Maggie's Farm

I found some interesting statistics:

25% of search engine requests are for porn.
12% of websites are porn sites.
8% of all emails are porn-related (2.5 billion/day)
Number of websites offering illegal child porn: 116,000
Adults admitting to an internet sexual addiction: 10%
Male/female breakdown of porn site visitors: 72%/28%
People admitting to visiting porn sites at work: 20%

Alas, no blogger can compete with the power of raw animal instinct, can they? One can only envy their website traffic.  More numbers and stats here. 

Interesting numbers, accurate or not, but can anything be said about them, other than that there are lots of people who are looking to have their sexual imaginations stimulated in a fairly effortless way? Which is a true "Duh."

Depending on one's degree of mental inhibition (which is highly variable from person to person), people commonly and routinely experience every sort of sexual fantasy, including the bizarre, deviant, uncomfortable, and immoral, so, in a sense, the brain is the ultimate porn site as decreed by the amoral laws of biology. (As the old joke goes: What is the dirtiest part of a person? The brain. Or the modern version: The brain is the primary erogenous zone.)  Is inhibition of sexual thoughts and fantasy good or bad, healthy or unhealthy? Neither - these are just personality differences and differences of choice (in the sense of choice of what thoughts one is willing to welcome and to entertain), generally speaking. There is a lot to be said for "thought control," but only when it is self-administered.

Mind you, we are talking about fantasy here - not action. Turning fantasy into action is an entirely different subject, because many, if not most, ideas and images are best left in the mental realm where consequences are few (other than shame or guilt about one's wicked or wierd thoughts, which is also normal), assuming that one has a modicum of post-adolescent judgement, maturity, and self-control. After all, we aren't ordinary animals and we can make choices. But enjoying porn isn't action, really.

Do sexual thoughts occupy and distract people's minds more than they like to admit in "studies"? For sure. Is it "sick" to use porn sites as a fantasy aid? No, not intrinsically, but if any human behavior is compulsive, including golf or chess, it could be a problem or a symptom. Can it be a poor substitute for real human interaction? Sure, but not everyone is a South Beach party-gal or -guy - thank God. Is it harmless fun? Probably, except when it's predatory, of course, which is not only evil but can be illegal... and that last group of 20% had better watch out - they could lose their jobs if Big Brother is watching. Is porn a little sad and lonely? Sure. Does it feel a little sleazy? Sure - it feels like slumming to most people. Is porn morally and spiritually pure from a Christian standpoint? Well, that's outside my jurisdiction today, but it's not an unreasonable subject for a lively discussion.

(Photo: If I could remember where I found that photo, I'd credit the clever person. All that the keyboard lacks is a Maggie's Farm button.)