Negative Effects Of Pornography

    'Porn', one word we all know but do not mention in public. It is a term we use mostly when talking to our close friends. Its something we've all watched or atleast heard of one time or the other. Behind closed doors, in office cubicles, on computer memories, on hidden DVDs, as cellphone clips, in secluded cyber cafes, lies thousands of gigabytes of porn. Anal, BDSM, teen, lesbian, ebony, asian, latina, hardcore, gay; it comes in categories. Pornography has become very common today, and people dont shy away from talking about it. Nothing wrong in watching some harmless good ol' porn right? Wrong. The viewpoint definitely changes once a person realises the negative effects of pornography.

COMMON EFFECTS:
    Pornography is mostly used for sexual stimulation and excitement, and many times results in masturbation to relieve it. But this external way of stimulation has many proven harmful effects. The damage that pornography causes includes violent tendencies, strained marriages and problematic childhoods. Often people think that porn is harmless.However, these individuals are often unaware of the damage they may be causing to their psyches and also the effect on their social behaviour and conduct.
    Based on a study, Psychologist Edward Donnerstein, of University of Wisconsin, found that breif exposure to violent forms of pornography can lead to anti-social attitudes and behaviour. Male viewers tend to be more aggresive towards women, less responsive to pain and suffering of rape victims, and more willing to accept various myths about rape. Watching porn increases violence in men and a repeated exposure causes desire for more abnormal violence such as sadomasochism and rape. Such violent tendencies can take a toll on married life. Feminist author Diana Russell notes in her book 'Rape and Marriage' the correlation between deviant behaviour and pornography. She also found that pornography leads men and women to exerience conflict, suffering and sexual  dissatisfaction.
    People who watch porn an a regular basis develop a psychological dependence on it and feel the need to watch more. Also they become less devoted to their spose and are more likely to engage in extra-marital affairs. When people hide porn, it leads to guilt and stressed relations with loved ones. In an article on Oprah.com,  Rabbi Shmuley says, "Pornography subtlely undermines male respect for women by detaching a woman's personality from her body, reducing her to a mere sexual commodity."

CHILDREN:
    Children are the biggest victims of pornography, either accidently or otherwise. Each year, about 1.2 million children are affected by child pornography and/or child prostitution (Rogers, 1990). Studies show that approximately 70% of printed pornographic material eventually end up in the hands of minors. Negative effects on children include modelling the behavior; emotional problems such as anxeity, guilt, confusion and shame; stimulation of premature sexual activity; and development of harmful attitudes and beliefs about sex and sexual relationships (Lauer & Lauer, 2008).
    There are documented cases of children who are exposed to porn tending to have earlier experiences with sexual intercourse and thus having an increased risk of STDs. They also lose interest in a stable monogamous relationship and are more prone to adulterous behaviour later in life. It is for the parents to ascertain that such a harmful vice does not reach the hands of innocent children.

ADDICTION:
    According to Wikipedia, 'pornography addiction, or more broadly overuse of pornography , is excessive pornography use that interferes with daily life.' People with pornographic addiction have various symptoms of emotional and psychological problems. Porn addicts start off with soft porn and gradually move on to harder and more sado-masochistic content. Porn addiction can lead to a condition where the person cannot be aroused naturally by a physical partner, but by explicit images or videos only. Some people who are deprived of love and affection often find comfort in pornography which tends to "nurse" them. A leading researcher, Mary Anne Laydel compares it to drug use, "Porn addicts have a more difficult time recovering from their addiction than cocaine addicts, since coke users can get the drug out of their system, but pornograpic images stay in the brain forever."

INTERNET:
    These days, internet is the prime supplier of pornographic  content.  Just at the click of a button, a thousand fantasies of the mind come alive. Statistics according to toptenreviews.com reveal that the pornographic industry succeeds in making revenues more than that of Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo, Apple, and Netfix all put together. Stats say that "every second, 28,258 users are viewing porn online." Sexually explicit and suggestive multimedia has a huge impact on the world's conceptions and practice of sexual relaionships. Mary Anne Laydel adds, "The internet is a perfect drug delilvery system because you are anonymous, aroused, and have role models for this behaviour."

SOLUTIONS:
    Harmful as it is, pornographic addiction is difficult to cure completely, yet possible. All it requires is a healthy lifestyle, keeping yourself occupied with productive tasks, and maintaining healthy friendship with members of both the sexes. It will need an understanding of your problem and willful abstinence from viewing porn. If at all aroused, masturbation should be performed only by imagining and not by explicit imagery. Staying away from erotic material is difficult, but you should not let it affect you. In his article, The Pernicious Effects of Pornography, Joe Dallas says, "Erotic images pose a challenge. I dare you to try to escape them. Take a drive and you'll see some model flasing her wares on a billboard. Thumb through a magazine- a regular magazine, mind you- and you'll get hit with clothing ads that show more flesh than clothes. Try as you may, you cant get away from erotic images without going into hibernation." Despite this fact, it is ultimately your decision to get your mind into it.
    Number of networks and organisations which stand for the prevention of pornography as well as rehabilitation of program for addicts, exist. People can seek help at sash.net or iitop.com. Another place to help yourself is a society called Sex Addicts Anonymous which can be found on the net. Keeping the filters on sites 'on' is a great way to keep yourself away from unwanted content. Remember, only you can hep yourself do the right thing. And the first step there is awareness. Have a safe and healthy day.

The Republic Sentiment

I woke up later than usual today, the day being a bank holiday, the 26th of January. I checked my cellfone to find seven text messages, all wishing me a 'Happy Republic Day', each with its own dose of patriotism. With a yawn, I washed my face, and checked Facebook to find similar updates, with catchy quotes and tags in patriotic photo uploads and whatnnot. I turned on the TV and switched to DD to see the parade of our 61st Republic day.


The 'Amar Jawan Jyoti' event in the presence of the defence chiefs was being aired live from India Gate. It was followed by march-past of the soldiers, and a display of tanks, missiles, radars, etc. all confirming the military strength of our country. Later, there was a colourful depiction of the rich and varied culture of India, where regional and cultural diversity were the forerunners. The show tried to capture the multitude of ethnicities woven together in a united India. Also worth noting were the bike show and the aerial histrionics. The chief guest, Indonesian President, Yudhoyono was surely amazed at the India that he saw, his wife clicking her camera at everything exciting. I sat in my chair, looking lost, wondering where this India been so long.

A personal message to President Yudhoyono: "This ain't even a quarter of the show that we see everyday, Sir. You missed quite a lot. Actually most of it. They showed you different parts of the country. Did they show the circumstances in which they live there? They showed you hard-working farmers making their bread, er, roti. Did they talk to you about farmer suicides? Did they even talk about the inflated prices of daily commodities? So many politicians present at the event. I bet one of them must've told you how they keep law and order in their pockets. You saw capable scientists and engineers with their equipments under display. But do you know most of them work in the private sector coz the government pays them nuts? There were a lot of tanks, fighter-jets, etc on display. But they never told you that many of them were made from rusted and corrugated parts imported from Russia. You were told that Indians were honest, hardworking people. But are you aware of the corruption and scams that take place at all levels of the system, every other day? Delhi looked so beautiful and serene today. But did you look beneath its outer layer, at the rampant crimes, traffic, pollution, and corruption in this capital city? The army people looked so smart and polite today. But they ain't so polite when they are wiping off innocent civilians in Kashmir. You missed a lot, Sir. What you saw was a movie, and we are really good at making 'em, so you better trust me on that one."

I know all this sounds very accusing and these facts might sound far-fetched. I wont blame you. We Indians have a habit of avoiding the truth. We all know things, but we choose to remain silent. We think these things do not really concern us, but actually they do. Yet we remain mum. But that is exactly where the problem begins. The government is not to blame, we are to blame, coz we choose them after all. Every problem on the face of the country is our fault, in an indirect fashion though. I do not intend to provide solutions, but we know there are solutions. As a Zen proverb says, "The answer is in the question itself".

We have an impeccable law system, we only need to implement it properly. We have a strong political frame, just not the right politicians to run the country. We have highly skilled doctors and engineers, just need good packages to recruit them. A majority of people are poor and deprived, yet we see so much wealth around. This is due to imroper diversification of money. There are welfare schemes to help the needy, but not a proper force to make it available to them. In short the country is completely out of control. The British were better at handling us, for we have made such a mess, and no one's ready to clean it up. So its time we looked beyond the tricolour, the songs and the catchy captions this Republic Day. Its time to find the answers to the numerous problems that surround us. 'I' cannot do it, 'you' cannot do it, but 'we' know 'we' can do it. So lets set our country straight. It wont happen easily. It might take many many years to reach there. But there is that possibility. I wrote this post to bring my thoughts to words and change my attitude towards all this. If it makes even one person think, I'll consider it a success. Forgive me if you are offended by anything I say, but I wont say "nothing personal" coz it is personal. Don't mistake me as a critic, I'm not. Just a concerned citizen. Jai Hind.