WITH Fiji being increasingly connected by the internet, adults and young people have a window into the world that was only limited to books, newspapers, magazines, films and television series. The internet, in other words, gives us unfettered access to anything for which we wish to search. For the most, this means access to information, news and through social media — our families and friends.
However, the recent report of Fiji being ranked highly in terms of searches for the word “pornography” or “porn” on the Google search engine is of serious concern.
When I was growing up, access to pornography was limited to the odd magazine or video. Then came DVDs. Now anyone with access to the internet can view and share pornographic pictures and videos, on their personal or laptop computers and even their phones or tablets.
The internet, mobile devices, and other digital technologies combine to create a world in which children and teens no longer have to look for and find pornography. Now, pornography is in the mainstream and it finds them. And because pornography usually finds them long before they reach puberty, its life-long influence and effect can be even more deep-seated and devastating.
What is pornography?
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines pornography as:
* The depiction of erotic behaviour (as in pictures or writing) intended to cause sexual excitement;
* Material (as books or a photograph) that depicts erotic behaviour and is intended to cause sexual excitement; and
* The depiction of acts in a sensational manner so as to arouse a quick intense emotional reaction.
The word “pornography” is rooted in the Greek word porneia, which means to practise prostitution, sexual immorality, or fornication.
Pornography’s lies
As an expression of brokenness, pornography takes God’s good gift of sexuality and twists it all around. Pornography tells lies. And the deeper we go into pornography, the more we are convinced that the lies are not lies but the truth. Here are some of the lies pornography tells:
* People are sexual objects to be used for our own pleasure;
* Using pornography will make your life — and your sex life — better;
* Sex is purely a recreational sport;
* The main purpose of sex is to have your own personal needs met;
* Pornography doesn’t hurt anyone;
* To dominate someone sexually is more fun and enjoyable than mutual sexual pleasure between a husband and wife;
* Pornography offers intimacy; and
* Pornography portrays sex as it was meant to be.
Research has associated the following outcomes with the use of pornography by adults:
o Desensitisation to depicted behaviours and normalisation of what is seen;
o Increased appetite for more graphic types of pornography and abusive, unsafe, or illegal sexual practices;
o Decreased marital intimacy and sexual satisfaction;
o Infidelity;
o Increased marital distress, separation, divorce;
o Devaluation of monogamy, marriage, child-rearing; and
o Struggles with compulsive or addictive sexual behaviours.
Pornography
degrades and exploits
women and children
It can significantly change a person’s concept of healthy sexual behaviours and boundaries. Types of pornography have changed dramatically, becoming increasingly violent in nature. This shift and the easy accessibility have led to an upward trend in people addicted to pornography, sexual exploitation of women and children, and crimes against them.
According to the United Methodist Church (US), pornography is inextricably linked to the oppression of women. Its appeal will continue as long as sexual arousal is stimulated by images of power and domination of one person over another, most often male over female.
Pornography is also fundamentally linked to racism. Women of colour are invariably portrayed in the most violent and degrading ways. The destructive power of pornography lies in its ability to ensure that attitudes toward sexuality will continue to be influenced by images that negate human dignity, equality, and mutuality. Pornography contributes to alienation in human relationships and distorts the sexual integrity of both women and men.
Pornography is in and of itself a form of sex trafficking.
According to Shared Hope International’s report on the demand for sex trafficking, pornography is the primary gateway to the purchase of humans for commercial sex. Interviews with women who spent time in the pornography industry are almost identical to the stories from sex trafficking victims.
A recent report that held Interviews with 854 women in prostitution in nine countries … made it clear that pornography is integral to prostitution. In every country, almost half of the respondents said that they were forced to make pornography while enslaved in sex trafficking.
Pornography and children
Research has associated the following outcomes with the use of pornography by children and teens:
* An exaggerated perception of sexual activity in society . . . the belief that “everyone’s doing it” and “this must be normal”;
* The abandonment of the hope of remaining sexually monogamous;
* Belief that sexual promiscuity is natural and normal;
* Belief that sexual abstinence and sexual inactivity are abnormal and unhealthy;
* Belief that marriage is sexually confining;
* A lack of attraction to family and child-rearing;
* Negative and/or traumatic emotional responses;
* Earlier onset of first sexual intercourse;
* The commodification of sex and the sexual objectification of persons; and
* Increased acceptance of sexual perversions (bestiality, group sex, bondage, etc) as normal.
“Many children are getting addicted to pornography because US pornographers are providing free, obscene, illegal porn to kids online,” said president of US-based organisation Morality in Media, Patrick Trueman, in a statement. “The average age in which children first view pornographic material is 11 years old and for many it is earlier.”
“A lot of children are exposed to it even when they’re not looking for it,” said Dawn Hawkins, executive director for MIM and director of the Porn Harms campaign, in an interview with The Christian Post.
“Part of the problem is a lot of parents don’t think their kids are into it,” she said. “Kids are going to be curious, and whether or not they think their kids are good or bad … that’s not a factor for whether or not they’ll be interested in pornography.”
Hawkins noted pornography has evolved over the years, and parents need to understand the potential impact it could have on their children.
Parents, she said, should utilise tools like computer filters, and also discuss sex in a healthy way — a way that is contrary to the portrayals provided in pornography.
“You need to have a good relationship with your kids so that they’ll feel like they can come and talk to you,” she stressed.
She later added: “That’s probably one of the biggest problems, is kids feel ashamed or guilty and they hide it and that’s how problems arise … pornography problems are fuelled when it’s in private and in secret.”
Among those problems, she said, were unhealthy views children might develop of the opposite sex or of their own sexuality.
The above is an edited version of the article “Internet pornography: A hidden sin” in the Methodist Church in Fiji’s Nai Tabe March newsletter which is available online: www.methodistfiji.org
“Simplicity, serenity, spontaneity.”
* Reverend James Bhagwan is an ordained minister of the Methodist Church in Fiji and is the church’s secretary for communication and overseas mission. The views expressed are his and not of this newspaper.
