Were you taught the reproduction chapter in Class 10? Or was it out of your syllabus too? How many of you feel comfortable talking to your parents about healthy sex, or vice versa? Not too many, right?
In times when sex education is still a taboo among the majority of people, porn continues to shape society’s mindset about sex and its related aspects. With the imposition of a lockdown amid the global pandemic, porn consumption has boosted by 95%, despite the fact that it is banned in the country.
We are the third-largest consumer of porn in the world, and this consumption comes with its consequences. In many cases, pornographic depiction normalises violence against women, or other marginalised groups including the LGBTQIA+. Such videos show demeaning treatment of these people just for the sake of entertainment and increasing views. The way sex is fantasised in pornography creates a mythical image of it in people’s mind.
Important issues such as consent, sexuality, reproductive health and rights, emotional relationships etc. are left untouched because these topics are not what get money. There is little sensitivity in the portrayal of sex as a leisurely activity. And pornography remains the only source of sex education for most in the country.
But this should not mean that the aforementioned issues aren’t important and it is okay to overlook them. Lack of legitimate sex education in schools is already showing fatal results, and pornography is only aggravating the problem.
HIV/AIDS is almost an epidemic in our country. Sexual crime and abuse against women and people from the LGBTQIA+ community is surging at an alarming rate. It is noteworthy that at the same time, “lesbian and gay porn” remains one of the fastest-growing searches, and the depiction of people or their relationships nowhere stands true to their reality.
At the same time, porn can be seen affecting people’s relationships. Studies speculate that pornography influences our treatment of sex workers. It makes them feel that they are justifiable in asking the workers for fulfillment of desires as they’re paying for it. Because of this, the use of contraceptives is very low.
Due to several of such reasons, we’re aggravating problems such as unintended pregnancies among the youth and lack of awareness of family planning among couples. People feel shy about working on any problems they might be facing with their sexologist. This is only going to deepen such issues in society.
This is where real sex education should come to the rescue. Often, parents and political leaders preach that sex education corrupts and offends Indian values. But it needs to be acknowledged that more than sex education, it is an increasing unsupervised encounter with explicit material through social media and the internet that has already damaged our society and ‘values’.
It is the need of the hour to impart legitimate sex education, to bridge the gap between the fantasy world and reality; not to keep pushing it aside because of awkwardness and societal stigma. It’s important to address our confusions and doubts that are otherwise left unsolved. Many organisations are working in this sphere.
However, the best thing a person can do to change the world is by changing oneself. Educate yourself because no one is doing that for you. Read about it, consult some experts. Keep a check of what you’re watching over the internet. In the case of porn, it never shows the real picture. Start a conversation with your children and loved ones so that they don’t have to bear the burden of your casual attitude in the future.