Pornography is profoundly damaging to men, eroding their mental, emotional, and relational well-being. It distorts men’s perception of intimacy, reducing healthy sexual relationships to transactional and exploitative encounters. Over time, pornography rewires the brain, fostering addiction-like patterns that make it difficult for men to form genuine emotional connections. This leaves many men trapped in isolation, struggling with shame, anxiety, and dissatisfaction with real-life relationships. Pornography not only creates unrealistic expectations about women’s bodies and behavior but also normalizes harmful, degrading attitudes that fuel misogyny and violence.
The impact extends beyond the individual, destroying the very fabric of relationships and families. Men who engage with pornography often find it difficult to connect with their partners on an emotional or physical level, leading to strained marriages, broken trust, and in many cases, infidelity. The damage done to their ability to engage in meaningful, loving relationships has ripple effects throughout the family, causing emotional distress for partners and children alike. Banning pornography is not just a moral imperative; it’s a necessary step to protect men from these destructive forces and to preserve the integrity of healthy, respectful relationships that form the foundation of strong families and communities.
None of this is factual on a large scale. This might affect some men in this way, but definitely not the majority.
I think there should be more regulation in the porn industry and sharing sites.
But to ban it completely because some use it in baf ways opens up a situation where politicians can use this argument on almost anything.
There is a broader issue to address here - that of addiction. It is a terrible demon with many forms, and going after addiction is spraying the root of the fire as opposed to one of the flames. We don’t want to restrict consenting adults from enjoying themselves, but yes we can place some limits on porn but especially addiction overall.
I agree with the negative effects of pornography, but feel that laws should be centered around facilitating, not forcing, the desired behaviors.
It might be a good idea to bring back relationship classes in middle and high schools. Specifically around issues of communication and effective ways to navigate common problems in romantic (and other) relationships. I believe that men are often drawn to pornography because they feel isolated, and pornography gives them a way to feel like they are involved in an intimate relationship without the difficulties of a real-life relationship.
It’s also important to teach children from a very early age about addiction and how to catch yourself when you start moving down that path, and how to reverse course, including counseling and/or addiction groups that can work on problems together (as the other poster mentioned, addiction is a very important issue that covers a variety of topics).
We can agree to disagree on this. I encourage you to look into it further though. Pornography is softening him in our society and degrading women probably the single greatest issue facing men as we know and women too some extent
Encourage you to think deeply about the nature of pornography and if you are a consumer of it I challenge you to go 30-40 days without consuming it that is a definition of something addicting. It needs to be made illegal
Pornography is unique in that current societal expectations say that pornography is natural and safe It is the most damaging thing a man can consume. Or a woman for that matter. Destroys the fabric of a good society a weapon. Needs to be made illegal
Rather, the education system as we know it should be slashed and burned. You want gay teachers teaching your kids about relationships? Pornography is an utmost evil.
People may know this already, but other countries (like Russia) prohibit pornography. I don’t know how to approach this but I am fully in favor of the sentiment, and purpose. I added this to my “bill”.
Great post! I agree with you wholeheartedly. I’m a Clinician providing counseling for couples where the husband struggles with porn addiction and escalated behaviors that come from this addiction. I counsel the wives experiencing betrayal trauma. This not only affects men, but porn addiction is on the rise with women as well as children/teens. From the recent Barna Report:
Porn use remains a growing problem. Three in five adults (61%) report viewing porn.
84% report not having anyone in their lives helping them avoid porn.
Common assumptions about porn use are proving to be untrue.
The ripple effects of porn include a notable decline in mental health and well-being.
Men and women have drastically different experiences surrounding porn use.
Many Christians also hold conflicting beliefs about porn. 62% agree a person can regularly view porn and live a sexually healthy life. This is categorically untrue.
Only 10% of US Christians and churched adults say their church offers programming to help those struggling with porn.
75% of uS pastors say they are individually ministering to those who struggle with porn. 51% of those who’ve sought help from them are married men.
67% of pastors have a personal history of porn use. 18% of the say it is a current struggle.
89% of youth leaders say they wish teens were taught about sexual health and behaviors by a parent. 69% of youth leaders believe that friends and social media have the biggest influence on what young people learn about sex today.
Pornography does nothing to benefit a society, it only furthers mental and physical health issues. It is also an outlet that provides financial incentives for the exploitation of minors or trafficked people.
My concern is that porn is inherently connected to human trafficking , sexual assault, rape, and pedophilia. It also facilitates perversions to be marketed to young children. If you need such gratification, why not read smut? At least that is happening to make believe characters instead of to real human beings with emotions and traumatic responses. For myself, I believe what happens in your bedroom should stay there. I see porn as an open door for evil, that does more harm that we could ever know. The porn industry is already black market in places. Normalizing it is like saying all the things they do to people for the sake of sexual gratification are okay, even though many of the participants are victims of coercion, and/or outright sexual abuse. I agree that it distorts relationships, and not just for men. I would also argue that the fact we are voting on it right now in this forum discredits the idea the government is doing it. We are the people, and if it gets banned, the people have spoken.
I wish something that simple would solve the problem but history tells us differently. Even women in burkas get raped. The issue is with men taking control over their lives.
Porn reduces rape and sexual promiscuity. Redirect ATF funds to crackdown on Child and Sex trafficking within our borders. This is a more serious issue than law abiding citizens watching legal pornography.
If not the ATF use another agency that is not being utilized effectively enough to end this problem that has been going on for decades. You could also transfer employees from other agencies to help in this fight. This should be a priority.
With respect, a ban on pornography or any other recreational vice would end the same way as Prohibition, 10-years, a repealed ban, and a pissed off electorate.
It is also more of the same Nanny State that Millennials have had to put up with for 15+ years now, we are entering our mid to late 30s for crying out loud, this never ending cacophony of being told what is moral to partake in as an adult is maddening, we had anti-cigarette ads on TV our entire childhood, we know they are bad, the label is on the box!
A much better approach would be to make it illegal for minors to own or use smart devices, attach a hefty fine to their ownership, it is minors having access to adult spaces and pornography that screws up their futures.
An investigation into the entire porn industry should also be made, it is full of criminals, they need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and the “gaps” in our laws that allowed them to abuse people need to be filled in asap.