Feminists have warned that watching pornography comes with damaging, and addictive effects and can desensitise males to the erotic appeal of their partners.
Feminists have warned that watching pornography comes with damaging, and addictive effects and can desensitise males to the erotic appeal of their partners.u00a0
Social critic, political activist and author Naomi Wolf weighed in on the "problem of porn" on CNN's Global Public Square blog this week.
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Wolf, who published her essay 'The Porn Myth' six years ago, contends that therapists and sexual counsellors in her research have connected a rise in pornographic consumption among young men "with an increase in impotence and premature ejaculation among the same population".
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"The hypothesis among the experts was that pornography was progressively desensitising these men sexually," the Daily Mail quoted her as writing.
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A recent poll, conducted by BBC Radio One Newsbeat in association with doctors from the Portman Clinic, appears to echo her claims.
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The poll, of more than 1,000 18- to 24-year-olds in the U.K., found that eight out of ten men looked at porn on the internet - compared to one-third of women, with men spending an average of two hours a week watching pornography on internet, compared with just 15 minutes for women.
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While 61 percent said they were more likely to put off real-life sex after watching pornography, just 27 percent of moderate and 24 percent of light users felt the same.
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Researchers say pornography taps into intense emotional, biological and chemical connections throughout the brain and body.
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And arousal through pornography, which leads to the release of the naturally occurring chemicals dopamine, norepinephrine, oxytocin and serotonin, can become addictive.
