Is porn really bad for you and you sexual activities?

[kaualves2]

Hii, I have a persistent question. I've been consuming pornography since my early teens (since I was 12, I think), and sometimes I feel bad watching it. I have a lot of trouble reaching orgasms during physical sex, and I wonder if porn isn't directly influencing this, since lots of people say that it can cause very unpleasant sexual symptoms involving ejaculation and erection.

[KierC]

Hi there Kaualves2,

This is a really important question! The short answer is no: consuming sexual media is not inherently bad for you, and it’s okay to consume sexual media like pornography, even if you’re consuming a lot of it. I know there’s a lot of really weird and incorrect information out there surrounding pornography and its effects, but those sources usually approach this topic from a fear-mongering position not based in reality/medical science. For example, the NoFap community loves to say that porn is bad for you and creates these sexual side effects, but none of that has been verified.

I think what *is* true about pornography, is that it can sometimes give folks some pretty unrealistic expectations about what sex looks like, particularly with sexual response and orgasm. You can read a bit more about it here. That doesn’t make it inherently bad, but it can end up making folks go into sex with a partner thinking it’s going to look and sound like pornography. This means that pornography, and sexual media in general, is something you’ll want to consume with a grain of salt — that is, consume it as it is: media, not real life. Know what I mean?

All that being said, I hear you that you’ve been feeling badly about watching pornography. Would you like to talk a bit more about your feelings there, both why you feel badly about it, and why you think trouble orgasming with a partner is related?