porn dependency

A mentor of mine, Pamela Madsen, talks about consuming sex. She talks about how as a society we Consume Sexuality but not always Participate. Participation is vulnerable. Participation can also be unaccessible. Porn is Not our Enemy. Porn is Entertainment, and we as a species love to be entertained. People are obsessed with baseball teams, football, hockey, soccer, and they may not play the game. They may follow the score, watch all the games. 

People watch all sorts of versions of entertainment. Play all sorts of video games. Watch action movies. And yet, hopefully, do not go out into the world and try to live that way. Entertainment is glorified and often expressed/viewed through the lens of those in power; Not everyone is represented. 

Porn is entertainment. The problem with porn is not a problem with porn, but a problem with intimacy and participation, vulnerability and accessibility. By watching porn, sports, action movies, etc, are we attempting to explore a form of intimacy with our world, our society, our community, but not with ourselves or directly with another person. 

It is easier to watch, than to risk, to live, to experience, to fail. 

Porn is entertainment, not education, not experience, and only a very narrow version of real life. There are many ways we choose to avoid the real experiences of life through entertainment. And because sexuality in our culture has been so repressed it has manifested in a secretive world of entertainment. 

Porn, in my opinion, is no more destructive than an obsession with watching football.