Porn is not a new thing. It dates back to early ancient Rome where it was depicted through images and texts. But only in recent years has it become the phenomenon that has now kidnapped our society.
1953 saw the birth of modern pornography, with the release of the very first edition of Playboy magazine, picturing the famous sex icon Marilyn Monroe on the front cover. The 1960s and 70s accelerated the popularity of pornography with the sexual revolution. It became a growing industry, where possessing the competitive edge meant producing the most graphic and shocking content.
Today, we see pornography make its way into mainstream media with well-known celebrities releasing their own material while featuring in Playboy and countless other magazines. Porn stars have reached celebrity status appearing on reality TV shows and gaining hundreds of thousands of followers on Twitter and Facebook. The line between pop culture and porn culture has become so blurred that images deemed as porn 20 years ago are now acceptable and present in almost every music video.
The consumption of porn has been made easier with the introduction of the internet. The rapid development of laptops and smartphones has further allowed users to gain increased access. The statistics surrounding the consumption of porn are actually quite staggering. In 2010, Psychologies magazine found that one in three 10-year-olds have seen pornography online and 81 per cent of 14 to 16-year-olds regularly access explicit photographs and footage on their home computers.
I personally find the statistics surrounding the use of porn entirely believable. Almost every single one of my non-Christian friends has been fairly open about their use of it. It was common living in a house of guys for one to shout out of his room: “Don’t disturb me, I’m having a wank!” before closing the door for a good half hour. It’s considered normal for male students to watch porn at least once a day. In fact, it was deemed odd and unnatural for me to take the standpoint that I believed any sort of sexual activity was to be saved solely for marriage. Saying that, it doesn’t mean that I or any other Christian doesn’t struggle with these issues and it’s only by God’s grace that I believe freedom is found in this area.
I recently watched an interesting documentary on the BBC called Twilight of the Porn Stars where Louis Theroux revisits the Los Angeles porn scene. The show identifies the struggle of porn performers attempting to make a living in a saturated market. The platforms provided by the internet have allowed for any couple with a video camera, who desire so, to shoot and upload their own porn film for free. The increasing amount of material available online has placed many professional porn performers out of business yet it hasn’t seemed to dent the industry’s ability to generate revenue. The pornography industry was worth $96 billion (£61 billion) globally in 2006 and estimated to be worth £1 billion in the UK alone.
The porn industry currently looks to be standing stronger than ever before but we must ask the question what does the future hold for this Goliath? Porn has undoubtedly become more socially acceptable. However recently the government, due to great pressure from campaigners, is being forced to consider the implications that porn is having on our society. Our generation being the first generation to be exposed to this much porn has essentially meant we have become the guinea pig of a mass social experiment. I believe it’s only a matter of time before those assessing the damage realise how deeply and negatively it has affected our generation.
As Christians, obedience to what the Bible teaches only leaves us responding in one way to porn and that is to pick up stones and launch them at Goliath’s forehead. The organisations that have taken up this challenge, most notably Safer Media and Premier Radio with the recent Block Porn Campaign, have made major progress. For the sake of our generation we need to engage with these issues, pick up our stones and join the fight.