What the heck is a porn addiction?

[dontaskneverask]

I watch porn, I'm a dude and 15, and I have seen increasingly more and more mixed messages about watching porn, especially surrounding the NoFap thing. (NoFap is quitting porn and masturbation). I don't watch a ton of porn and when I do I mainly just finish my "solo mission" and close out the tab and I only do it about once every day. My question is what is porn healthy? and is there a healthy amount you can watch? and what's too much?

[KierC]

Hey there Dontaskneverask,

The whole conversation around “what is healthy porn watching” is an interesting one because it can get tied up with moral panic about things like sex, porn, and masturbation. Truthfully, there is nothing wrong with consuming sexual media, even if you’re consuming a lot of it. People talk about “problematic” porn usage if it gets into the realm of compulsive behavior, but it doesn’t sound like you’re experiencing that. The habits you’re reporting here sound very much in the realm of normal/healthy sexual behavior, but I hear you that alternative messages are getting to you. How have you been feeling about your habits?

I’m glad you’re talking about and questioning the messages you’re hearing around masturbation and porn, especially the whole NoFap community. The NoFap community was based off a super problematic “study” that has since been retracted for inaccuracy, and the guy who started the NoFap website is well-known for pseudoscience (too, there’s even a note on their website that threatens legal action if anyone tries to study their accuracy). There’s a lot of *extremely* unhealthy messaging on that website, too, in addition to the lack of medical accuracy. Their idea that “men” get more “power” from abstinence is not only highly incorrect but also potentially dangerous because it promotes a really distorted view of male sexuality, and in my opinion dips too much into the waters of misogyny. Does that make sense?

[dontaskneverask]

Hey KierC

Thanks for enlightening me, that does make sense.