Is porn ethically bad for you?

Separating facts from fiction and the unrealistic expectations from porn
By Shivani Jeet, Contributor

Women who went missing were found on Pornhub and Mindgeek, forced to participate in sexual activities against their will.

While there are many personal views on whether or not porn is a bad thing to watch and masturbate to, porn itself isn’t bad—as long as the content is created ethically, legally, consensually, and using only adult actors.

Porn has long been used for those seeking to satisfy their sexual needs, may it be for their own personal pleasures or with their partner. And there should be absolutely nothing wrong with that!

However, it is important to remember that porn isn’t as realistic as it seems, so don’t be too keen on having high expectations for your first time (or other times after that) to be so perfect. The reality of sex and porn is that they are two completely different things: porn is fiction where actors are hired to perform unrealistic versions of sex, while real sex should be based on your own reality and the things you and your partner make it out to be.

Porn can influence an individual’s expectations of sex and because of this, they are susceptible to being insecure about their body, pretty privilege, and how enhanced one’s genitals appear—and this isn’t your fault. This has a lot to do with societal expectations itself and how sex is displayed in movies, shows, and sexually explicit music. This should also be a reminder that porn videos aren’t somewhere where you should go to learn about sex education. There is a place and time for this (*cough* school *cough*). With many porn websites out there, we must also be aware of which porn websites we should and shouldn’t support.

Recently, there have been sex trafficking allegations made towards one of the top porn websites: Pornhub, and their sister company, Mindgeek. Women who went missing were found on Pornhub and Mindgeek, forced to participate in sexual activities against their will. Plenty of survivors came forward and shared their experiences of being violated and exposed for others on the internet for the viewer’s sexual pleasure. Some of the porn content on there can also be sexist and reek of misogyny. Thankfully, Pornhub and Mindgeek are not the only porn websites out there. In fact, there are ethical porn websites that provide consensual videos and are owned by women, rather than submissive vs dominant content, child porn, gang rape, and other inappropriate or unethical and illegal videos. These videos should never even be uploaded in the first place.

For those who are looking to have access to a list, here is one provided by cosmopolitan.com of safer porn websites.