Also, If you haven't read all the posts on pornography, you need to start at the beginning or else you won't get the full understanding of where I am coming from with this post. Click here

The rise in pornography use over the past 15 years is attributed to one thing: the internet. But to blame the internet for this rise is really quite ridiculous. Why? Because the internet doesn't force anyone to do anything. First the blame should first reside with those of us who "demand it." But to just leave it there doesn't make much sense either because people haven't really changed, so why has the demand increased? Because of what the internet allows for us to do, and what the internet allows for porn producers to provide.

Before I continue I should say that what I am about to type are not justifications for using pornography. They are reasons internet porn has increased the usage by everyday Americans...Americans that 30 years ago would not have thought of buying a Playboy. The reasons are very male centered. I wish I would write from a female perspective (especially with the stats that show massive increase in female usage), but I can't. So alas, I am just going to write about what I know - maybe for the first time. But I digress.

The way I see it there are four reasons porn is better than sex.

1.) It requires no commitment whatsoever, and on the surface appears to have no baggage. You can access it when you want. If you are too tired, that's cool, you don't have to do it. Your "partner" in this excursion is never "too" tired. She is always ready and available. When your done: she doesn't want to talk, she doesn't want to snuggle, she doesn't want anything. You just turn her off and go about doing (usually sleep) whatever it is that you want to do. There are no phone calls in the morning. There is no expectation of life change. It is all about attaining pleasure and moving on - there's nothing to commit to.

2.) It's super easy to find, which means it takes no effort to attain. There are no awkward pick-up lines. There are no "am I looking" outside my league type of feelings. For those that believe in sexual purity before marriage, there is no long (did I say long...) wait until pleasure can be attained. (Usually) No one even knows you are doing it, so it is private! In a matter of seconds I can have any girl, scenario, act, etc...it's super easy.

3.) It's anything and everything you could ever want, how you want it, when you want it, and often with illogical ability to have "different stuff" at different times. This is where it gets crazy. Internet porn allows for any of your wildest fantasies to come true...and beyond that, often times more than one of your fantasies to come true at the same time (which is totally illogical). If I want to be sleeping with a cheerleader, while receiving a blow-job from some sorority girl, while eating-out some girl you have seen at work, while having pool sex, that is all logically possible inside the brilliant imagination of the human mind - while just logistically impossible in reality. Porn images heighten this experience.

4.) Internet porn is typically average looking woman. I think this is the most profound point and I stole this from Chuck Klosterman and I left my book at home so I can't quote him. BUT...Playboy were always these GORGEOUS women (ones most of us would never come in contact with on a daily basis) in strange, exotic situations (which we wouldn't visit). Internet porn changed all this. It took (usually) attractive, but not gorgeous women (ones we see everyday) and put them in situations that we are in everyday. If you have a girl at the office you fantasize about, you can probably find something similar to her on the web. If there is a girl in a class you like, there is something on the web you can find that looks like her and puts her in a situation you would find her in. I think ultimately this leads to the subconscious reason porn is wrong (which we'll get to on Friday), but for now we should recognize that because of its normalcy, porn attracts normal people.

None of these reasons justify the usage of pornography. All of them are built under the false pretense that sex should be about me attaining maximum pleasure at any cost, and with no regard to my partner. There is nothing wrong with sex being pleasurable. But just like eating (remember the cheeseburger) cannot solely be understood as attaining pleasure at all costs, so too, healthy sexuality must recognize that there are limits (and consequences) when looking outside the boundaries of sex's design to attain pleasure. We'll get more into why this is later, but first we need to understand that porn's growth is due to its overall normalcy.

Upcoming:
Thus: What If My Partner Doesn't Care
Fri: What God Has To Say
Sat: Methods That Help