So what ARE the ill effects from reading something...um..."explicit"

[Chris in VA]

I was challenged on an article comment I made, and I would appreciate some secular articles re the above.

[Guest inoubliable]

Elicit?

Porn-ish?

[Guest]

For boys: besides the guilt and viewing women as objects instead of people, I have heard that it can desensitize them to the point where they become impotent with real women in real situations and prefer photoshopped fantasy creatures in science fiction settings.

 

Try googling the search terms "impotence pornography" and you'll get some eye-opening hits. I didn't save any bookmarks from when I was researching the subject, so I can't recommend any specific articles.

[Chris in VA]

Explicit like 50 Shades or TBE (not to reopen the discussion, I'm just looking for resources). 

[Guest inoubliable]

Are you talking about adults reading this stuff? Adolescents? 

[Tangerine]

I think this is WAY dependent on the individual.  Some people use it to fan their flames and take it to their partner.  Some people compare their partner to fiction, and develop unrealistic expectations.  That is why there are going to be horror stories about porn consumption, and millions of men who get along just fine. Individual.  I know you were asking for articles though.  Sorry.

 

ETA: Men and women. Way to be sexist, Tangerine.

[swellmomma]

The biggest ill effect of my reading 50 shades is the chores don't get done.  I think for some it can pose the risk of unrealistic expectations like a pp mentioned, I think it can pose an issue if someone reads something like 50 shades and uses it to start some *ahem* exploration but does not understand the limitations, trust etc that the lifestyle involves.  So some like myself, it is explicit but there is no ill effect other than a lack of things being done around the house until I finish reading.  I think for the majority of people there is no ill effects, just like there is no ill effects to watching violent movies or playing explicit or violent video games, but for a small percentage of the population those things can feed into issues.  Some people are more agitated/aggressive after watching violent movies or playing violent video games, I think some people can be more responsive to their sexual urges and perhaps less prudent as a result of such material.  The material read didn't cause the ill effect but exacerbated an issue already there kwim.  In a secular sense I don't think there is an ill effect to explict materials such as 50 shades as opposed to pornography in general.  Fictional porn does not objectify women in the same way that video and pictures do imo.  No more than murder mysteries sensationalize murder kwim.  Within that genre I don't think there is ill effect.  In christian and other religious circles I would not say that, within those circles there would the belief of ill effect to the spirit, to purity of mind etc.  But in a secular sense I see none.

[Chris in VA]

Nevermind.

I commented on an article re TBE in schools, and someone challenged me. It  made me think, which is good, but I felt lazy about finding my own resources. 

Let's just drop it. Been done to death on these boards. 

[Jennifer3141]

You go blind!! Everyone knows that!!

[Chris in VA]

You go blind!! Everyone knows that!!

 

*snort* 

Thought that was from the effects of...oh, nevermind.  :rolleyes:  ;)

[gardenmom5]

this is from a counselor who deals exclusively with s-x/p-rn addictions.  sorry - I don't have an article. it changes the brain chemistry - dopamine levels and how they are used, etc., and it takes months of not indulging for the brain chemistry to return to normal.,

[Guest submarines]

Nevermind.

I commented on an article re TBE in schools, and someone challenged me. It  made me think, which is good, but I felt lazy about finding my own resources. 

Let's just drop it. Been done to death on these boards. 

What is TBE?

[Rosie_0801]

this is from a counselor who deals exclusively with s-x/p-rn addictions.  sorry - I don't have an article. it changes the brain chemistry - dopamine levels and how they are used, etc., and it takes months of not indulging for the brain chemistry to return to normal.,

 

For reading material? I've heard that about video.

[Tangerine]

this is from a counselor who deals exclusively with s-x/p-rn addictions.  sorry - I don't have an article. it changes the brain chemistry - dopamine levels and how they are used, etc., and it takes months of not indulging for the brain chemistry to return to normal.,

 

See now, I want to know where this is from.  I know, you said you don't know.  But it makes me think, is this study referring to people with addictions,as would be seen by this counselor, or everyone?  What kind of consumption are we talking about that is resulting in a months long decline to normal? These are important distinctions. I can't imagine that a moderate consumption of erotica would be causing your brain chemistry to go all whackadoo for months at a time.

[Tangerine]

What is TBE?

 

Yes, this.  All I can come up with is Transitional Bilingual Education.

[Caroline]

What is TBE?

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

[Tangerine]

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

 

Ah!  Thank you.  That's sort of a different variety of explicit than I was thinking.

 

[gardenmom5]

See now, I want to know where this is from.  I know, you said you don't know.  But it makes me think, is this study referring to people with addictions,as would be seen by this counselor, or everyone?  What kind of consumption are we talking about that is resulting in a months long decline to normal? These are important distinctions. I can't imagine that a moderate consumption of erotica would be causing your brain chemistry to go all whackadoo for months at a time.

some people have a more addictive personality/brain chemistry than others - so the level of "consumption" to produce addiction isn't static.  for some - it only takes once. for other's, they might never actually be "addicted".  If you come from a family of addicts (booze, smoking, whatever), chances are higher that you'll also have the chemistry that is more likely to produce the addiction.

 

the counselor's comment to questions like yours :'how do you know you're addicted?/why should you seek help?"  are basically the same.  'because you can't stop.'  those who do have an addiction are compelled to keep at it - and they will usually want more and more graphic material just to maintain the same "high".  they could go weeks without, and then get their 'trigger' tripped that makes them seek it out and really struggle to not give in.

[Kathryn]

Anecdotal: The people I know whose early exposure was to deviant explicit material before having formed a loving intimate relationship of their own all had/have huge problems with sex. Those who have encountered such material later in life did not.

 

ETA: and by deviant I mean things like incest, rape, men peeing on women, etc., not seeing a Playboy magazine.

[poppy]

Sex addiction is a pop psychology concept. It is not recognized as a disease or disorder in a clinical sense.

[poppy]

Anecdotal: The people I know whose early exposure was to deviant explicit material before having formed a loving intimate relationship of their own all had/have huge problems with sex. Those who have encountered such material later in life did not.

 

By deviant do you mean child porn or something extreme?  Otherwise, I think you are probably referring to ...... almost  everyone. 

[mommymilkies]

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Thank you.  Here I was thinking that my knowledge of these things was rather dull and incomplete.  Now I feel all dirty for racking my mind trying to figure out what TBE is in this context.  :lol:

 

Chris, I'm taking your post seriously.  I'll find you some stuff.  Give me a 'mo.

[albeto.]

I was challenged on an article comment I made, and I would appreciate some secular articles re the above.

 

I would think any ill effects would be due to a combination of a number of variables. Just watching people have sex doesn't seem to have created generations of socially inept, sexually frustrated men in those societies across the globe and throughout the centuries in which families (sometimes multiple families) share sleeping quarters. So I'm guessing there's other things going on.

[mommymilkies]

Ok, so like many things, it can be totally benign for many people.  However, it can cross a line.  To me, it crosses a line once there are signs of addiction or it negatively affects relationships or work (besides the obviously illegal stuff).  Some of these are studies or link to studies.  Some are opinion by scientists/psychologists.

 

I'm sure my dh is looking over my shoulder thinking all sorts of weird things about me right now.  :lol:

 

Obviously these have explicit words in them.

 

http://neuroscienceoflife.com/2013/03/20/the-neuroscience-of-pornography/

http://neuroscienceoflife.com/2013/04/22/the-male-brains-response-to-sexualized-women/

http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/jocn.2010.21497

http://www.nerdgraph.com/porn-effects-on-dopamine-levels/

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cupids-poisoned-arrow/201010/how-i-recovered-porn-related-erectile-dysfunction

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cupids-poisoned-arrow/201003/porn-goes-performance-goes-down

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00224490109552102#.UjUDE2Q__FQ

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00224499409551727#.UjUFZmQ__FR

http://goodmenproject.com/guy-talk/swearing-off-porn-saved-my-sex-life/

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cupids-poisoned-arrow/201101/sex-and-morality-debate-between-competing-neurons

http://www.menshealth.com/sex-women/porn-debate?fullpage=true

http://blogs.menshealth.com/health-headlines/is-porn-bumming-you-out/2011/04/01

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00224498909551529#.UjUFc2Q__FQ

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01639625.1994.9967974#.UjUFbWQ__FQ

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cupids-poisoned-arrow/201010/protect-your-appetite-pleasure

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lauren-dubinsky/porn-addiction_b_1686481.html

http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/FC_Marriage_2010-01pr.pdf

 

 

I also am unsure about posting more links about the other side of this-the men and women who make these movies/pictures and the terrible things that are done to them, etc.  Whoever tells you otherwise is very naive.  IDK if all of this is ok to post, so I will pm it to you as well, Chris. 

[Kathryn]

By deviant do you mean child porn or something extreme? Otherwise, I think you are probably referring to ...... almost everyone.

I must have edited while you were posting. Yes, by deviant I mean behavior outside of accepted norms/laws, the ways that consenting adults "generally" treat one another, etc.

[Um_2_4]

Just google this term :"psychological effects of early exposure to sexual violence" and you get lots of links NIH, Psychology today, etc.

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

Having the material pop into your head at intimate times when you really don't want it to and killing the mood.

[Heather in Neverland]

Well for me, the problem with reading 50 Shades is that it makes me feel dumber (because of the awful writing) and makes me feel disgusted (because the weak, low-self-esteem, whiny, needy heroine is the polar opposite of how I am or how I want my daughter to be).

 

At least The Bluest Eye is well-written.  

[mommymilkies]

Well for me, the problem with reading 50 Shades is that it makes me feel dumber (because of the awful writing) and makes me feel disgusted (because the weak, low-self-esteem, whiny, needy heroine is the polar opposite of how I am or how I want my daughter to be).

 

At least The Bluest Eye is well-written.  

I haven't read it, but this is what I've heard, as well.  Now, I read brain candy sometimes, but heroines who are weak and stupid do nothing for me.