The Pornography Issue
When a wife discovers that her husband apparently prefers viewing pornography over having sex with her, she often has feelings of rage, repulsion, hurt, and mistrust.While many wives consider pornography to be insulting, degrading, and a form of cheating, there are husbands who don't understand their wives' anger about the use of pornography and don't see themselves as being unfaithful.
"But the attention paid to the connection between porn and infidelity doesn’t translate into anything like a consensus on what that connection is. Polls show that Americans are almost evenly divided on questions like whether porn is bad for relationships, whether it’s an inevitable feature of male existence, and whether it’s demeaning to women. This divide tends to cut along gender lines, inevitably: women are more likely to look at pornography than in the past, but they remain considerably more hostile to porn than men are, and considerably less likely to make use of it. (Even among the Internet generation, the split between the sexes remains stark. A survey of American college students last year found that 70 percent of the women in the sample never looked at pornography, compared with just 14 percent of their male peers; almost half of the men surveyed looked at porn at least once a week, versus just 3 percent of the women.)"Additional Reading:
Source: Ross Douthat. "Is Pornography Adultery?" TheAtlantic.com. 10/2008."This is a very common question and concern. Let’s start by dispelling a major porn myth; there is absolutely nothing “unhealthy” or abnormal with watching porn in and of itself. As long as we’re talking about legal adult movies, and as long as everyone who is watching is consenting, there is nothing inherent in pornography that makes it bad. That doesn’t mean that people do use porn in unhealthy ways, watching too much of it or becoming obsessive about it. But people do this with drugs, work, even sports, and we don’t consider those things “evil” (well, some of us do I guess). ... The first thing I want to suggest is that you talk to him about it. Without being judgmental, it would be interesting to know what he likes about porn. Is it the fantasy? Are there things he sees that he wants the two of you to try? Is it boredom or habit?
Source: Cory Silverberg. "Is Watching Porn Okay?" Sexuality.about.com
Can Pornography Undermine Your Marriage?
What is Pornography?
Pornography is difficult to define because it is different things to different people and not all porn is illegal.Pornography is generally defined as material (magazines, pictures, videos, movies, internet web sites, etc.) that depicts individuals in sexually explicit ways. Although porn is also described as adult entertainment and a harmless habit, it is also described as a gateway drug that can lead to betrayal and infidelity.
Additional Reading:From Crime at About.com: Child Pornography
What is Pornography?
Quotes on Pornography and Sex
A Few Warning Signs of Harmful Pornography Use
The obvious sign of harmful pornography use is lack of sex in your marriage. Here are other signs that could show that your spouse has crossed the line in viewing pornography.- Continual denial in the face of obvious evidence.
- Excessive masturbation.
- Inability to stop viewing porn.
- Neglect of family, spouse, job, hobbies, etc.
- Refusal to discuss the issue.
- Loss of sexual intimacy with mate.
- Lying about pornography use.
- Lack of caring about your feelings on the issue.
- Moodiness.
- Staying up later at night to spend time on the computer.
- Computer passwords changed.
- Demand for unusual amount of privacy and personal time on the computer.
- Allowance of easy access by your children to pornographic magazines, videos, and computer files.
How to Know if Your Spouse is Having a Cyber Affair
Masturbation and Marriage
Breaking Pornography Addictions
What You Can Do If Your Spouse's Use of Pornography Hurts Your Marriage
If your marriage relationship and sexual intimacy does not improve after you and your spouse have honestly talked about how the both of you feel about pornography, we recommend that you seek marriage counseling to see if other problems in your marriage are triggers to the pornography use or lying about the behavior.Although it is difficult, try to not let your spouse's use of pornography negatively impact how you feel about yourself. It is also important that you don't accept any blame or guilt for the fact that your mate wants to view pornography.
Additional Reading:Recognize Sabotage in Your Marriage
Spying on Your Spouse
Deal With Betrayal
Emotional Affairs 101
What to do When Your Spouse Doesn't Want Change
Build Trust in Your Marriage
