In and out of records, it is well known that internet has been not widely but also hugely used and thus changes people’s view and attitudes on everything. And let’s not forget, not always in a good way. One of them is perspective of sex and watching porn which is a gigantic understatement.

Pornography, being one of the main and constantly growing industries in the world, raises our concern because of its negative influence. The negatives are substantial, including misuse of industry workers and human trafficking, child pornography, pornography addiction, problematic influences on our views of sexuality and human relationships, and interference with bonding and attachment in romantic relationships — as well as contributing to the general objectification of, primarily, women, but also men.

Have in mind that pornography may also be used in relationships as being predominantly positive and mutual, and some sexual behaviors outside of relationships may help stabilize some relationships under certain circumstances.

Pornhub, the world’s largest porn website, reports that in 2016, 92 billion videos were viewed by 64 million visitors daily (26 percent of them female), each spending nearly 10 minutes on the site.

Porn being too available on the internet and its increased exposure may be causing a minority of men to experience porn-induced erectile dysfunction (ED), according to Big Think.

One of the studies that has been conducted in Italy found that an increase in internet pornography viewing among teenage boys can cause “sexual anorexia,” or a pathological loss of appetite for romantic-sexual interactions.

People with sexual anorexia avoid, fear, or dread sexual intimacy. Sometimes, the condition is also called inhibited sexual desire, sexual avoidance, or sexual aversion. It can involve physical problems, such as impotence in men. It often has no physical cause. Both men and women can experience sexual anorexia.

Head of the Italian Society of Andrology and Sexual Medicine (SIAMS), Carlo Foresta  said: “After developing their sexuality largely divorced from real-life relationships, the effects were gradual but devastating”.

“It starts with lower reactions to porn sites, then there is a general drop in libido and in the end it becomes impossible to get an erection”, he added.

Real life fulfilling sexual relationships are hard to come by

“One particular research paper contends that instead of a physical problem, such men may be conditioning themselves to orgasm only with a certain kind of stimuli, be it tactile or visual, which may confound sex with a partner,” according to Big Think.

Undeniably,  men who are obsessed with watching online porn and get their kicks that way, may end up not being able getting it any other way, including with their partner. Heavy consumption can have clear consequences, especially for those already inclined toward compulsive sexual behaviour. Real life fulfilling sexual relationship is not possible for them. That is, if they don’t get help. The research did indicate that the condition can be reversed.

A Cambridge University study found that pornography triggers brain activity in sex addicts in the same way drugs trigger drug addicts.

“Compulsive behaviours, including watching porn to excess, over-eating and gambling, are increasingly common. This study takes us a step further to finding out why we carry on repeating behaviours that we know are potentially damaging to us,” said Dr John Williams, Head of Neuroscience and Mental Health at the Wellcome Trust, which funded the research. “Whether we are tackling sex addiction, substance abuse or eating disorders, knowing how best, and when, to intervene in order to break the cycle is an important goal.”

Women and porn

Do ladies love porn or hate it? Do they hate it but still watch it? Can Fifty Shades of Grey be blamed? Or Sasha Grey? Porn has been a hot-button issue for years now, but what do we actually know about the roles, consumption and viewing habits of women?

”Some women have been consuming and enjoying porn for a long time. And not just a fringe minority. One in three adults browsing Internet porn sites are women,” according to Nielsen ratings. In 2007, almost 13 million were watching porn on a monthly b”asis. Despite this, the myth persists that all women hate porn (and certainly many do). But their Internet habits tell another story.

According to sex columnist Violet Blue, female director Candida Royalle’s hard-core erotic videos, which are made for women viewers, sell at the rate of approximately 10,000 copies a month.

YouPorn surveyed 24,000 women and found that 63% of them watch porn on a weekly basis, with 18% revealing they watch porn on a daily basis and 9% watching porn more than once a day.

Effect of porn on women’s sexual satisfaction

A study led by Léa J. Séguin at the University of Quebec in Montreal and published in the Journal of Sex Research looked at how internet porn may have affected female sexual functioning.

“What Séguin and colleagues found was, it wasn’t the age when masturbation started or a woman’s dexterity in the pursuit. It wasn’t the number of sex partners she had either. What determined whether or not she could orgasm during sex, was whether she was mindful during the experience and how connected she felt with her partner,” reports Big Think.

Male and female orgasms

Sexual satisfaction is important for pair bonding in a relationship, as well as for one’s own psychological health. What’s more, we’re living in an age where personal fulfillment seems to be the ultimate goal. Despite this, men and women today may be having less fulfilling sex lives than in the past. One reason, the internet has altered human sexuality in a myriad of ways.

Not all impacts of the internet and pornography have been bad of course. The internet has helped normalize BDSM and kink, and revealed to the world different relationship configurations, which of course impact sex. Rather than be trapped in the dichotomy of monogamy or dating, we now have other options. On the other hand, there’s been some talk that the internet may be causing a minority of men to experience porn-induced erectile dysfunction. Internet porn obsession coupled with chronic masturbation saps interest or capability, when it comes time to be with a partner.

Pornography sites influence the way sexual experiences are perceived and understood, so the researchers looked at how male and female orgasm was portrayed in 50 of Pornhub’s most viewed videos.

For the study, scientists looked at male and female orgasms in each video, as well as signs of actual orgasms that took place (such as heavy breathing and moaning). They also noted which sex acts in the videos led to orgasms. The videos featured at least one man and one woman.

The finding for female and male orgasm frequency differed widely. This study found that while men orgasmed 78% of the time in these videos, women climaxed only 18.3% of the time. Among these, clitoral stimulation—how most women orgasm, only occurred 25% of the time.

This is the implication:

The message this sends is that the male orgasm is important and necessary and the female orgasm less so, say the researchers.

Big Think reports the researchers also concluded that

“mainstream pornography promotes and perpetuates many unrealistic expectations regarding women’s orgasm and male sexual performance.”

Big Think also reports on another study published last year in the journal Socioaffective Neuroscience & Psychology that had some interesting findings. Researchers looked at the sexual experiences of over 8,000 Finnish women. Results show that the number of orgasm during sex always or nearly so, fell 10% between 1999 and 2015.

According to the researchers, one of the reasons is Internet porn and unrealistic expectations which may have played a role. But this is not the only one. There are other reasons, including sexual self-esteem, sexual communication, the ability to concentrate during sex, the partner’s technique and stress levels.

Maybe the most damaging reason couples fall is involvement in pornography on the part of one or both partners. One of the devastating effects of pornography is that it sabotages the ability to enjoy normal sex. In many marriages, the husband isn’t interested in sex with his wife because he has been programmed to respond to a much higher level of erotic stimulation.

After viewing material filled with perfectly shaped women doing wild and perverse acts, a man naturally may have difficulty becoming stimulated by his 40-year-old average-looking, reserved wife.

Porn hasn’t taken away the need for good sex communication, intimate connection and actual presence during sex. Porn may open your mind to more sexual possibilities, but it’s intimacy, trust and mindfulness during sex that really leads to sexual satisfaction.