**Is porn sex positive or destructive?** • Like many things related to sex, pornography has commonly been taboo in most places, cultures, and religions. Traditionally, arguments against porn have been centred around the ethics of selling sex. Producing and viewing pornography is currently banned or heavily censored in multiple countries, such as China, North Korea, Turkey, and Pakistan. • Some people argue that pornography should be legal as a form of freedom of speech. They may argue that, as long as everyone involved is a consenting adult and certain safety measures are taken, pornography is not harmful. Some believe that viewing pornography can be beneficial: it can help to reduce stigma around sex, make society more sex positive, and strengthen intimate relationships. • In contrast, many believe that pornography is damaging for the actors involved, viewers, and society as a whole. Some think that the porn industry exploits vulnerable people, enabling sex trafficking and coercion. Many viewers suffer from porn addiction, which can be extremely damaging not only to one’s sex-life but to mental health and wellbeing. Pornography can also depict unrealistic and often unhealthy sexual encounters and promote misogynistic and sometimes violent attitudes towards women, which contribute to the way women are treated in society. • Whether pornography is legal or illegal, it is still produced and consumed. Some argue that pornography should be legal because its legality protects and improves conditions for porn stars and sex workers.

**If all parties, on-screen and off, are consenting, of age adults, then who are we to tell someone they can’t get their rocks off by watching someone else get their rocks off?** As an adult, consensual sex is a part of life, always has been and always will be. Relationships are driven and influenced by it, industries were built upon it, campaigns of empowerment have been rallied around it. By villainizing pornography for what it is, it’s shaming something that doesn’t deserve to be shamed, not only because a [large portion of society](https://ifstudies.org/blog/what-do-americans-think-about-banning-porn) will partake in it at some point in their lives, but it’s also natural, hence reproduction. Now, I’m not saying that it’s for everyone, like anything in this world it’s preference-based. But, so is smoking cigarettes, voting, or washing your dishes by hand instead of with a dishwasher; they’re all choices, and porn is probably one of the easiest ones to avoid if it’s not yours. However, porn is still a vice, something viewed for enjoyment that leads to feelings of euphoria and therefore runs the risk of becoming an [addiction](https://www.webmd.com/sex/porn-addiction-possible). So, while porn isn’t something that should be frowned upon, I do think that the particulars of watching porn vary case by case and should be regarded with the possible negative effects kept in mind.