Herland Report; 8/23
In the West, generations now grow up believing that sexual expressionism and erotic hedonism is the road to a fulfilled life. Sex is the new god.
Sexual satisfaction, deviations – anything that leads up to an orgasm seems to be the ultimate goal of literature, Hollywood films, and contemporary music.
Sexual expressionism: Yet, without consideration of the damage inflicted on sexual partners chosen only to fulfill one’s own desires, the individual is drawn into a lonely and mentally troubled state of mind where, in the end, the ability to love is lost. Submerged in egoism, the soul remains unsatisfied.
The exploding growth of internet pornography is an issue that touches on these very matters. The concept of masturbation while watching other people’s intercourse seems to suit the lonely Westerner well.
There is no need for him to meet up with any girl, no need to take the time to flirt, or go to dinner and pay for it, no need to communicate, open up, share opinions or show understanding, let alone love. Romance and courting are out of the question. A quick glance at the iPhone app gives you access to whoever is physically nearby, for you to make the arrangement for casual sex, often right there and then. To know someone by name is not needed. (Feature photo: Ill. Norwegian sexologist Beate Alstad)
Sexual expressionism: Statistics show that 83% of the porn addicts are men. He watches lustfully the mostly white, Western girls on screen, even if it is general knowledge that over 90% of those who end up in this kind of prostitution are scarred and abused women.
Of course, there are also those who willfully participate and choose prostitution. My concern is the thousands and thousands who are in that business as a result of early violations and degradation, abuse and emotional chaos. Leading surveys show that 88% of the pornographic videos show physical aggression against women.
When confronted with this perspective – the abuse, the destroyed emotional life, which arguably made it easier to go into this business – all this does not concern the masturbating man.
Sexual expressionism: The only thing that matters to him is the sexual pleasure he gets from exploiting these women. Where are the feminists who were supposed to defend the honor of these Western women in the multi-billion dollar pornography industry? Why do we allow this to continue, undisturbed? Many feminists are actually supporting pornography, cheering for the legalization of prostitution, alongside the same males who gladly employ these abused women.
A few decades ago, the only pornography that was available consisted of pictures of naked women in magazines that had to be purchased at stores. Many had these hidden under beds or in some available space, out of reach from mothers or girlfriends.
Ever since the problem has inflated to out of this world proportions. It is a revolution, a dramatic change, from the DVD-age when pornography was bought only during opening hours, to now, porn being available just a click away. Statistics cited in Psychology Todayshow that 56% of all divorces involve one party having an obsession with pornography. People wake up at night and find their husbands masturbating wildly to horse-porn, watching gang rapes and so on.
This is a grossly heterosexual problem. There are actually very few homosexuals in the world, and yet they are wrongfully given much of the blame for the current hedonist trends.
The 2013 National Health Interview Survey, in which 34,000 Americans participated, states that as few as 1.6% are homosexuals in the US and 0.7% bisexuals. Another 2011 survey showed that 1.5% define themselves as asexual and simply not interested in sex, while only 1% defined themselves as homosexual.
So, there seem to be even more people who simply are not interested in sex than there are homosexuals – the non-sexual group being one that hardly anybody speaks about or whose challenges are hardly ever addressed.
The sexualization of the Western culture and its almost complete loss of modesty represents a serious development. Ten-year-olds grow up with hardcore porn, a click away. Things you had to go to hardcore sex clubs to watch a few years back are right there on your computer now. How does this affect the mind of the young? A National Union of Students Reportshows that two-thirds of young people in Britain use porn to understand sex. The extent of the use of pornography is illustrated by The Telegraph who referred to a study claiming they could not find one man who had not watched porn. 90% watched porn on the internet, only 10 % used magazines.
Puzzlingly enough, hardly anyone reacts, Christians included. It seems almost impossible to get men, or women for that matter, to engage in this debate. With the Time magazine’s survey report showing that approximately 70% of all internet clicks arguably go towards porn, knowing that an estimated 420 million adult web pages exist online, surveys have repeatedly shown and experts testified that this degree of hedonism is dangerously addictive.
The effects of pornography on the brain have been labeled as “toxic,” analogous to drug addictions. Psychologists have long claimed that prolonged exposure to pornography causes the need for stronger stimuli in order to get sexually aroused.
Such over-stimuli lead to what was formally called “perversions,” including group sex and other excess sexual activities, sadomasochistic practices including the active use of pain and suffering as a stimuli for orgasm, or bestiality – sexual intercourse with animals. All readily accessible on the internet. Still, hardly anyone reacts. It is baffling apathy.
Hanne Nabintu Herland is a historian of religions and bestselling author. She is the founder of The Herland Report Scandinavian news site, TV channel on YouTube and Podcasts which have millions of readers/viewers
In the past, such abuse of, and dependency upon sex was called sexaholic, just like the abuse and dependency of alcohol was called alcoholism. This was in the USA, so perhaps this Scandinavian writer never heard of it.
I forgot to mention that sexual urges in adult males can also be caused by anxiety, or so I’ve heard.