Today, millions of people in every social media outlet are adding the word “porn” to a subject in order to make it the gold standard. Common hashtags include food porn, poem porn and car porn just to name a few. Adding the word “porn” to these subjects is supposed to enhance the glamor and “sexiness” of the product. However, this idea stems from a deep misunderstanding of the danger of pornography and how it affects our society.
In our day and age, everything is at our fingertips, including porn. Pornography is no longer a magazine that you have to purchase from a real human that you have to face head on. It is free for you to search whenever you please; however, no thought is ever given to those picking up the tab. No thought is given to the actors that seem to be enjoying their work, since they look so happy in their perfect bodies engaging in their perfect sex, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Our society wants to normalize pornography since it is in such high demand and is “satisfying” to viewers. However, no one ever thinks about the women and men in the films, who are real people deserving of authentic love.
Pornography is not a reflection of authentic love, it is a reflection of how far our society will go to be entertained at any cost. The average life expectancy of a porn star is 38 years old. This is because of the STDS they are exposed to by their numerous sexual partners, as well as their excessive drug use and massive suicide rates. Is this really how our society wants men and women to be treated? Are these deaths justified by pornography’s ability to entertain?
Porn stars endure terrible physical and emotional pain for the sake of their work. Behind the scenes, there are drugs, surgeries and abuse that go into creating “perfect sex.” The sex shown in pornography could not be farther from perfect. There is no love in porn, there is no commitment, there is only profit.
One would think in our age of feminism that someone would speak up for the women who are being used solely for their bodies. Do we want this to be on our list of rights as empowered women: to be seen and used for our physical parts instead of the great good we can bring to the world through our minds, hearts, and abilities in addition to our bodies? There is a great hypocrisy between trying to uphold the empowered, driven woman and the one who is a sex slave. Our society desperately wants to have both, but it is clearly unfair. Supporting pornography as women is actually killing women. We need to rise above being objectified and objectifying ourselves–we are so much more than the sum of our parts.
We need to educate those who think pornography is normal, and even healthy, for it is neither. It is unhealthy for the viewer and the viewed in every way: physically, mentally, and emotionally, not to mention, spiritually. Pornography damages real relationships with real people. Pornography can’t fill a void that can only be filled with love. True love can’t be one-sided; true love doesn’t gain at the expense of another, and true love certainly does not support an industry that profits at the cost of human life and dignity. This is why adding “porn” to trivial things is more detrimental than it seems. We cannot allow “porn” to be normal and accepted; that will only make the situation worse by making the demand even greater and further cheapening our sexual integrity by equating it with pornographic ideals. Pornography is not the ideal, it is quite the opposite. Consider what means to add “porn” to your hashtags, and whether furthering the damage porn inflicts on so many is your intention. Consider how it makes your beautiful food appear when it is compared to a word that insinuates such inauthenticity. Instead of demeaning your food with such a sad hashtag, with one that tells the world your food is the real deal. The people affected by pornography, and your food, deserve it.
