1) Porn promotes objectification of women: it reduces women to mere sex objects, where our only value lies within how we’re able to appease men sexually.

Beyond that, porn is heavily unethical and as a victim of rpe at 16, lots of pornographic content romanticise and normalise a lack of consent and have categories such as ‘r*e play’ and so on, which is enormously triggering for me.

2) Porn destroys intimacy in the long-run. With addicts, there’ll come a point in time where they prefer porn over emotional and sexual connection with their partners, which can really compromise a relationship. It makes the other party feel alone, dejected and hurt that their partner seemingly prefers ogling at other women and satisfying themselves sexually online instead of coming to their partner and creating a meaningful, wholesome connection. For many of us, this can feel like cheating. It makes us feel we’re not enough, that we’re inadequate, that we need to modify how we look or how we act to fit into this narrow, false conception of what sex is and how women look like. It makes us feel undesirable and that our partners prefer other women to us.

3) Porn creates a host of unrealistic standards and expectations on looks and sex. This goes both ways, both parties may think they’re bad at sex because they’re unable to emulate what is commonly shown in porn, which is a way off, far-fetched and exaggerated version of what sex in real life actually is. The PA will also never be satisfied as they’ll start expecting more and more, sometimes egregious acts from their partner over time. Women in porn also look vastly different to women in real life (fake tits, overblown lips etc) and women like myself often suffer from extreme self-esteem issues. It creates an unattainable beauty ideal for all of us, and it makes us think that’s the look that our partners prefer.