Did you know that there is not a single book on wellness and pornography? Not only that: no workplace wellness program offers lectures, educational videos, or other instruction on pornography. The National Wellness Association hasn’t addressed the issue: Not a single session at any of the more than 30 annual conferences has been devoted to X-rated sex. It’s no wonder many employees don’t care much about on-site wellness. of work. You might think that hardly anyone is interested in pornography or that there is no possible connection between wellness and pornography. If you think this is the case, you could be wrong.
Woody Allen commented: “Sex without love is an empty experience, but as empty experiences, it is one of the best.” If, in fact, many people engage in some form of pornography, then the activity is probably relevant to well-being. Why? Because wellness is about quality of life, and pornography should increase or decrease the quality of life for those who view it or connect with it in any way. Therefore, it seems that pornography warrants a welfare perspective.
To frame this discussion, some basic concepts must be addressed. For example, what the heck is pornography, hereinafter referred to simply as pornography?
Well, that depends. It depends on who is doing the definition. There are religious definitions, but also many others. There is no agreed definition of what it is or how best to deal with it that crosses stakeholder lines. Some consider pornography immoral, but many social scientists do not. I don’t know if I’m a social scientist, but I definitely don’t find pornography always immoral.
On the other hand, I find most of what I have found, to use a scientific term, pretty gross, not to mention the course and disrespect towards women. However, when consenting adults are involved in issues related to sexuality in general and pornography in particular (let’s not automatically associate one with the other) and there is no exploitation, violence or offenses to decency involved, pornography seems to me just entertainment. . Some forms of entertainment I like (eg, Broadway musicals, concerts, soap operas, and triathlons), others (eg, NASCAR races, reality and game shows, televangelists) I don’t. However, the complete lack of appeal of the latter does not mean that I want to outlaw, demonize or treat them as radioactive waste products. A bit of regulation to protect the innocent from corruption, perhaps, but let’s separate evidence-based controls from censorship based on religion-inspired hysteria founded on dogma.
Dictionary definitions consistently describe pornography as erotic depictions of behavior intended to cause sexual arousal. That seems reasonable and useful as a definition. However, most of us could probably recall moments and situations that somehow triggered sexual arousal that were definitely not designed for such purposes. I remember strange movements of strange pleasure when Sister Alphonse Maria smacked me on the butt for speaking in line while she was waiting for confession in the third grade. I’m pretty sure no photo or video of that scene would strike anyone as remotely erotic, but it sure did to me. In fact, without the incident, I would have run out of supplies when I walked into the confessional. As it was, I chose to add the incident to my other transgressions (eg, disobeyed my mother twice, hid candy before dinner seven times, etc.) disclosed and forgiven by Father LaRue. He must have thought the incident represented a bit of eroticism, also because my sentence was quite harsh: a dozen Hail Marys instead of the usual two.
Pornography is not new, even if it has grown exponentially with the advent of the Internet. If in doubt, look in some art books for ancient cave wall paintings or read the Kama Sutra. They are very old things; but today’s pornography is better illustrated and represented, as well as more convenient, thanks to the Internet, DVDs, and enhanced photographic images. For those who want it, and the numbers are huge, pornography seems to improve the quality of life, unless of course they get caught looking at it. A 2001 Forbes article estimated sales of pornography in this country alone (including video, pay-per-view, Internet, and magazines) at between $2.6 billion and $3.9 billion. (How Big Is Porn? Adams Media Research, Forrester Research, and Veronis Suhler Communications Industry Report.)
Experts on the subject tell us that porn primarily appeals to men, which seems like a no-brainer. (More than half a century ago, Kinsey showed that 54 percent of men, but only 12 percent of women, were aroused by pornography. However, pornography in the 1940s and 1950s left a lot to be desired according to the spectacular standards of today’s art). they have a greater interest in mindless sex, which I suspect is characteristic of pornography. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with meaningless sex; after all, life itself is meaningless, except for the meanings we attach to it. Men probably masturbate a lot more than women, and pornography is a convenient and relatively risk-free way to get the level of arousal needed for orgasm. Unless, of course, you’re saddled with religious baggage about sin and all that.
A lot of sex research suggests that men really can’t help themselves, that is, resist pornography. Experts in sexual studies explain male preoccupation with sexuality as a condition of evolved genetic makeup. It’s all about chemicals. There are good biological reasons why men prefer porn, so back off and leave us alone: we are victims of nature, don’t you know? Also, if pornography offers men a safe outlet for physical gratification and saves a lot of time and explosive, dysfunctional relationships, isn’t that a good thing, ceteris paribus?
So if all pornography isn’t inherently bad and destructive and at odds with everything good and healthy, what’s next? What could be said, to begin with, of a somewhat positive nature on the subject in the context of quality of life wellness? Here are some possibilities, off the top:
* Go freely. If something (like pornography, for example) bores or offends you and you can’t be sure it’s causing irreparable damage, consider ignoring it and moving on with whatever sounds good to you.
* Pornography can be good or not good. It depends It depends on many variables. Avoid simplistic and unsupported claims that lack clear evidence, including all such claims in this essay.
* Sometimes it’s better to fantasize about some things than to try them or, what’s even scarier, to do them for real. On the other hand, sometimes it’s great to do it. (At least that’s what they tell me).
* Fantasy can be a good thing, especially when it comes to sexual arousal.
*Porn can serve a number of functions in the wellness skills area, including stress management (for example, a non-drug temporary fix for negative moods like anxiety or even depression), humor, and the experience of multiple DBRU equivalents (best moments of time). ).
* Just like food, fitness, the passion for excellence or the search for the meaning of life, sex and/or pornography can be exaggerated, pursued or overindulged and, therefore, constitute a key factor in the loss of balance in the satisfaction of needs.
* Be mindful of your responsibilities and obligations to others when pursuing any passion or even small inconsequential secret pleasures.
There is a lot we don’t know about the nature and various effects of pornography. Examples include whether and how to regulate it to protect children and weak-minded people, how to lessen or even completely eliminate typical disrespect towards women, and how to educate everyone more effectively so that the sexuality market strangely and truly unpleasant is drastically reduced. .
It would be, I think, a very good thing if steps were taken to deal with pornography, and the larger and far more important but related issue of healthy sexuality, as a fact of modern life, and to do so openly. Fashion.
Let’s approach this issue as part of wellness (quality of life) in a way that is as free of guilt, shame, inhibition and embarrassment as it is possible to muster. Let’s do our part to deal wisely and effectively with the negativity associated with our culturally repressed attitudes towards sexuality. The main issue is not so much whether pornography is good or bad, right or wrong. Rather, since pornography is with us and not likely to go away, what are the wisest responses to it, personally and as a society, and how best to approach it in the broader context of wellness sex? ?
Summing up from a REAL wellness perspective, the bottom line to consider is whether pornography improves or decreases quality of life and under what specific circumstances can positive outcomes be fostered.