In 2005, Professor Chyng Sun of New York University wrote this following her research on pornography:
Most of the women and men I interviewed first watched pornography in their early teens or even younger. In other words, pornography is sex education.
As parents, it is crucial that we are aware of the impact that pornography has on our children. For many, this also means examining the impact that pornography has had on our own understanding of sexuality. Sun goes on to say:
Pornography and a pornographic culture also affect “consensual sex,” sexual identities and relationships. In my interviews, it was painful to hear how both teenage boys and girls feel pressured to have lots of sex, often emotionally detached, at a younger and younger age; and how so many young women feel obligated to please men sexually because they believed that it was their role as a woman. A 20-year-old female college student thought back to her teen years and said that often she felt that her body was not hers but was for others to look at and gain pleasure from.
It is also alarming that many young men and boys have watched a lot of pornography before they have opportunities for sexual intimacy. Some developed a fear of women when they found that real women’s bodies were not as smooth and shaven and that real sex was nothing like sex depicted in pornography. It is clear that pornography not only hurts women but also hurts men on many different levels.
A healthy, mutually fulfilling, holistic understanding of sexuality stands in direct contrast to what is encouraged and portrayed by pornography. Parents, it is up to you to make sure that you are shaping your child’s understanding of sex and not leaving it up to pornography.