By Danika, TeenSource Blogger
The topic of pornography is often somewhat of a taboo to talk about, and yet that seems a little silly since it happens to be so widely accessible and plays such a big part in a lot of peoples' ideas of what sex is like and what it should be like. Especially since the average age of most men’s first time seeing porn is before turning12 years old! (That’s not to say that only men watch porn, by the way).
High school was definitely the time in which I started to hear people talking about porn more and more, mostly among the guys. And a lot of them weren’t shy about it. While everyone is different and is free to like whatever they want, there are definitely a few issues with porn or at least things that people should be aware of if and/or when watching it:
- The actors in porn rarely use condoms or any other form of protection. This can give off a false sense of safety, especially if this is the first sexual act you’re exposed to. If you don’t see them using any condoms, why would you think that you need to?
- Porn does not usually depict all different kinds of body types. One example is breast implants—while not all women in porn have breast implants, many do. And that's completely their choice! But when that is the only type of body a person starts to see, then that can create unrealistic standards. You have no idea how many times I heard my classmates say a girl had “saggy boobs” when she had a completely normal body just as any other body (hint: all women’s bodies are “normal” and beautiful.) Another example would be penis size, which is almost always shown on the larger size in porn. This also can create false ideas and insecurities surrounding how “big” a man’s penis is supposed to be (hint: penises come in all shapes and sizes!)
- Porn does not usually depict “real” sex, either! That isn’t to say that you can’t like or take interest in any of the things shown in porn in your own life, assuming that whatever it is is always consensual, but porn can give the impression that you have to act a certain way or be a certain way or say certain things all the time when it just isn’t so. There is no certain way that sex has to be, and that is what is so unrealistic about porn—it only gives one, very, very small example of sex and sells it off as if it’s the only kind out there. Really, the kind of sex you and your partner want to have is up to the two of you, and not dependent on what you’ve seen in any pornographic film.
I became more and more aware of all of these things all throughout high school, especially once I started dating. I began to notice just how strong of an affect porn had on the people I would date when it came to their ideas of what was realistic in regards to sex and men's and women’s bodies. In the end it’s important to remember that porn is just fantasy! Nothing more than that. “Real” sex is whatever you want it to be, not what porn tells you it should be like… just as long as it’s safe!