Internet Porn – “Widespread and Silent” – for Both Sexes

I was struck with my ignorance recently when someone forwarded an article to me, titled, Why More and More Women are Using Internet Porn. The assumption I made, which most people I suspect will make, is porn is a man’s problem. Wrong!

It appears women also are being trapped more and more by the temptations of pornography. The internet, though it blesses us so much, makes it easier and quicker than ever to silently get what the body desires.

A Body-Mind Conundrum

“Porn has an instant effect on the human body and mind and the psyche, even if you disapprove of what you are seeing... So women may find their body is saying yes, even though their mind may be saying no — and that can be upsetting.”

~Phillip Hodson, Psychotherapist.

*The purpose of this article is not to hone in on women and internet porn, but merely to raise the subject, and discuss it in parallel with the male gender — appreciating that internet porn is a very real problem for growing masses of people.

We can quickly deduce; porn does not discriminate!

There is certainly no true shame for women with this problem when we consider the sameness of human psychology at the behest of desire.

Anyone can be trapped, as the body and mind go to war with each other. Fleshy body and spiritual mind — this is the basis of a great portion of the Apostle Paul’s teaching.

He knew the physical-spiritual conundrum; it’s ever present, just it’s re-formatted in this technological age.

There’s no point to the idea of rejecting this conundrum. We must be acutely aware of it, and live with it, seeking God in our reconciliation of it.

A Problem for the Masses – Good News, in Fact, for the Individual

Use this huge problem as good news — that’s what the Holy Spirit may be saying.

And it’s the truth in any event; guilt and shame are quelled the instant we understand how easy it is to be trapped — and how many are being afflicted.

Taking the ease for which we’re trapped in using internet porn, we’re blessed to not go near it. That’s a physical imperative, despite a voice in our head saying, “Go there!” — the body ransoming the mind.

Consider, perhaps, that say two-to-a-half-dozen physically satisfying experiences using it may create the meandering compulsion to continue, though some may be trapped instantly.

For many that should be a scary reality. Internet porn is not like alcohol or cigarettes, where tastes need to be acquired, it’s more like heroin — entrapment can be instant...

For those suffering, honesty and disclosure — in safe circles — is the key. There are therapeutic groups, and even though we might find ourselves awkwardly placed, and even not fitting perhaps, we’ve made the step — and God always honours our courageous steps toward healing.

That is, safety in numbers. We know we’re not alone in this. Might we be surprised just how many, and who, are trapped — or, indeed, who’ve now been freed!

© 2011 S. J. Wickham.

Graphic Credit: Sydney Morning Herald.