Almost a third of Kingston students agree that porn has had a negative impact on their sex lives, according to a survey of 100 students.
One student said: “I could always tell when my boyfriend had recently watched porn as I felt more like a piece of meat while having sex than engaging with an emotional and meaningful connection.”
Porn can also create unrealistic expectations about what bodies should look like or how sex should be.
A third year student said: “Most female pornstars are pubeless, their vaginas are always waxed and bleached which perpetuates such a harmful and unrealistic standard to women, especially young and impressionable girls like university students who couldn’t even afford such treatments.”
Additionally, 35% of students think actively watching porn during a relationship is classed as cheating.
“I would be upset if I found out my partner was watching porn, it feels like cheating to me as they are actively getting off to other people,” said an anonymous student.
However, a different student argued that: “I don’t think it is cheating, I am in a long distance relationship, it is not always easy to have phone sex, and we don’t really make sex tapes as it feels unnatural for us, so occasionally watching porn seems like a no brainer.”
“I only watch porn when I haven’t seen my partner in a long time. I feel like my imagination lets me down. I get too caught up in the details of my partner when thinking about them, like does their hair look right, it leads me to overthink and I end up not being able to get hard,” said a student.
And some see porn as educational. “Porn helped me discover my sexuality, when I watched gay porn for the first time it was the first time I came when watching others have sex,” said a student.
However, of those we surveyed 17% of students admitting that they think they have a porn addiction. If you need help with porn addiction speak to your GP.
Hedda Vrabel
Konstantinos Patas