IV. The Cultural Pervasiveness of Pornography: Landscape and Trends

“For I know my transgressions; my sin is always before me.” (Ps 51:5)

The Church has always had the duty of “scrutinizing the signs of the times” and “interpreting them in the light of the Gospel.”40 Pornography, though not new, is a particularly dark “sign” of the modern world, one that harms countless men, women, children, marriages, and families. Today it can be considered a structure of sin.41 It is so pervasive in sectors of our society that it is difficult to avoid, challenging to remove, and has negative effects that go beyond any one person’s actions. At the same time, as with any sin, pornography’s prevalence in our society is rooted in the personal sins of individuals who make, disseminate, and view it, and by doing so further perpetuate it as a structure of sin. In the following paragraphs, we as pastors and shepherds evaluate its presence in our society. In imitation of Jesus, the Divine Physician, we examine the sickness of pornography in order to offer a fitting cure: the plentiful mercy and love of God given in the sacraments and in the Church’s accompaniment of those who strive steadfastly toward purity.

A range of victims

There are many victims of pornography. Every person portrayed in it is beloved by God our Father and is someone’s daughter or son. Their dignity is abused as they are used for others’ pleasure and profit. Pornography has connections to sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation worldwide,42 an evil that we, as bishops, have condemned strenuously.43 Many sex trafficking victims (mostly women and girls) are forced into prostitution, which may include pornography as “training” or as their “product.”44 All child pornography is automatically trafficking and a crime, because it involves the sexual exploitation of a minor for commercial gain and it is against the child’s will due to the inability to give consent.45 The actors in pornographic films also face serious risks, such as contracting a sexually transmitted infection (STI) and high rates of drug and alcohol abuse.46

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There are also collateral effects from pornography use everywhere in the culture. Viewing pornography conditions men (and women) to look at other human beings simply as sexual objects,47 rather than as persons who deserve respect and love. They are trained in a “pornographic gaze” and “habit of objectification.”48 Women in particular may begin to see and present themselves as sexual objects, dressing or acting in a sexual manner, even at a young age,49 and pursuing an idealized, falsified image of female beauty that can lead to mistreatment of their bodies, including eating disorders. Women (and men) may feel pressured to engage in degrading sexual acts that are portrayed in pornography.50 There is also more serious collateral damage in terms of violence against women. Much of pornography is violent,51 and when for example men view it, they are more likely to sexually abuse a girlfriend or wife.52

Pervasive visibility

Erotic, over-sexualized, and pornographic images are more present in American society than ever before. It is commonplace to see these images while reading magazines and social media content, shopping online or at the mall, or watching movies and television. Mainstream entertainment itself has become hypersexualized. Novels that at one time would have been classified as “erotica” are now mainstream, to say nothing of the overtly sexual romance novel genre. Video games, music lyrics, music videos, clothing, and even costumes have become progressively more sexualized, including content targeted to children and adolescents.53 Maintaining purity is a serious challenge in this environment, as is learning appropriate boundaries that are necessary for living chastely and having healthy relationships.

{ This post is another in the series of posts that I am posting here on Abyssum.org consisting of the serialization of the document CREATE IN ME A CLEAN HEART issued last November by the bishops of the United States in an effort to stop the plague of pornography afflicting our society}