Emotional Porn

WARNING: This article describes a rising trend in pornography, and could be offensive to some readers.

Many of us know men and women whose lives have been devastated by pornography. Porn is rampant in our culture, and only recently have we begun to understand just how damaging it is. Slowly but surely, solutions are being developed to help us avoid the temptation of quick access and no accountability that technology has offered. And many men have begun seeking therapy for and healing from their addiction. But that doesn’t mean porn is going away. Instead, porn is adding less obvious, and more subversive ways of being a part of our lives. And now, it’s targeted at women and girls.

Wikipedia defines pornography as “the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter.” Simple enough. But it goes on to say that “pornography may use a variety of media, including books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video, and video games.” Out of the 12 types of media listed here, all but 2 of them are primarily visual, which makes sense when we consider how highly visual most men are and that porn has been created predominantly for men.

But it's the 2 non-visual forms of pornography that target women and girls.

For the most part, females are not as attracted to the visual porn that so quickly pulls males in. Instead, women are emotionally stimulated and tend to fantasize about perfect relationships, the perfect man, and even the perfect night. We all know this. That’s why “erotic novels” (and some romance novels) have been and continue to be so successful (Fifty Shades of Grey is the most recent example). These novels are “word porn” and are just as graphic as other porn, except they don’t give visuals--they just allow the readers to visualize what is being described. Most importantly, they are powerful because they target women’s emotions and desires.

On to sound recordings. This could just be referring to the sounds that occur in pornographic films. But in actuality, it’s a lot more broad than that. Sound recordings can also mean songs. Songs like Usher’s newest up-and-coming hit, “Scream.”

Music is powerful because it adds a catchy beat to words, words that might otherwise be easily recognized as dangerous or be hard to remember. In the case of “Scream,” the words are pornographic . . . and catchy as ever. 

Usher begins by describing his desire for a woman (“gettin’ drunk off the thought of you naked”) and then proceeds to tell this woman what he will do to and for her (“If you wanna scream yeah, let me know and I’ll take you there. Get you going like ooo baby baby.”). Though none of the words could be labeled as “hardcore” pornography, the song is just explicit enough that the listener can easily envision the picture he paints. And it is effective. Women, especially women who are unhappy in their relationships (or singleness), hear songs like this, and it plays to some of their deepest desires. So they get caught up in listening to, singing, and fantasizing about pornographic songs, and it draws them in just as strongly as visual porn draws men in.

Since this song is #10 on the charts and rising, you can guarantee that teenage girls (and younger) have also heard this song. But do they know what they’re singing? Do they understand the power that these words and images can have over their hearts and minds? Or are they reading Fifty Shades of Grey and listening to “Scream”, not knowing what path it can lead them down? You may comment below...