The Impact of Internet Pornography on American Society Essay -- Intern

Pornography is nothing new to American society, so why would there be a problem with the merging of the internet and pornographic material? Why would it make a difference if the material is online or in a magazine? In this paper, the issue of internet porn will be discussed in terms of its relation to the addiction of online porn, desensitization to sexual violence and rape, encouragement of sexual violence, objectification of women, sexual compulsiveness, and the reshaping of expectations regarding sex and body images. Internet porn has become increasingly popular, and one reason for this is because it is easily accessible and can be kept relatively private. There is no need to order any materials or go to a store to buy the magazines. With internet porn, viewers can access a multitude of materials right on the internet. The variety is endless and the gratification is instant. According to The US News & World Report, 17.5 million surfers visited porn sites from their home computers in January of 2004, which is a 40% increase from 4 months earlier (Dew, 2004). The easy access and variety of materials has been known to cause addiction in online viewers, as pointed out by The BBC Website, â€Å"Internet porn is available in much larger quantities than traditional porn and at a cheaper cost†¦this may be a good case of having ‘too much of a good thing’†(Kadu, 2004). The current numbers of people who are addicted to porn are unclear, but the estimate according to the Minnesota Family Institute (2004) runs as high as 5 million. As with other forms of addiction, this creates the opportunity for problems in other areas of the addict’s life. Viewers tend to treat people as â€Å"†¦mere objects of... ...rences Anderson, Kerby. (2004). The Pornography Plague. Probe Ministries [Online]. Available: http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/pornplag.html Dew, Diane. (2004). Social & Psychological Effects of Porn [Online]. Pornography & the Bible. Available: http://dianedew.com/porn.htm [2004, February 17]. Kadu, Flyer. (2004). Internet Pornography-The Issues. BBC [Online]. Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A523504 [2004, February 15]. Minnesota Family Institute. (2004). Pornography: Don’t Protect It, Reject It. Backgrounder-Analyzing Current Issues. [Online]. Available: http://www.mfc.org/resources/backgrounders/pornography.htm (2004, Winter).Public Libraries, Pornography, and the Damage Done: A Case Study.Library Administration & Management, v18no1. 8-13. (2004, January 19). The Porn Factor. Time v163no3. 99-101.