A great deal of criticism is leveled against
pornography modernly, a chief point being that it 'distorts'
sexuality, creating false impressions of what are normal and healthy sexual behaviors, what relationships between people ought to look like, and what sort of sexual capacity people ought to be expected to have.
To this I answer:
The only way to counter bad pornography is with good pornography.
Recognize that, within the bounds of reality, pornography is here to stay. Modernly, one thinks of pornography as an
Internet phenomenon, but man has been producing pornographic images
for tens of thousands of years, since the earliest cave paintings depicting human genitals and copulating couples. Even if all of it were wiped off the Internet, there is an immense volume of pornography on hard drives and thumb drives, people saving and sending it all over by all sorts of mobile devices without necessarily involving the Internet. Pornography is an inevitable expression of
capitalism -- the only countries where pornography is outlawed (often ineffectively) are repressive
communist/
totalitarian regimes, and so eliminating pornography could only come at the cost of eliminating
freedom and establishing totalitarianism.
And for those who would 'ban' porn as distortive or demeaning, where to draw the line? What about the porn made by women for women? What of sex scenes in mainstream films? And how about
Christian Porn which is made by Christian couple to instruct other Christian couples to enjoy their sexuality? Even some
Bible passages are considered pornographic, when fully understood!!
As a rallying cry, I have previously implored of my fellow man,
let us be our own pornographers; and this challenge is being met!! Modern social networks have now branched out to include social porn networks, where people all over the world are posting pictures and films of their own day-to-day sexual activities. Its presence will only continue to flourish, for so long as it is legal for adults to have sex, and to own cameras, there will be those who wish to share the imagery of this, an ever-growing tide of personal pornography. And, indeed, it is a generous thing, selfless and commendable, for a couple to share their sexual activities with the world to enable others to gain pleasure from it. 'Desires of the flesh' are normal and good -- they enable our very survival -- and their fulfillment
may well be a sacred thing!! And since this tide cannot realistically be countered, the way to influence it is to add enough intimacy-promoting porn to
shift the tide.
So if you fear that pornography distorts healthy sexuality, if you dislike its tenor, the solution is for YOU to film your healthy sex and put it online for comparison. Go put out porn of your own to show how you think sex ought to look. Anybody with a
camera can now film and disseminate their own healthy, normal, nonabusive sexual acts to counter bad images. That is the way -- the ONLY way -- any change will come to attitudes on pornography so long as a
free market exists. If their is an industry which is producing 'what people want' then produce something of such a quality that people want it more. I repeat, the
only way to counter bad pornography is with good pornography!! If some porn is too violent, make porn which is the
apotheosis of nonviolent lovemaking!! If some porn is harmful, make porn which is helpful!! If some porn demeans, make porn which uplifts!! Pornography is simply another tool in the vast toolbox of human creativity; if you do not like what has been built with it in the past, the power is now in your hands to build something better.