at it.

Chatting with girl friends it seems I am def not alone in feeling inhibited about discussing this subject.

[girlwiththeflaxenhair]

What's been shocking to me is how it's gone from being a seedy top shelf magazine type of thing to mainstream. Young girls (apparently) happy to post naked images of themselves on reddit etc for no other reason that to get nice comments and "likes".

If this continues I can easily imagine a (not too distant) future where sophisticated life like sex robots, and immersive VR porn will also be routine and acceptable. I'm can imagine that it'll reach the stage that men would prefer to have sex with robots than actual women (probably not in my lifetime).

[Beachcomber]

The research suggests that porn is damaging to brain development and response to sexual stimulus so I don't know if educating people about porn and relationships will help. It suggests to me there is not a safe way for young people to watch porn.

Yes. It is very concerning. It's a shame that feminists weren't listened to when they predicted this and when they were tirelessly repeating that pornography is harmful hate speech. If you repeatedly expose people (especially young people) to sexually stimulating sex propaganda you will affect their brain development, sexuality and their views on sex. Whodathunkit??

[MrsGWay]

I agree with Bertrand upthread. For years the impact porn has on girls has been highlighted but ignored. Now that it has been realised that it is negatively effecting boys they may do something about it?


Obviously lack of understanding of consent, anal rape and the physically damaging consequences to young girls wasn't important enough. (Just one example.)