Pornography
Porn is everywhere. Now that it’s often trivialised, it forces its stereotypes on the youth, or those even younger than that. However, instead of enabling access to a varied sexuality, pornography imprisons the individual in simplistic models, depriving them of the richness of their own fantasies.
As philosopher Michela Marzano states in her work ‘Alice in the world of porn’, according to its Greek etymology, the term pornography means “writing involving prostitutes”. Since the XVIII century, this word has been used to indicate explicit representations of sexual organs or sexual acts. However, pornography goes well beyond a representation, as it shows the sexual act in its entirety, whilst erasing all else that surrounds it. The sexual act is not shown to be the fruit of an encounter. “The person is reduced to their body and their body is viewed as an object without a will”, explains the philosopher. “They become something interchangeable. To the point where it’s no longer the person we desire but a body we want to use for our pleasure.” The sexual act is summarised as a physical display. By creating a caricature of a certain number of sexual behaviours, pornography strikes the spectator and makes a strong and durable impression on them. Numerous teenagers recognise being scarred by pornographic images. “I watched a few scenes from a porn film”, confides Gaëlle, 16 yrs. “I found the experience violent. I was shocked by certain images which stayed with me for a long time afterwards”.
Between seduction and repulsion
“The adolescent sees pornographic images as an anticipation of the genital sexuality they are in the midst of accessing and they’re driven to giving these images an excessive place”, highlights the psychoanalyst Gérard Bonnet in his work Defi à la pudeur (Defying Modesty). “We watched a cassette tape just for laughs”, shares Yannick, 17 yrs. “There was a group of us and it excited us.” Pornography creates a deep ambivalence in young people. They are on the one hand, seduced by these images, because they provide a strong sensational experience, and on the other hand, overwhelmed, because they acknowledge the scenarios are violent and based on dominance and possession. They find themselves in a deadlock, which sometimes brings them to totally separate out feelings, from sexuality.
Protect your sexuality
Despite the discourse of certain trendy libertarians, pornography does not allow one to access a sexuality that is free and fulfilling. It actually carries the risk of weakening the sexual imagination of a young adolescent. Because pornography doesn’t let you see sexuality in its wholeness. As Michela Marzano explains: « By wanting to show everything, pornography only deconstructs sexuality, by emptying it from the inside.” Sexuality is an energy meant for serving relationships. It is made from mystery, desire, fears and expectations but also from what is missing. It demands our person in its entirety because it is the union of body, heart and spirit/mind. It involves our five senses but also our imagination inhabited by extraordinary fantasies. Know this and protect it, refuse the pornographic invasion society is imposing on us.
And you, what do you think? Do you watch porn sometimes? Come and talk with us through the chat’!
Going further:
- What’s wrong with looking at pornography?
- Dos porn make it harder to meet people?
- What are the consequences of porn on your health ?
Source: ‘He is Alive!’ February 2007.
