A growing mountain of evidence proves pornography stunts human sexuality, warps relationships between men and women and facilitates abuse. But few — if any — progressive thinkers denounce porn consumption.
Author and cultural critic Christine Emba observed as much in a piece for The New York Times: “Despite significant evidence that a deluge of pornography has had a negative impact on modern society, there is a curious refusal, especially in progressive circles, to publicly admit disapproval of porn.”
Emba attributes the phenomenon to progressives’ perception of themselves as “forward-thinking, thoughtful and open-minded.” The true cause is far more existential.
Progressives cannot denounce porn without invalidating their long-held views on sex and sexuality — the same ones that normalize homosexuality, “kink,” and the “sexual rights” of children.
The progressive sexual ethic centers on the assertion that humans are inherently sexual beings, born with sexual tastes and preferences that cannot be changed.
This central premise undergirds three of the left’s most consequential stances on sexuality:
- Because sexuality is immutable and unchanging, sexual tastes and preferences must be legally protected as identities.
- Because human beings are inherently sexual creatures, sexual expression is a human right.
- Because sexual expression is a human right, limiting sexual expression violates a person’s bodily autonomy.
These three arguments anchor the left’s radical sexual worldview, including arguments that homosexuality and “gender identity” deserve the same legal protections as sex and ethnicity and that, as the International Planned Parenthood Federation enumerates, “young people” have the right to “explore, experience and express their sexualities in healthy, positive, pleasurable and safe ways.”
But emerging evidence about the damaging effects of porn proves sexual preferences and behaviors aren’t immutable — they are shaped and swayed by the material we ingest.
A new report on internet-based sexual abuse (IBSA) from the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) cites a survey of more than 430 men engaging in online sexual activities. Nearly 50% of respondents reported being “involved in practice or search[ing] for pornography which previously was not interesting or even disgusting to them.”
The survey findings match up with an investigation from The Guardian connecting digital pornography to rising rates of pedophilia. Two anonymous offenders interviewed by the outlet claim they had no interest in child sexual abuse material (CSAM) prior to forming a pornography addiction.
The connection between prolonged pornography consumption and the development of deviant and illegal sexual tastes proves human sexuality is not an identity characteristic. Our tastes and behaviors change over time.
In other words, we are not, in fact, born this way.
Evidence showing behaviors like viewing pornography can negatively influence sexuality further implicates progressives’ belief in sexual expression without limits.
The normalization of homosexuality, “kink,” childhood sexual exploration and even abortion reflect the left’s concerted push to eliminate sexual norms it deems “discriminatory” — the idea being that a more sexually expressive, less “judgmental” culture will inspire human flourishing.
The damaging influence of porn on human sexuality adds to a pile of evidence from a variety of disciplines disproving this theory. Refusing to consume pornography, in particular, protects individuals from forming extreme and illegal sexual desires and spares communities the devastating impacts of abuse like pedophilia.
These conclusions aren’t novel or particularly controversial, but you won’t catch progressive thinkers exploring them publicly; too much of the left’s political and social platforms rely on its sexual ethic.
Questioning it now would topple the worldview entirely.
Daily Citizen is a news division of Focus on the Family that provides a faith-based perspective to counter the mainstream media’s anti-Christian bias.
