Understanding the Impact of Pornography Consumption
Explore the negative consequences of pornography consumption, reflect on external pressures influencing body image, and learn to stand up against the harms of porn while resisting the pressure to consume. Understand how pornography objectifies people, promotes sexual violence, and presents unrealistic depictions of sex.
Download Presentation
Please find below an Image/Link to download the presentation.
The content on the website is provided AS IS for your information and personal use only. It may not be sold, licensed, or shared on other websites without obtaining consent from the author. Download presentation by click this link. If you encounter any issues during the download, it is possible that the publisher has removed the file from their server.
Presentation Transcript
Year C Module 1: My Identity 3. Free to love
3. Free to love Free to love In this unit we will: 1. Investigate problems with pornography. 2. Explore the negative consequences of pornography consumption. 3. Reflect on how external pressures influence my body image.
3. Free to love Life skill focus Justice: Standing up for the truth about the harms of pornography. Fortitude: Resisting the pressure to consume pornography.
3. Free to love Key words Pornography: Visual material showing explicit sexual content designed to elicit sexual arousal Masturbation: Stimulation of one s own genitals to experience sexual pleasure
3. Free to love Think about it Pornography is everywhere. Young people are being exposed to it at younger and younger ages, and it can at times require deliberate effort to steer clear of it. What have you heard about pornography? It s ok because you re not hurting anyone. It s my choice what I do with my body. What does your conscience tell you about it?
3. Free to love What s wrong with pornography? Objectifies people: Through pornography the viewer is sexually aroused the viewer which often leads to masturbation. Persons depicted in pornography are reduced to body parts for sexual gratification. In pornography, one s own pleasure takes a central role rather than the relationship or the feelings of the other person. This accustoms users of pornography to think of people as things, and is a total distortion of what sex means.
3. Free to love Promotes sexual violence and abuse of women: It is a multibillion dollar/euro industry, largely run by men and targeted at men. Men are by far the biggest consumers of pornography, though increasing numbers of women access it too. A high proportion of online pornograpyshow sexual violence. It does not portray sex as a loving, equal, respectful union, directed towards the transmission of life and the deepening of loving relationship. It promotes rape culture because consumption of it is linked to sexual violence and harrassment. Real danger that young women can perceive degrading sexual practices and attitudes as normal and expected of them.
3. Free to love Unrealistic depiction of sex: The sex shown in pornography is not realistic, and not simply for the profound reason that it focuses on bodies rather than people, distracting from the reality of human beings as true individuals, deliberately created and loved by God. Rather, the people s bodies and their reactions are staged, artificial and unnatural. Too many young people turn to pornography to learn about sex. This is very problematic as teenage brains are at a sensitive stage of development. Adolescents are particularly susceptible to internalising unhealthy and distorted visions of sex and of humanity presented in pornography.
3. Free to love Highly addictive: Repeated consumption of pornography triggers the release of dopamine in the brain. This is the neurotransmitter that helps us feel pleasure. Too much dopamine leads to addictive patterns of behaviour with pornography. These can be similar in impact to alcohol, drug or gambling addictions. It s important to be properly informed about the science behind pornography use and addiction as it is a major issue of emotional, psychological health and well-being. The good news is that it is possible to break free of pornography addiction with the right help and support.
3. Free to love #MeToo movement The #MeToo movement has brought out into the open distressing details of widespread sexual harassment and assault of women in the film industry. This has led to women all over the world speaking out and protesting against being treated as sexual objects, being targeted by predatory men or expected to engage in sex with men in positions of power in order to progress in their careers. The vast majority of men are not sexual predators, but the pornography industry often promotes this negative male stereotype while encouraging an approach to sex that is predatory in nature.
3. Free to love Impact on body image The pornography industry portrays people s bodies in a highly unrealistic way, using all kinds of editing and airbrushing and even surgery to sell these bodies as products to be consumed for sexual pleasure. Real human bodies don t look that way. The prevalence of pornography and sexualised imagery in entertainment and social media can put people under enormous pressure about their appearance, buying into the lie that the goal of the body is to be always sexually appealing. In reality, sexual attraction involves much more than airbrushed perfect bodies, and sex is about a loving union of two people not just two people using their bodies to simply feel pleasure.
3. Free to love In the highly sexualised culture we live in, more young people than ever before are struggling with problems of body image. Women in particular can feel objectified and self-conscious about their bodies when pornography is widespread in society, but men too can feel the burden of being expected to look a certain way in order to be attractive.
3. Free to love Be aware, be respected, be responsible What course of action do I need to take with regard to pornography?
3. Free to love Build resilience, be respected Look at the positive self-talk statements from earlier. Think about the ones that resonate the most with you. It s useful to refer to them several times a day for a few weeks.
