Violence 'tip of iceberg' of porn's destructive influence

A combined analysis of more than 20 separate studies confirms what many experts have long feared: Consuming pornography can lead to destructive behavior in the real world.

An article in the Journal of Communication found consumption of pornography was "associated with sexual aggression" among populations around the world, including both men and women. The meta-analysis of 22 separate studies also found significant associations with both verbal and physical sexual aggression.

Experts are not surprised.

WND managing editor David Kupelian stated: "This new meta-analysis connecting porn and sexual aggression is important. But in truth, it just points to the tiniest tip of the iceberg when it comes to pornography's destructive influence on American society. Porn is literally polluting the minds and ripping up the souls of tens of millions of Americans. It is leading huge numbers of people into relational failure, family breakdown, heartbreak, addiction, misery, and disease."

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Here's how Kupelian sums up pornography's impact in his new book, "The Snapping of the American Mind":

Ubiquitous, in-your-face, graphic sex. It is fundamentally transforming American culture, morals, and sanity, and is not only a major factor in family breakdown, divorce, and the resulting misery and bondage for millions of adults, but is likewise corrupting and reprogramming the next generation.

According to David Greenfield, a psychiatry professor and director of the Center for Internet and Technology Addiction, viewing porn basically shuts out the part of the brain people normally use for making decisions based on morals and values. So powerful is the impulse to view graphic sexual images, says Greenfield, that it overwhelms the person's conscience and reason.

But another reason porn is able to override the conscience, says Kupelian, has to do with its instantaneous availability via the Internet. As he writes in "The Snapping of the American Mind":

In previous eras, an inclination to view hard-core porn might have required one to order it through the mail or drive to a sleazy "adult" store, providing plenty of opportunities along the way for one's "better angel" to whisper, in effect, "Hey, idiot, what are you doing?" But in the Internet age, it takes just a split second to instantly "beam" oneself, as via a Star Trek transporter, directly into pornographic quicksand. Thus, even a fleeting impulse to view porn can be acted on in mere moments, thereby slipping past one's moral defenses, with the end result that the most extreme hard-core porn routinely invades the once-safe inner sanctum of untold millions of American homes.

"America is obsessed with pornography and perversion," said Kupelian. "The novel 'Fifty Shades of Grey,' which celebrates BDSM sex – so-called bondage and discipline, sadism, and masochism – sold over 100 million copies worldwide, 45 million in the United States. And when the film version debuted last February, the opening weekend's box office take exceeded that of the previous record-holder for February releases, 'The Passion of the Christ.'

"Pornography is a full-blown addiction," argues Kupelian. "Current-generation research shows that porn addiction triggers the same changes in 'brain reward circuitry' as those centered on heroin or other 'addictive' substances. For a long time, experts believed that only substances like alcohol and certain drugs could cause addiction. But today, neuroimaging technologies and other forms of research prove that pornography can also co-opt the brain in the exact same way."

Professor Joel Hesch of the anti-pornography ministry Proven Men argues it is inevitable pornography leads to more sexual aggression.

"Pornography fuels anger," he told WND. "They often go hand-in-hand. Anger is the outpouring of energy in response to a goal that's blocked. A person gets frustrated when their needs or expectations aren't met, which often expresses itself in frustration and anger. Pornography breeds this frustration, because pornography replaces reality with fantasies that can never materialize and therefore real relationships disappoint and frustrate."

Hesch believes indulging in pornography ultimately leads to a person ceding control over his or her own life.

"The problem with pornography is that it centers upon escaping into fantasy," he said. "It's a hideaway; a place where you're always in complete control. However, no matter how hard a person tries, they cannot control life, circumstances, and others. Unmet expectations created by fantasies can provoke anger deep within."

An event held at Capitol Hill last summer featured experts calling pornography nothing less than "a public health crisis" that contributes to the breakup of families. Hesch agreed and said his own organization has found consumption of pornography can lead to the collapse of marriages.

He suggested three reasons why that is: secrets, seclusion and self-focus.

"First, secrets kill relationships," said Hesch. "By its nature, pornography is often a solo-activity fueled by saucy, sexual fantasies and therefore fosters keeping secrets. In fact, most men desperately try to keep their porn use a secret because most women don't want them staring lustfully at pictures of naked women.

"Second, pornography leads to anger by creating isolation. In order to keep returning to fantasy and porn, husbands go to great lengths to isolate parts of their lives. People build up walls to avoid the criticism, pain, sadness, or other undesirable emotions that go along with real relationships. When hiding in a fake world, people refuse to be open and honest about true feelings, hopes or dreams. This leads to withholding of self (and love or kindness) from others, as they train themselves to be the only one served. Loneliness creeps in and gives a foothold to anger.

"Third, the continued practice of pursuing secret fantasies feeds a self-focused life. What we have found in common with men addicted to porn is that they have conditioned themselves to be selfish in many areas of their lives and it is strangling their relationships and marriages. It's often just a matter of time before they think they deserve to have sex with someone else or otherwise act upon one of their thousands of sexual fantasies fueled by porn."

And it's a problem which technology may make worse.

"The latest innovation we are now hearing about is 3-D porn, where users put on these virtual reality headsets and earphones and experience – virtually – total immersion in a sexual experience," warns Kupelian.

According to media reports, "it's scary how realistic" the new technology is, prompting Kupelian to comment: "All I can say is: Beware, because if you are foolish enough to enter into that world, it may be extremely difficult to get out."