Porn is as Old as Time

Porn. As long as there have been people, we’ve been looking for ways to capture arousal and store it for future use.

There are surviving neolithic cave paintings of sex. The preserved ruins of Pompeii are full of erotic art. When photography was first invented, it didn’t take long before we were photographing sex.

All that said, one wonders what our early human ancestors would have made of countless, constantly available, and endlessly novel high-definition video of most any sexual act you can imagine. This is an era of abundance in arousal stockpiling.

Given that we’re quite a long way from using primordial sex sketches on cave walls to pass the time, it’s normal to wonder if porn could be a bad thing. This is new and unprecedented. What might the consequences be?

Is Porn Bad for Sex?

Controversially, porn can be a positive, provided all performers are compensated for their labor and are performing consensually. Is some porn better than others? Yes.

Can porn cause you problems? Yes.

But it’s not because of something intrinsically irredeemable about the porn. Rather, many people lack proper context for porn in their sex lives. What’s more, many people disconnect from the body during arousal when using porn.

Fantasy vs. Reality

Porn is fantasy fuel. Porn is a movie. Porn is not real – it’s scripted, directed, and acted. You only ever see what the director wants you to see in porn sex and that is important.

Porn is less like sex and more like Jurassic Park.

Even though the dinosaurs look real, and the people look scared, it’s all just playing pretend. The dinosaurs are robots and the actors are still alive.

It’s extremely important to keep this in mind any time you engage with porn.

Be in Your Body

If you’re not careful, porn can disconnect you from your bodily sensations linked to sexual pleasure.

If you’ve got your eyes glued to a screen, and your hand is out there somewhere else on your genitals… your fixation on strong and graphic visual stimulation can dull the exquisite detail of the sensations of sexual stimulation.

Instead of watching porn and masturbating at the same time, separate these two activities. Watch the porn, feel yourself get aroused, feast on the visuals, and don’t touch yourself.

Once you’re really turned on, close your laptop and take yourself to the bedroom. Masturbate using the cinema in your mind, and you’ll be better able to focus on pleasurable sensations.

When it comes to porn: Enjoy responsibly! Emphasis on the enjoy.