(Originally published in Live Action)
Two members of the New Jersey General Assembly, Jay Webber and Michael Inganamort, have recently sponsored Bill A4146 and Bill A3819 in their efforts to pass stricter regulation of sexual material on the internet. Bill A4146 “…would require electronics manufacturers to block access to sites with obscene material. Consumers over the age of 18 could pay a $20 per-device tax to disable it,” and Bill A3819 would enact stricter age verification methods, and “…would apply to social media platforms where at least a third of accounts host such content, or to any site where such content comprises at least one-third of all content on at least one user account.”
These politicians’ efforts are commendable, as children are exposed to pornography starting as early as elementary school. A study by the University of New Hampshire found that “…the percentage of children (ages 10 to 17) who said they had an unwanted exposure to sexual material in the past year rose from 25% in 2000 to 34% in 2005; and 13% of these youth said they had ‘gone to an X-rated site on purpose in the past year,’ compared to 8% in 2000. Among 16- and 17-year old boys, 38% said they had visited X-rated sites on purpose in the past year. According to a survey conducted in 2004 by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, 45% of teens (ages 12 to 17) had friends who regularly view and download pornography from the Internet.”
Other studies have found that early exposure to porn is linked to detrimental attitudes about sex and relationships among young persons, higher rates of porn use, low self-esteem, lower life satisfaction, an increase in sexual partners, and a higher acceptance of violent or coercive sexual content.
Given that our culture has seen a rise in cohabitation, along with higher rates of divorce, could porn’s hormonal impacts be at least partially responsible for the rising lack of commitment in persons who are sexually active? The question must be asked: how does porn affect the brain and, therefore, healthy relationships?
Porn is addictive
Pornography triggers addictive brain chemicals such as dopamine. This triggering evokes feelings comparable to the effects people experience from cocaine and heroin use. Porn users experience the high caused by the release of dopamine, similar to cocaine, which then causes a repetitive craving for the high. The “release” of the orgasm is similar to the opiate effects of heroin.
However, orgasms caused by porn do not release the endorphins that are released through the physical touch that accompanies sex with another person, and this lack of satisfaction causes the brain to require more novel types of pornography to reach the same levels of satisfaction.
Since porn orgasms lack the endorphins responsible for feelings of well-being and improved mood, porn triggers two additive brain chemicals while simultaneously resulting in an increased tolerance of pornographic material. Further, the act of masturbating, whether alone or with a partner, releases oxytocin and vasopressin, which are “bonding” hormones. How does real-life attachment then get distorted when porn users release hormones “bonding” them with multiple video subjects?
Disruption of bonding hormones
Along with dopamine and opioids, oxytocin and vasopressin are two of the main bonding hormones released by both men and women during sex, though men are more affected by vasopressin, and women by oxytocin. Both of these hormones are responsible for regulating maternal and paternal behaviors, such as mother-infant bonding, pair bonding, and empathy in women. In men, they are responsible for mate guarding, long-term commitment, and pair bonding.
When these hormones are stimulated through sex, they reinforce trust and pair bonding between the male and female. Oxytocin “acts as emotional super glue between partners, and vasopressin “helps a man bond to his partner and instills a protective instinct toward his partner and children…In a monogamous, faithful marriage…oxytocin and vasopressin biologically increase the bond between husband and wife.”
While these Republican Assemblymen are moving in the right direction, porn is harmful at every age, not just for minors. It is abhorrent to think of how children’s perceptions of healthy relationship dynamics are distorted by porn exposure starting in elementary school. Children who are wired to search for the self-realization that comes with finding your place in the world are being damaged repeatedly by exposure to addictive, porn-generated hormones, leaving them hollow and longing for fulfillment.
Most distressing may be the level of sexual violence to which children are now being exposed. The Children’s Commissioner for England, for example, found that “Of the 18-21-year-olds, 79% had seen pornography involving sexual violence as children. Almost half of young people say girls expect sex to involve physical aggression, such as airway restriction.”
For us to preserve the innocence of children and provide them with their inherent right to be known and loved by mothers and fathers living in life-long, committed relationships undamaged by porn, our first steps as a society must be to educate ourselves about the harms of altering “bonding hormones” through pornography use and continue efforts to ban pornography.