Your roommates are gone, the house is silent, and you are all by yourself. There are a number of ways you can spend that alone time - read a book, do some cleaning - but then there's that other thing. You double check your room to make sure no one's around, and turn on that X-rated video.
Pornography is something that pretty much everyone comes by at least once in life. There are over 4.2 million pornographic websites, and of all the internet users in the world, 42.7 percent of them watch porn, according to familysafemedia.com.
The porn industry no longer consists of only Playboy and Hustler. With the introduction of streaming video, people don't need to feel shameful as they walk into the "Over 18" section of the video store in the next town over. Instead of hiding a pile of nude magazines under your mattress, all you have to do is delete your Internet history.
Porn isn't everyone's cup of tea, but there are others who love it. These people are not social, moral degenerates that many assume them to be.
Some view the mainstream movement of porn to be a revolution, liberation of sorts from the sexual repression of earlier generations.
Accompanied with pornography lovers are certain stereotypes, like the 12-year-old boy with the cracking voice, the onslaught of pimples, and the alarming increase of dirty socks in his hamper. Porn is not just limited to young boys and lonely dudes in their basements who spend their times alternating between virtual reality and youporn.com.
First off, some believe that women do not watch pornography. That's completely false.
Twenty-eight percent of pornography site visitors are female, according to familysafemedia.com.
But when it comes to relationships, pornography can either help or hurt.
Many women have an intense dislike for porn, especially when it's their significant other watching it. They think: "Why does he need to watch other girls when he has me?" Others consider it another form of cheating.
That's usually never the case. Just because someone watches porn, does not always mean that they are any less attracted or disinterested in his or her significant other. Let's face it, you cannot be with your man or woman every hour of every day, so wouldn't you rather them relieve their desires by watching a video rather than by having sex with another person?
One thing that every couple should be is honest. If you watch porn, don't pretend you don't. Lying can never lead to good things, so be upfront about your online activity. That's not to say you have to go into exhausting detail about every clip you've seen - just don't lie and say you haven't seen any.
The Universit?(c) de Montr?(c)al conducted a study on whether pornography impacted men's sex lives. There was a problem when a researcher tried to find a control group of men who'd never consumed porn: he couldn't find any, according to cosmopolitan.com.
So a general rule is: if a guy says he doesn't watch porn, there's a 99 percent chance he's lying.
Porn doesn't have to destroy a relationship, though. Instead of blaming yourself for your man watching porn or getting angry at him for doing it, try joining him. See what it is that he's watching for yourself before you judge your significant other too harshly. If you're into it and he's into it, watching pornography could bring you that much closer emotionally and physically.
That's not to say all porn is good porn. The upcoming movie Lovelace tells the story of Linda Lovelace, a woman forced into the pornography business by her husband. If someone is forced to do pornography against their will, that is obviously not okay. But there are actors and actresses that chose to go into the pornography field. Some just have those appropriate appendages for it. Ron Jeremy, anyone?
Whether you're watching it solo or with your significant other, pornography does not have to be a dirty thing swept under the rug. Pornography has many positive effects: masturbating while watching it eases stress and sexual frustration and it allows couples to feel out their sexual likes and dislikes.
Email: features@ubspectrum.com
