Testimony

• Dr. James B. Weaver III

  Professor of Communication and Psychology

  Department of Communication, Virginia Tech
  Read statement

  Testimony

  Dr. James B. Weaver III

  Over the last three decades the status of pornography in the American entertainment marketplace has been radically transformed and expanded. Production and distribution of such materials has rapidly evolved from a “cottage industry” to a stable and well-refined mass-production enterprise. Spurred by new digital communication technologies, the marketplace for pornography has changed from one tailored to a subculture of connoisseurs into a mass market offering prolific content availability and diversity (cf., Weaver, 1994). Research on Effects of Pornography Addiction It is against this backdrop that the question at hand – what is the impact of pornography addiction on families and communities? – is framed. Unfortunately, research directly assessing the impact of pornography addiction on families and communities is limited. However, it seems reasonable to expect – especially in this age of “cybersex” – that the compulsive and/or obsessive use of pornography could precipitate economic and social repercussions for individual consumers, their families and coworkers, and the broader community. Fortunately, there is a large body of social science research evidence that can inform our discussion (Weaver, 1994). The manifest content of pornography has been extensively examined, for example, revealing that (1) pornography’s dominant theme is one of unrestrained human sexual promiscuity and (2) it’s devoid of coercion and violent action (Brosius, Weaver, & Staab, 1994). Further, the findings of numerous studies suggest that pornography consumption promotes sexual deviancy, sexual perpetration, and adverse sexual attitudes (cf. Oddone-Paolucci, Genuis, & Violato, 2000). Of this research, a series of studies demonstrating the effects of pornography within a repeated-exposure, delayed-measurement experimental paradigm are particularly illuminating for the question at hand (Zillmann, 2004). Experimental Evidence: Repeated-Exposure to Pornography The repeated-exposure, delayed-measurement paradigm simulates pornography consumption under relatively realistic conditions (i.e., daily or weekly exposure over an extended period of time) and then delays impact assessments for days and weeks to rule out any transitory effects. The paradigm thus may be considered an empirical surrogate for the phenomenon of pornography addiction in that it is sensitive to both (1) the consequences of cumulative exposure and (2) the formation of chronic effects. Research employing this repeated-exposure paradigm has been conducted with both men and women drawn from diverse socio-economic backgrounds in the United States and Canada and has used pornography explicitly depicting all conceivable sexual activities devoid of violence performed among consenting adults. The findings are best summarized around the following themes: (1) Immediate reactions, (2) perceptions of sexuality, (3) sexual callousness, (4) rape proclivity, (5) family values and desire for progeny, and (6) sexual satisfaction. Immediate Reactions (a) Initial reactions of emotional discomfort and disgust dissipate rapidly with repeated exposure to pornography, eventually vanishing entirely. (b) Initial hesitations to enjoy the material are rapidly lost with repeated exposure and give way to unadulterated reactions of enjoyment. (c) Prolonged consumption of pornography eventually produces sexual and, more generally, excitatory habituation as well as boredom. (d) Prolonged exposure to pornography stimulates a preference for depictions of group sex, sadomasochistic practices, and sexual contact with animals. Perceptions of Sexuality (a) Prolonged exposure to pornography leads to an overestimation of almost all sexual activities performed by sexually active adults. (b) Prolonged exposure to pornography fosters increased estimates of the incidence of pre- and extramarital sexual activity, as well as increased assessments of male and female promiscuity. (c) Prolonged exposure to pornography further leads to the related perception of less honesty and trust, specific to covert sexual engagements, among intimates. (d) Prolonged exposure to pornography fosters and strengthens the belief that promiscuous behavior is healthy, whereas sexual repression constitutes a health risk. Sexual Callousness (a) In men, prolonged exposure to pornography creates and enhances sexual callousness toward women. (b) Prolonged exposure to pornography trivializes rape as a criminal offense. [Rape trivialization was ascertained in the lenient sentencing of convicted rapists. After prolonged exposure to pornography, men and unexpectedly also women, deemed rape a lesser offense.] (c) Prolonged exposure to pornography trivializes nonviolent forms of the sexual abuse of children. [Effects were again measured in the lenient treatment of convicted perpetrators. Whereas all minor abuses, such as genital fondling and sexual cooperation in the absence of vigorous objection, were met with greater leniency, the brutal rape of children was not.] Rape Proclivity (a) Prolonged exposure to pornography increases men’s self-acknowledged rape proclivity. Both noncoercive and coercive sexual displays have this effect. (b) Psychoticism exacerbates the influence of pornography on men’s rape proclivity. Psychotic men are strongly affected, whereas men with minimal psychotic inclination are not. Family Values and Desire for Progeny (a) Prolonged exposure to pornography spawns doubts about the value of marriage as an essential social institution and about its future viability. (b) It also diminishes the desire for offspring in such settings. The strongest effect of this kind concerns the aspiration of female viewers for female children. Sexual Satisfaction (a) Prolonged exposure to pornography fosters sexual dissatisfaction among both male and female viewers. (b) It also fosters, although to a lesser degree, dissatisfaction with an intimate partner’s affection. Conclusions Taken together, the research at hand establishes that prolonged consumption of pornography – a critical condition presumably underlying pornography addiction – is a significant contributing factor in the creation of perceptions, dispositions, and behaviors that reflect sexual callousness, the erosion of family values, and diminished sexual satisfaction. Generalizing from these findings, we can anticipate that the compulsive and/or obsessive use of pornography should produce adverse consequences for individual consumers, their families and coworkers, and the broader community. Consideration of the pragmatic implications of the research evidence at hand suggests, first of all, that the distorted messages of unrestrained human sexual promiscuity conveyed by pornography could be, as others have argued, a potent catalyst for abusive behaviors such as domestic violence and rape. Prolonged exposure to pornography, it must be remembered, results in both a “loss-of-respect” for female sexual autonomy and the disinhibition of men in the expression of aggression against women. Extensive research evidence shows that these two factors are prominent interwoven components in the perceptual profiles of sexually abusive and aggressive individuals. A second implication concerns the extent to which pornography-induced misogynistic perceptions negatively influence the welfare of women in everyday, nonsexual circumstances. Repeated-exposure to pornography, the data reveal, fostered acceptance of the notion that women are subservient to men and promoted an adversarial, distrustful relationship between the sexes. Many voices have suggested that the most damaging consequences of prolonged consumption of pornography are evident in the ill treatment of women (e.g., employment discrimination, economic exploitation) simply because of their gender. Finally, there is reason to suspect that pornography – with its seemingly factual, documentary-style presentation of sexual behaviors – has usurped most other socialization agents to become the de facto sex education for adolescents and adults alike. Thus, the likelihood persists that the main messages of pornography have a stronger influence on the formation of sexual dispositions, including coercive disposition, than alternative forms of sexual indoctrination. Within this framework, the desirability of pornography as a rudimentary “educator” about sex must be contemplated. References Brosius, H. B., Weaver, J. B., III, & Staab, J. F. (1993). Exploring the social and sexual "reality" of contemporary pornography. The Journal of Sex Research, 30, 161-170. Oddone-Paolucci, E., Genuis, M., & Violato, C. (2000). A meta-analysis of the published research on the effects of pornography. In C. Violato, E. Oddone-Paolucci, M. Genuis (Eds.), The changing family and child development (pp. 48-59). Aldershot, England: Ashgate Publishing. Weaver, J. B., III (1994). Pornography and sexual callousness: The perceptual and behavioral consequences of exposure to pornography. In D. Zillmann, J. Bryant, & A. C Huston (Eds.), Media, family, and children: Social scientific, psychodynamic, and clinical perspectives (pp. 215-228). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Zillmann, D. (2004). Pornografie. In R. Mangold, P. Vorderer, & G. Bente (Eds.), Lehrbuch der Medienpsychologie (pp. 565-585). Göttingen, Germany: Hogrefe Verlag.

• Dr. Jeffrey Satinover
  Read statement

  Testimony

  Dr. Jeffrey Satinover

  Over the last three decades the status of pornography in the American entertainment marketplace has been radically transformed and expanded. Production and distribution of such materials has rapidly evolved from a “cottage industry” to a stable and well-refined mass-production enterprise. Spurred by new digital communication technologies, the marketplace for pornography has changed from one tailored to a subculture of connoisseurs into a mass market offering prolific content availability and diversity (cf., Weaver, 1994). Research on Effects of Pornography Addiction It is against this backdrop that the question at hand – what is the impact of pornography addiction on families and communities? – is framed. Unfortunately, research directly assessing the impact of pornography addiction on families and communities is limited. However, it seems reasonable to expect – especially in this age of “cybersex” – that the compulsive and/or obsessive use of pornography could precipitate economic and social repercussions for individual consumers, their families and coworkers, and the broader community. Fortunately, there is a large body of social science research evidence that can inform our discussion (Weaver, 1994). The manifest content of pornography has been extensively examined, for example, revealing that (1) pornography’s dominant theme is one of unrestrained human sexual promiscuity and (2) it’s devoid of coercion and violent action (Brosius, Weaver, & Staab, 1994). Further, the findings of numerous studies suggest that pornography consumption promotes sexual deviancy, sexual perpetration, and adverse sexual attitudes (cf. Oddone-Paolucci, Genuis, & Violato, 2000). Of this research, a series of studies demonstrating the effects of pornography within a repeated-exposure, delayed-measurement experimental paradigm are particularly illuminating for the question at hand (Zillmann, 2004). Experimental Evidence: Repeated-Exposure to Pornography The repeated-exposure, delayed-measurement paradigm simulates pornography consumption under relatively realistic conditions (i.e., daily or weekly exposure over an extended period of time) and then delays impact assessments for days and weeks to rule out any transitory effects. The paradigm thus may be considered an empirical surrogate for the phenomenon of pornography addiction in that it is sensitive to both (1) the consequences of cumulative exposure and (2) the formation of chronic effects. Research employing this repeated-exposure paradigm has been conducted with both men and women drawn from diverse socio-economic backgrounds in the United States and Canada and has used pornography explicitly depicting all conceivable sexual activities devoid of violence performed among consenting adults. The findings are best summarized around the following themes: (1) Immediate reactions, (2) perceptions of sexuality, (3) sexual callousness, (4) rape proclivity, (5) family values and desire for progeny, and (6) sexual satisfaction. Immediate Reactions (a) Initial reactions of emotional discomfort and disgust dissipate rapidly with repeated exposure to pornography, eventually vanishing entirely. (b) Initial hesitations to enjoy the material are rapidly lost with repeated exposure and give way to unadulterated reactions of enjoyment. (c) Prolonged consumption of pornography eventually produces sexual and, more generally, excitatory habituation as well as boredom. (d) Prolonged exposure to pornography stimulates a preference for depictions of group sex, sadomasochistic practices, and sexual contact with animals. Perceptions of Sexuality (a) Prolonged exposure to pornography leads to an overestimation of almost all sexual activities performed by sexually active adults. (b) Prolonged exposure to pornography fosters increased estimates of the incidence of pre- and extramarital sexual activity, as well as increased assessments of male and female promiscuity. (c) Prolonged exposure to pornography further leads to the related perception of less honesty and trust, specific to covert sexual engagements, among intimates. (d) Prolonged exposure to pornography fosters and strengthens the belief that promiscuous behavior is healthy, whereas sexual repression constitutes a health risk. Sexual Callousness (a) In men, prolonged exposure to pornography creates and enhances sexual callousness toward women. (b) Prolonged exposure to pornography trivializes rape as a criminal offense. [Rape trivialization was ascertained in the lenient sentencing of convicted rapists. After prolonged exposure to pornography, men and unexpectedly also women, deemed rape a lesser offense.] (c) Prolonged exposure to pornography trivializes nonviolent forms of the sexual abuse of children. [Effects were again measured in the lenient treatment of convicted perpetrators. Whereas all minor abuses, such as genital fondling and sexual cooperation in the absence of vigorous objection, were met with greater leniency, the brutal rape of children was not.] Rape Proclivity (a) Prolonged exposure to pornography increases men’s self-acknowledged rape proclivity. Both noncoercive and coercive sexual displays have this effect. (b) Psychoticism exacerbates the influence of pornography on men’s rape proclivity. Psychotic men are strongly affected, whereas men with minimal psychotic inclination are not. Family Values and Desire for Progeny (a) Prolonged exposure to pornography spawns doubts about the value of marriage as an essential social institution and about its future viability. (b) It also diminishes the desire for offspring in such settings. The strongest effect of this kind concerns the aspiration of female viewers for female children. Sexual Satisfaction (a) Prolonged exposure to pornography fosters sexual dissatisfaction among both male and female viewers. (b) It also fosters, although to a lesser degree, dissatisfaction with an intimate partner’s affection. Conclusions Taken together, the research at hand establishes that prolonged consumption of pornography – a critical condition presumably underlying pornography addiction – is a significant contributing factor in the creation of perceptions, dispositions, and behaviors that reflect sexual callousness, the erosion of family values, and diminished sexual satisfaction. Generalizing from these findings, we can anticipate that the compulsive and/or obsessive use of pornography should produce adverse consequences for individual consumers, their families and coworkers, and the broader community. Consideration of the pragmatic implications of the research evidence at hand suggests, first of all, that the distorted messages of unrestrained human sexual promiscuity conveyed by pornography could be, as others have argued, a potent catalyst for abusive behaviors such as domestic violence and rape. Prolonged exposure to pornography, it must be remembered, results in both a “loss-of-respect” for female sexual autonomy and the disinhibition of men in the expression of aggression against women. Extensive research evidence shows that these two factors are prominent interwoven components in the perceptual profiles of sexually abusive and aggressive individuals. A second implication concerns the extent to which pornography-induced misogynistic perceptions negatively influence the welfare of women in everyday, nonsexual circumstances. Repeated-exposure to pornography, the data reveal, fostered acceptance of the notion that women are subservient to men and promoted an adversarial, distrustful relationship between the sexes. Many voices have suggested that the most damaging consequences of prolonged consumption of pornography are evident in the ill treatment of women (e.g., employment discrimination, economic exploitation) simply because of their gender. Finally, there is reason to suspect that pornography – with its seemingly factual, documentary-style presentation of sexual behaviors – has usurped most other socialization agents to become the de facto sex education for adolescents and adults alike. Thus, the likelihood persists that the main messages of pornography have a stronger influence on the formation of sexual dispositions, including coercive disposition, than alternative forms of sexual indoctrination. Within this framework, the desirability of pornography as a rudimentary “educator” about sex must be contemplated. References Brosius, H. B., Weaver, J. B., III, & Staab, J. F. (1993). Exploring the social and sexual "reality" of contemporary pornography. The Journal of Sex Research, 30, 161-170. Oddone-Paolucci, E., Genuis, M., & Violato, C. (2000). A meta-analysis of the published research on the effects of pornography. In C. Violato, E. Oddone-Paolucci, M. Genuis (Eds.), The changing family and child development (pp. 48-59). Aldershot, England: Ashgate Publishing. Weaver, J. B., III (1994). Pornography and sexual callousness: The perceptual and behavioral consequences of exposure to pornography. In D. Zillmann, J. Bryant, & A. C Huston (Eds.), Media, family, and children: Social scientific, psychodynamic, and clinical perspectives (pp. 215-228). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Zillmann, D. (2004). Pornografie. In R. Mangold, P. Vorderer, & G. Bente (Eds.), Lehrbuch der Medienpsychologie (pp. 565-585). Göttingen, Germany: Hogrefe Verlag.

• Dr. Judith Reisman
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  Testimony

  Dr. Judith Reisman

  Good afternoon, thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. I am Judith Reisman, Ph.D., president of the Institute for Media Education, specializing in the communication effects of images on the brain, mind and memory; fraud in the human sexuality field; and the addictive properties of sexually explicit images, commonly called pornography. Thanks to the latest advances in neuroscience, we now know that pornographic visual images imprint and alter the brain, triggering an instant, involuntary, but lasting, biochemical memory trail, arguably, subverting the First Amendment by overriding the cognitive speech process. This is true of so-called “soft-core” and “hard-core” pornography. And once new neurochemical pathways are established they are difficult or impossible to delete. Pornographic images also cause secretion of the body’s “fight or flight” sex hormones. This triggers excitatory transmitters and produces non-rational, involuntary reactions; intense arousal states that overlap sexual lust--now with fear, shame, and/or hostility and violence. Media erotic fantasies become deeply imbedded, commonly coarsening, confusing, motivating and addicting many of those exposed. (See “the Violence Pyramid” at http://www.vbii.org/violence.html) Pornography triggers myriad kinds of internal, natural drugs that mimic the “high” from a street drug. Addiction to pornography is addiction to what I dub erototoxins -- mind-altering drugs produced by the viewer’s own brain. How does this ‘brain sabotage’ occur? Brain scientists tell us that “in 3/10 of a second a visual image passes from the eye through the brain, and whether or not one wants to, the brain is structurally changed and memories are created – we literally ‘grow new brain’ with each visual experience.” This scientifically documented neurochemical imprinting affects children and teens especially deeply; their still-developing brains process emotions differently, with significantly less rationality and cognition than the adult brain. Children and others who cannot read will still instantly decode, feel and experience images. Largely right-hemisphere visual and non-speech stimuli enter long-term memory, conscious and unconscious. Any highly excitatory stimuli (whether sexually explicit sex education or X-Rated films) say neurologists, “which lasts half a second within five to ten minutes has produced a structural change that is in some ways as profound as the structural changes one sees in [brain] damage...[and] can...leave a trace that will last for years.” Pornography psychopharmacologically imprints young brains – thereby invalidating notions of informed consent. Moreover, the mainstreaming of pornography since the 1950’s directly coincides with the unprecedented explosion in sexual disease and a huge, exponential increase in new types of pornographic copycat sex crimes by and to juveniles and adults. Such facts should inform the legal arguments about free speech versus pornography in public and even private venues. I have spent decades documenting the effects of pornographic “humor” and photos on children, fathers, husbands and wives and communities, much of which is found in my book, "Soft" Porn Plays Hardball, 1990, in my U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) report, Images of Children, Crime and Violence in Playboy, Penthouse and Hustler, and in my white paper on “The Psychopharmacology of Pictorial Pornography: Restructuring Brain, Mind & Memory & Subverting Freedom of Speech” (http://www.drjudithreisman.com/brain.pdf). A basic science research team employing a cautiously protective methodology should study erototoxins and the brain/body. State-of-the-art brain scanning studies should answer these questions with hard, replicable data. As with the tobacco suits, these data could be helpful in litigation and in affecting legal change. Testimony from victims and police commonly finds pornography an on site sex crime manual. In one 1984 Senate hearing, John Rabun, now COO of DoJ’s Missing and Abducted Children Center, testified that when arrested, “all, that is 100%” of rapists, pedophiles, etc., in their study possessed adult pornography, “such as Playboy, on up….” An offensive strategy should be planned, mandating law enforcement collection of all pornography data at crime sites and judges, police, lawyers and law schools should receive training in the hard data of sexology fraud and erototoxins as changing brains absent informed consent. Congress should end all Federal funding of educational institutions that train students with bogus Kinseyan academic pornography and/or that teach pornography as harmless. Congress should also remove the authority of so-called sexology institutes--most of whom are pornography grantees--to confer professional credentials and serve as expert witnesses. These are concrete steps that can and must be taken to redress the effects of pornography on our children, our communities and our country. Thank you very much.

• Dr. Mary Anne Layden
  Read statement

  Testimony

  Dr. Mary Anne Layden

  Thank you, Senators, for allowing me to speak to you today. Pornography, by its very nature, is an equal opportunity toxin. It damages the viewer, the performer, and the spouses and the children of the viewers and the performers. It is toxic mis-education about sex and relationships. It is more toxic the more you consume, the “harder” the variety you consume and the younger and more vulnerable the consumer. The damage is both in the area of beliefs and behaviors. The belief damage may include Pornography Distortion, Permission-Giving Beliefs and the attitudes about what constitutes a healthy sexual and emotional relationship. The behavioral damage includes psychologically unhealthy behaviors, socially inappropriate behaviors and illegal behaviors. Let me give some examples. Pornography Distortion is a set of beliefs based in pornographic imagery, sent to the viewer while they are aroused and reinforced by the orgasm. An example of Pornography Distortion would include beliefs such as “Sex is not about intimacy, procreation or marriage. Sex is about predatory self-gratification, casual recreation, body parts, violence, feces, strangers, children, animals and using women as entertainment.” All of these are messages regularly sent by pornography. Permission-Giving Beliefs are a set of beliefs that imply that my behavior is normal, acceptable, common and/or doesn’t hurt anyone so I have permission to continue to behave in the way that I am. In all types of violence and addiction, Permission-Giving Beliefs are involved. Examples would include “All men go to prostitutes” “Women like sex mixed with violence” and “Children enjoy sex with adults”. These particular Permission-Giving Beliefs are also common in pornography. Both Pornography Distortion and Permission-Giving Beliefs increase the problem of mis-education about sexuality and relationships. For example, the myth that women are sexually aroused by engaging in behaviors that are actually sexually pleasuring to men is a particularly narcissistic invention of the pornography industry. This is sexual mis-education. The consequences of all these distorted beliefs are varied. For the viewer, pornography increases the likelihood of sexual addiction and they respond in ways similar to other addicts. Sexual addicts develop tolerance and will need more and harder kinds of pornographic material. They have escalating compulsive sexual behavior becoming more out of control and also experience withdrawal symptoms if they stop the use of the sexual material. The executive who goes to his office and logs on to the Internet porn sites at 9:00 AM and logs off at 5:00 PM is out of control and risks a great deal. Research indicates that 70% of the hits on Internet sex sites occur between 9-5 on business computers. Research also indicates and my clinical experience supports that 40% of sex addicts will lose their spouse, 58% will suffer sever finanacial losses, and 27-40% will lose their job or profession. Those whose marraiges don’t end, may find themselves increasing dissatisfied with their spouses appearance and sexual behavior and increasingly sexually acting out which leads to an increase in sexually transmitted diseases. Research indicates that even non-sex addicts will show brain reactions on PET scans while viewing pornography similar to cocaine addicts looking at images of people taking cacaine. This material is potent, addictive and permanently implanted in the brain. Those who use pornography have also been shown to be more likely to engage in illegal behavior as well. Research indicates and my clinical experience supports that those who use pronography are more likely to go to prostitutes, engage in domestic violence, stranger rape, date rape, and incest. These beahviors should not be suprising since pornographic videos contaning all of these themes are readily available and the permssion-giving beliefs of these pornographic videos reinforced by the orgasm say that all these behaviors are normal, acceptable, common and don’t hurt anyone. I have also seen in my clinical experience that pornography damages the sexual performance of the viewers. Pornography viewers tend to have problems with premature ejaculation and erectile dysfunction. Having spent so much time in unnatural sexual experiences with paper, celluloid and cyberspace, they seem to find it difficult to have sex with a real human being. Pornography is raising their expectation and demand for types and amounts of sexual experiences at the same time it is reducing their ability to experience sex. The viewers are not the only ones to be affect by pornography. The performers are damaged as well although the performers were often damaged before they entered the industry. No healthy six-year-old growing up in a healthy home environment says, “I hope I grow up to be a porn star, stripper or prostitute”. Those who now work in the porn industry were often little girls who got into their beds each night, rolled themselves into a fetal position and each night he came in a pealed her open. They work in the porn industry with its physical invasion and visual invasion because it feels like home. Once they are in the industry they have high rates of substance abuse, typically alcohol and cocaine, depression, borderline personality disorder which is a particularly serious disorder and dissociative identity disorder which used to be called multiple personality disorder. The experience I find most common among the performers is that they have to be drunk, high or dissociated in order to go to work. Their work environment is particularly toxic. One study on strippers indicated that they were likely to be punched, slapped, grabbed, called cunt and whore and to be followed home or stalked. Not surprisingly, these women often work with bodyguards. This live form of pornography causes violence and the customers receiving these Permission-Giving Beliefs become carriers of these beliefs back to their homes, onto their jobs, into the street, onto the school yard. There they encounter women and children who do not have bodyguards. The terrible work life of the pornography performer is often followed by an equally terrible home life. They have an increased risk of sexually transmitted disease including HIV, domestic violence and have about a 25 % chance of making a marriage that lasts as long as 3 years. The viewers and the performers of pornography are the most direct victims. However, the children and the partners are also damaged by this industry. My clinical experience indicates that the spouses of porn viewers are often depressed, and are more likely to have eating disorders, body image disorders and low self-esteem. These wives can’t function in the fake sexual world in which their husbands live. The wives may try to please their spouse by engaging in sexual behaviors that they find degrading. The wife may think that they can increase the sexual energy in the relationship and satisfy her husband if she views the pornography with him. My clinical experience is that these wives often get a short-lived boost in sexual activity but soon she notices that when her husband is having sex with her, he is turning around to watch the porn on the TV screen. She then realizes that he isn’t having sex with her at all. He’s masturbating inside her body while he is having sex with the women on the screen. Some wives will resort to plastic surgery especially breast implants. Research indicates that women who get breast implants are four times as likely to commit suicide as other women are. The children also show the damage. As pornography becomes normalized, it is left around the house. Children can get exposed to it. These are tender minds that are just developing their conceptualizations of sex. Normalizing abnormal sex increase the likelihood that they will engage in these behaviors. This increases the likelihood of early sexual experience and with it, the increasing risk of pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases. These children often think that all relationships are sexual. That sex is the core of their personalities and is the way in which you raise your self-esteem. This may be one reason that we see sexual addiction running in families. The distorted beliefs are not only reinforced but modeled as well. In one report in Australia, children who had become sexual predators before the age of 12, all had experienced pornographic material on the Internet and large number believed that the only use of the Internet was for pornographic material. Children who have porn-viewing fathers complain that when he looks at them it feels “creepy”. The parental gaze has now become the “porn gaze”. The child of the porn user finds that every thing is now about sex. There are no studies and no data that indicate a benefit from pornography use. If there were a benefit, then pornography users, pornography performers, their spouses and their children would show the most benefit. Just the opposite is true. The society is awash in pornography and so in fact the data is in. If pornography made us healthy, we would be healthy by now.