Matt Fradd's Blog, page 64

Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show

The following post was written by Emily Wilson who gave me permission to post it here.

“Time to starve because VS Fashion Show is the 10th!”

“Nothing can make me feel so inferior as a woman than looking at pictures of VS Angels.”

“Like I don’t even feel upset that I don’t look like a VS Model, I feel suicidal.”

“RIP self esteem.”

I’ve been thinking about writing a piece about the Victoria’s Secret fashion show for a while now as it will be airing next Tuesday, December 10th. To commence the research for this, I took to Twitter to read what girls say about it. All of the above is what I found as well as lots, lots more.

So where do I begin?

The feelings of insufficiency this show cultivates in young women crushes me deeply every. single. year.

If you are unaware, this show is a major event among girls all over the world. Girls throw parties to watch together and social media blows up over the event. Girls claim it makes them feel “girly” and love to get in the spirit of the show. But this show is not exactly known for the product it is “selling” – it is known for something very different – its effect on the self-esteem of young women everywhere.

As is apparent in the tweets above and the hundreds of others that are posted on the evening of the show, this show has a horrific effect on the self-image of young women. The “angels” in the show are beautiful yet very thin supermodels who, by society’s standards, have achieved perfection of their bodies. They have long limbs, gorgeous faces, and stunning smiles.

These models are said to spend hours working out, intensely watching their diet to prepare for the show. In a UK Telegraph article about Angel Adriana Lima, she states that for nine days before the show, she doesn’t eat any solid food. She works out twice a day and drinks a gallon of water. This is not a normal lifestyle for anyone who holds a normal job, goes to school, has a family, etc. Yet to girls who see these angels, it’s real. It is attainable and they haven’t attained it. This cultivates and magnifies the lie many girls just cannot shake… “I am not enough.”

The perpetuation of this lie that takes place in many girls because of the fashion show is tremendously sad and very unhealthy. The amount of self-criticism that grows from this can be damaging in many different ways.

Crushed and Angry

While I am crushed by the show, I am also always angry about it, too. There is ceaseless talk about women’s empowerment in our culture yet the media continues to glorify the treatment of women as sex objects. This focus has led to so many immense struggles for women – too many to name them all – and it has become so commonplace that we hardly notice it anymore.

There is unrelenting noise about empowerment, but there are so few women leaders standing up for the everyday women and teen girls who are hurting, lost, and affected terribly by the media. We need more powerful women who stand up and talk honestly and openly about what true beauty is and why it is important to focus on it. Jennifer Lawrence has been a great example in the past few years and I am so grateful for that. In a recent article in People magazine, Lawrence talked about how she did not want to lose weight for her role in Hunger Games, saying, “ We have the ability to control this image that young girls are going to be seeing.

Girls see enough of this body that we can’t imitate, that we’ll never be able to obtain, these unrealistic expectations, and this is going to be their hero, and we have control over that.” Thank God for a woman who recognizes the problem, offers a solution, and isn’t afraid to talk about it. We need more women who, in whatever walk of life they live, truly empower women by helping them believe in beauty – the true definition of it.

My Advice?

With all that said, my advice to women everywhere….don’t watch the show. Love yourself enough to know that you are not the sum of what you look like. Spend time focusing on loving you for you, not trying to be another girl. You have a soul, you have dreams, and you have so much to offer the world – I truly don’t believe this show helps any woman remember that or know that more deeply in her spirit.

Even if you consider yourself to be a woman who is unaffected by these images and confident in your looks and body, watching it at all supports the culture of sex and selling women. There is no way around that. We, as women, need to take a stand against it – to let the world know that it is not okay to treat women this way.

Dear Men

I also have a plea for men…please don’t watch the show. It is apparent that you aren’t watching to see the new products, and whether we as humans realize it or not, watching something like that normalizes those images in our head – and most girls don’t look like that. The way this show presents women as sex objects further cultivates that lie in the minds of men – that women can and should be looked at as things, not people. This lie strongly affects the way you see women which has the power to ruin your relationships, influence the way the women around you see themselves, and perpetuates our sad, pathetic pornographic culture that is completely destroying our world.

When I asked my boyfriend his thoughts for men regarding the show, he told me that to men it’s obviously all about the women and not about the “clothing,” making it a lust show rather than a fashion show. I could not agree more. What we truly need is more men in the world who look at women for their true beauty rather than lusting after them. We desperately need men like that.

In my ministry I have talked to enough young men to know that the struggle you face if you are trying to be a man of integrity in this world is often so intense it cannot even be put into words. As a woman, I know I cannot understand that struggle of constant bombardment of pornography and incessant presentation of women as sex objects when trying to stay away from that.

I may not understand but I have met enough good, strong, amazing men to know that it is possible to be a man who honors women in this culture. It is possible and you are accountable for being a man who lives virtue, who seeks to encourage, respect, and uplift women in everything you do.

A Word of Encouragement

In closing, when it comes to self-esteem and body image, I always encourage the young women I meet to live a healthy lifestyle. Balance is important. Balance is wonderful. Be active, go on hikes, find what you love that keeps you healthy and strong. If that’s surfing, great. If that’s boxing, great. But go out to eat your favorite awesome burger and fries every once in a while. Eat some peppermint bark and have fun. Be good to your body and focus on being healthy and strong rather than being perfect.

Most importantly, just shine on. Shine on like the glorious girls you are, perfect the way God made you no matter what you look like. Know that you are joyful and radiant. Believe in yourselves and your power to affect change in this world. As I have told you before -  believe in the grace that you were created for a divine and altogether stunning purpose. Know that you are enough – more than enough – exactly as you are in this moment – living, moving, and breathing in the hands of a good, good God. And never forget to keep your hearts up.

Filed under: Pornography, Sexuality

Porn and Naked Art: What’s the Difference?

An image from the Sistine Chapel

A question I am often asked when speaking on the topic of pornography is ‘what’s the difference between nude art and pornography?’

A reasonable question.

Some have gone so far as to argue that it may not be possible to portray the naked body in art without offending its dignity.

In this post I want to offer the beginning of an answer and then ask you to help me flesh out (pun intended) the answer.

It seems to me that the difference between porn and religious art is, in a word, the intention; both of the artist/pornographer and the viewer.

The Artist

We may begin by asking, what is the intention of the pornographer? To arouse wonder and awe at the beauty and dignity of the human person? Hardly. Simply put, it seems to me, the intention of the pornographer is is to portray a woman (usually) in such a way in order to arouse lust in the viewer.

“Lust,” according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “is disordered desire for or inordinate enjoyment of sexual pleasure. Sexual pleasure is morally disordered when sought for itself, isolated from its procreative and unitive purposes” (2351).

What about the artist? Michelangelo, say? Was is his intent? Was it not to reveal the dignity of the person and give glory to God?

When I was in the Sistine Chapel a few Easters back I remember, looking upon the nudes painted there, feeling tremendous wonderment and reverence.

The Viewer

What about the viewer? Well, theoretically, at least, it’s possible—and I’m of course not recommending it—that a person look at, say, a Playboy centerfold and feel nothing but pity for a woman who has is evidently unaware of her tremendous worth.

On the other hand it is possible that a person could waltz into the Sistine Chapel and lust over Michelangelo’s nudes.

The goal, it seems to me, is getting the intention of the artist and that of the viewer in sync with the goodness and glory of the human person.

Dr. Michael Waldstein, a renowned scholar on John Paul II’s teachings, had this to say regarding legitimate nude art:

“Some images [of the naked body] push us to concupiscence, others do not. . . . Going to the Sistine Chapel and looking at the naked women on the ceiling is for this reason a very different experience than watching a pornographic movie. It is not presumption, but the experience of many men, that one can look with purity at Michelangelo’s nudes and take delight in their beauty.

Michelangelo himself must have looked at his naked models in a pure way in order to be able to paint nudes in that pure way. . . . Of course, if one does feel a slide into concupiscence when looking at Michelangelo’s nudes, it is a good idea to look away. That need to look away should also be a trumpet blast for recognizing . . . that one is in need of a serious transformation.”[1]

Join the Discussion

1. What are your thoughts?

2. Can naked art ever by justified, why/why not?

3. How do you distinguish between pornography and the art in the Sistine Chapel?

Filed under: Pornography, Sexuality

What is the Immaculate Conception?

What is the Immaculate conception? In this post I will share a short interview I did for the Son Rise Morning Show on the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, followed by what the Catechism of the Catholic Church has to say:

Interview

Download: matt-fradd-8-27-13-1.mp3

Catechism of the Catholic Church

To become the mother of the Savior, Mary “was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role.” The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as “full of grace”. In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God’s grace.

491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, “full of grace” through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:

The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.

493 The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God “the All-Holy” (Panagia), and celebrate her as “free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature”. By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long.

“Let it be done to me according to your word. . .”

494 At the announcement that she would give birth to “the Son of the Most High” without knowing man, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary responded with the obedience of faith, certain that “with God nothing will be impossible”: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to me according to your word.” Thus, giving her consent to God’s word, Mary becomes the mother of Jesus. Espousing the divine will for salvation wholeheartedly, without a single sin to restrain her, she gave herself entirely to the person and to the work of her Son; she did so in order to serve the mystery of redemption with him and dependent on him, by God’s grace:

As St. Irenaeus says, “Being obedient she became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race.” Hence not a few of the early Fathers gladly assert. . .: “The knot of Eve’s disobedience was untied by Mary’s obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith.” Comparing her with Eve, they call Mary “the Mother of the living” and frequently claim: “Death through Eve, life through Mary.”

Filed under: Apologetics

My Love Songs for Cameron

Over seven years ago when my wife and I got married, I decided to make her a CD of love songs I had written for her. The CD was the give away at our wedding.

Here are two of the songs from that CD:

Joyful Men

Download: 03-yankee-girl.m4a

Blue Wet Towel

Download: 02-blue-wet-towel.m4a

Filed under: Uncategorized

The Coronation of Mary

The coronation of Mary.

The Rosary,” wrote Blessed Pope John Paul II, “precisely because it starts with Mary’s own experience, is an exquisitely contemplative prayer. Without this contemplative dimension, it would lose its meaning.”

Pope Paul VI wrote that “without [this contemplation,] the Rosary is a body without a soul, and its recitation is in danger of becoming a mechanical repetition of formulas and of going counter to the warning of Christ: ‘And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words’ (Mt 6:7).’”

Because of this, it is vital that Christians familiarize themselves with the Scriptures in order to meditate on the mysteries of the life of Christ.

Below is the fifth glorious mystery. To see other mysteries, click here.

The Coronation of Mary (Revelation 11:19 – 12:6)

In this Scripture passage we see Mary, the Ark of the New Covenant, bodily present in heaven portrayed as a queen with “a crown of twelve stars” (Rev 12:1).

Insight

Though we tend to think of a queen as the wife of the king, in the Davidic monarchy the queen was always the mother of the king. This makes sense when you consider that King Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines.

When Bathsheba was the wife of King David, she bowed to the king (1 Kgs 1:16). But when David died and their son, Solomon, takes the throne, the king rises to meet her, bows, and has a throne brought to his right for her to sit (1 Kgs 2:19).

This shows that the mother of the king had a distinguished role, which included interceding to the king on behalf of the people (1 Kgs 2:20). Since Jesus is the eternal king whom God gave “the throne of his father David” (Lk 1:32), if follows logically that Mary, his mother, is the Queen Mother.

 Personal Application

As our spiritual mother and the queen of heaven and earth, Mary intercedes on behalf of her spiritual children, the Church. This mystery encourages Christians to entrust themselves and their good works to the only perfect creature, the Mother of God.

Filed under: The Rosary

The Assumption of Mary

The dormition and assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Rosary,” wrote Blessed Pope John Paul II, “precisely because it starts with Mary’s own experience, is an exquisitely contemplative prayer. Without this contemplative dimension, it would lose its meaning.”

Pope Paul VI wrote that “without [this contemplation,] the Rosary is a body without a soul, and its recitation is in danger of becoming a mechanical repetition of formulas and of going counter to the warning of Christ: ‘And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words’ (Mt 6:7).’”

Because of this, it is vital that Christians familiarize themselves with the Scriptures in order to meditate on the mysteries of the life of Christ.

Below is the fourth glorious mystery. To see other mysteries, click here.

The Assumption of Mary

“The Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary,” wrote Pope Pius XII, “having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.” [1] A prophetic scripture which is used in the office for the feast of the assumption is Judith 15:9, which reads, “You are the exaltation of Jerusalem, you are the great glory of Israel, you are the great pride of our nation!”

Insight

The bodily assumption of Mary is not found within the pages of Sacred Scripture but is, nevertheless, a dogma of the faith that Catholics are not free to disbelieve.

Apart from Mary, we know of two others who were taken up into heaven: Elijah, who was taken up into heaven by a whirlwind (2 Kgs 2:11), and Enoch, of whom the author of the letter to the Hebrews writes, “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death; and he was not found because God had taken him” (Heb 11:5).

When we consider that Mary carried within her body the God of the universe, we begin to understand that it was fitting that God should spare this body physical decay.

 Personal Application

Meditating upon this mystery gives Christians a glimpse at “what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor 2:9) and consequently fills us with hopeful expectation. Mary, after all, is the prototypical Christian. What God has done for her he will one day do for us. If we accept salvation and persevere, we will be cleansed of sin and given glorified bodies.

—–

[1] Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus, 44.

Filed under: The Rosary

Why I Don’t Lie to my Children About Santa Claus

And the winner of this year’s most controversial post goes to (drum roll . . . ) this one (or this one?)!

A few years back when our children got old enough to understand the story of Father Christmas (you may know him as Santa Claus), my wife and I had an argument. She thought (and still thinks) that it’s okay to tell your children that there exists such a person: A plump, white-bearded old man, dressed in fur, flying magical reindeer, delivering presents to good boys and girls throughout the world.

I disagree.

It’s one thing to allow your child to believe a myth, it’s another thing entirely, I think, to talk them into believing it.

Lying

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “[a] lie consists in speaking a falsehood with the intention of deceiving.”

Leaving to one side the issue of mental reservation and the, ‘if-a-Nazi-was-at-your-door’ dilemmas, it seems obvious to me that telling a child—who does not yet have the cognitive ability to discern the truth of the matter, and who trusts you to tell him the truth about the world, (and at the very least, not to deceive him about it)—that Santa exists; that he ‘knows if you’ve been bad or good,’ that he can be tracked on ReindeerCam, etc. etc. is a lie: a falsehood told with the intent of deceiving.

For this reason we don’t lie to our children about Father Christmas.

When people discover this they usually object in one of theww ways:

1. “My parents told me about Santa Claus and I turned out okay. Once I found out the truth, I never doubted that God existed or anything like that.”

That’s all fine, but that’s not why I object to telling your children about Santa Claus, I object to it because I think it’s lying.

2. “Don’t you worry that you’re robbing your children of the magic of Christmas?”

To this I say, if celebrating the historical fact of the birth of the second person of the Blessed Trinity is not enough to arouse wonder, ‘magic,’ or awe, within you and your children . . . You may wanna reflect upon that.

3. “I think it’s good for their imagination!”

Don’t you think that there are other ways to encourage your child’s imagination that don’t involve lying to them? Like reading them good literature? The Chronicles of Narnia, for instance, or, The Lord the Rings. These books, to paraphrase Fr. Robert Barron, prepare the imagination for the reception of the gospel.

Will the real St. Nick stand up?

Perhaps you and I should learn more about the real St. Nicholas, and even find ways to creatively celebrate his feast with our children (his feast is on the 6th of December); they’ve got some great ideas at the St. Nicholas Center.

Did you know that St. Nicholas was a fourth century Bishop of Myra (part of modern-day Turkey)? And that he participated in the First Council of Nicaea—where he apparently punched the heretic Arius for denying Christ’s divinity? Bring it Nicko!

Disagree?

If you’d like to read a post that appears to argue the opposite of what I’m arguing here, you can read Catholic apologist Michelle Arnold’s post, The Truth About Santa Claus. You might also enjoy Matt Warner’s recent post (looks like we posted around the same time) Are you lying to your children about Santa.

Have Your Say

Now, what are your thoughts? This post would be awfully boring if y’all agreed with me.I’m sure you won’t. I should also say that I’m open to changing my mind if you can offer me a good argument as to why this doesn’t constitute lying, but, honestly, I doubt you’ll be able.

Filed under: Apologetics

10 Advent Songs to Remind You It’s Not Yet Christmas

Holding back the tide is impossible. How impossible? Well, to use an analogy, it’d be like not hearing Christmas music during advent.

Am I right? I’m right.

This year my wife and I decided we’d implement some changes, some rituals which we hope will help us and our children be more cognizant of the season we’re in—advent.

We’ve decorated the house in purple (we’ll decorate it with Christmas colors on Christmas eve), we aren’t eating desert after meals (it’s a season of penance), we’ve got a sweet Advent wreath going on, and we’re going to try and pray the five joyful mysteries of the rosary with the kids (without killing them) each night before bed.

Apart from that I’ve been looking for some beautiful Advent songs to play during meals. It’s harder than I expected.

Here are ten which I found particularly beautiful:

O Come O Come Emmanuel

O Come Divine Messiah

Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

Ave Maria

Come Thou Fount

Rorate Caeli Desuper

Every Valley Shall Be Exalted

Hark! A Thrilling Voice is Sounding

Gabriel’s Message

Veni Veni Emmanuel (Latin version)

Filed under: Uncategorized

15 Amazing Quotes from Evangelii Gaudium

Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, is beautiful. Simple, yet profound, and definitely worth your time. I read it to my wife tonight over a glass (or three) of wine.

You should do likewise (unless you don’t have a wife, in which case you should propose, marry, buy wine, download the letter and then read it. Come on; chop-chop!)

Ok. Here are 15 fantastic quotes from the letter which I’ve broken into seven categories. Enjoy:

Mercy

1. “Let me say this once more: God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy.”

2. “I want to remind priests that the confessional must not be a torture chamber but rather an encounter with the Lord’s mercy which spurs us on to do our best. A small step, in the midst of great human limitations, can be more pleasing to God than a life which appears outwardly in order but moves through the day without confronting great difficulties.”

3. “The Eucharist . . .  is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.”

Joy

4. “Sometimes we are tempted to find excuses and complain, acting as if we could only be happy if a thousand conditions were met. To some extent this is because our ‘technological society has succeeded in multiplying occasions of pleasure, yet has found it very difficult to engender joy’.”

Evangelization

5. ”An evangelizer must never look like someone who has just come back from a funeral! Let us recover and deepen our enthusiasm, that ‘delightful and comforting joy of evangelizing, even when it is in tears that we must sow… And may the world of our time, which is searching, sometimes with anguish, sometimes with hope, be enabled to receive the good news not from evangelizers who are dejected, discouraged, impatient or anxious, but from ministers of the Gospel whose lives glow with fervour, who have first received the joy of Christ’.”

6. ”Instead of seeming to impose new obligations, [Christians] should appear as people who wish to share their joy, who point to a horizon of beauty and who invite others to a delicious banquet. It is not by proselytizing that the Church grows, but ‘by attraction’.”

7. “The Church evangelizes and is herself evangelized through the beauty of the liturgy, which is both a celebration of the task of evangelization and the source of her renewed self-giving.”

The Poor

8. “I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security. . . . More than by fear of going astray, my hope is that we will be moved by the fear of remaining shut up within structures which give us a false sense of security, within rules which make us harsh judges, within habits which make us feel safe, while at our door peole are starving and Jesus does not tire of saying to us: ‘Give them something to eat’ (Mk 6:37).”

9. “Almost without being aware of it, we end up being incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor, weeping for other people’s pain, and feeling a need to help them, as though all this were someone else’s responsibility and not our own. The culture of prosperity deadens us; we are thrilled if the market offers us something new to purchase; and in the meantime all those lives stunted for lack of opportunity seem a mere spectacle; they fail to move us.”

10. ”I beg the Lord to grant us more politicians who are genuinely disturbed by the state of society, the people, the lives of the poor!”

Marriage and Family

11. “Marriage now tends to be viewed as a form of mere emotional satisfaction that can be constructed in any way or modified at will. But the indispensible contribution of marriage to society transcends the feelings and momentary needs of the couple. As the French bishops have taught, it is not born ‘of loving sentiment, ephemeral by definition, but from the depth of the obligation assumed by the spouses who accept to enter a total communion of life’.”

Women and the Priesthood

12. ”The reservation of the priesthood to males, as a sign of Christ the Spouse who gives himself in the Eucharist, is not a question open to discussion, but it can prove especially divisive if sacramental power is too closely identified with power in general. It must be remembered that when we speak of sacramental power ‘we are in the realm of function, not that of dignity or holiness’.”

Encountering Jesus

13. ”The primary reason for evangelizing is the love of Jesus which we have received, the experience of salvation which urges us to ever greater love of him. What kind of love would not feel the need to speak of the beloved, to point him out, to make him known? If we do not feel an intense desire to share this love, we need to pray insistently that he will once more touch our hearts. We need to implore his grace daily, asking him to open our cold hearts and shake up our lukewarm and superficial existence.”

14. “It is impossible to persevere in a fervent evangelization unless we are convinced from personal experience that it is not the same thing to have known Jesus as not to have known him, not the same thing to walk with him as to walk blindly, not the same thing to hear his word as not to know it, and not the same thing to contemplate him, to worship him, to find our peace in him, as not to.”

15. ”I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since ‘no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord’.”

Download Evangelii Gaudium here:

Oh, and you see those buttons down there where it says “share this:” Go ahead, no one’s looking; click ‘em.

Filed under: Meditation

10 Shocking Porn Stats

One my pet peeves is when people cite statistics without knowing, or caring about knowing, the source; and the soundness of that source.

Below are 10 statistics that I found particularly eye-opening. I’ve listed the sources at the end of the post.

For a comprehensive and up-to-date resource that contains accurate information about the industry, audience, and impacts of pornography download this free ebook from Covenant Eyes.

The Porn Industry

1. According to Websense, in 2004 the number of porn sites went from 88,000 in 2000 to nearly 1.6 million.

2. In 2002, there were 11,300 mainstream hardcore films released, compared to 470 Hollywood features.

Porn and the Performer

3. One male pornographic performer, Rocco (600 films and 3,000 women), said: “Every professional in the porn-world has herpes, male or female.”

4. Tanya Burleson said, “Guys are punching you in the face. You get ripped. Your insides can come out of you. It’s never ending. You’re viewed as an object — not as a human with a spirit. People do drugs because they can’t deal with the way they’re being treated.”

Porn and the User

5. In 2005, a study of 400 Internet users showed a significant correlation between pornography use and loneliness.

6. In 2005, a study of youth between the ages of 10 and 17 concluded that there is a significant relationship between frequent porn use and feelings of loneliness and major depression.

7. In a meta-analysis of 46 studies published from 1962 to 1995, comprising a total sample of 12,323 people, researchers concluded pornographic material puts one at increased risk of:

- developing sexually deviant tendencies (31% increase in risk)

- committing sexual offenses (22% increase in risk)

- accepting rape myths (31% increase in risk)

Porn And Families

8. According to sociologist Jill Manning, the research indicates pornography consumption is associated with the following six trends, among others:

- Increased marital distress, and risk of separation and divorce

- Decreased marital intimacy and sexual satisfaction

- Infidelity

- Increased appetite for more graphic types of pornography and sexual activity associated with abusive, illegal or unsafe practices

- Devaluation of monogamy, marriage and child rearing

- An increasing number of people struggling with compulsive and addictive sexual behavior

Psychological Correlations

9. Neurologist Serge Stoleru has found that overexposure to erotic stimuli exhausts the sexual responses of normal, healthy young men.

10. According to an article published on Psychology Today, over exposure to pornography can lead to erectile dysfunction.

———-

1. Jennifer Davies and David Washburn, “San Diego’s adult entertainment goes uptown, upscale and online (first of two parts),” Union Tribune, Oct. 18, 2004.

2. Paul Keegan, “Prime-time porn borrowing tactics from the old Hollywood studios, Vivid Entertainment has ditched the plain brown wrapper and is taking the multibillion-dollar sex-film industry mainstream,” Business 2.0 Magazine, June 1, 2003.

3. Shelley Lubben, “Ex-porn star tells the truth about the porn industry,” Breaking Free, Oct. 28, 2008.

4. Ibid.

5. Vincent Cyrus Yoder, Thomas B. Virden III, and Kiran Amin, “Internet Pornography and Loneliness: An Association?” Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity 12 (2005): 19-44.

6. Michele L. Ybarra and Kimberly J. Mitchell, “Exposure to Internet Pornography among Children and Adolescents: A National Survey,” CyberPsychology & Behavior 8 (2005): 473-486.

7. Manning, “Hearing.”

8. Jill Manning, “Hearing on pornography’s impact on marriage & the family,” U.S. Senate Hearing: Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights, Committee on Judiciary, Nov. 10, 2005.

9. Judith Reisman, “The impotence pandemic,” WorldNetDaily. Sept. 27, 2007.

10. Marnia Robinson & Gary Wilson, “Porn-Induced Sexual Dysfunction: A Growing Problem,” Psychology Today. Jan. 31, 2013.

Filed under: Pornography