Is Porn Bad?

It’s my distinct privilege to introduce John D Foubert. I recently read his book, Protecting Your Children from Internet Pornography, and immediately asked him to share his knowledge at Hopeful Mom. I revere him as a distinguished expert on the harms of porn. He’s been researching, writing, and speaking on this problem for over two decades. In addition to his other jobs, he serves on the Board of Directors at National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE). I’m grateful he agreed to speak with us here.

The story of how I became interested in studying the harms of pornography is anything but typical.  Many, if not most, of the authors and researchers in the area have a profound personal experience that led them to an interest in the topic.  Though I have people close to me who have gotten tangled in the sinister web of pornography, my motivation for studying pornography came originally from anger that pornography was being celebrated by a community of which I was a part.  Being the research nerd that I am, when I get angry, I do research.  Thus began a crusade of sorts to identify, document, and publicly share the many harms of pornography with as many people as I can reach.

It started when I was caught off guard by a visit from the pornography industry.  I was a professor at a University known for its high academic standards and strong sense of community.  Among other things, I led the university’s efforts to educate men about how to end sexual violence.  Having studied sexual violence for about 15 years at the time, 30 by now, I was well versed in how to convince men that they are well positioned to help sexual assault survivors and intervene to stop violence before it started.  To my utter shock, one day one of them told me that the University would be hosting a performance highlighting the pornography industry, right in the middle of the student union.  The show was to feature a live strip performance, an oral sex demonstration on a sex toy, among other acts. “Doesn’t that sound cool?” my student shared.  No, no it sounded anything but cool.  And I couldn’t believe that a student, indeed several students, I had trained to fight against men’s violence against women would embrace a show designed to objectify women.  Further, I couldn’t believe that my beloved University would permit such a group to reserve space for such an event.

I was a neophyte when it came to arguing against pornography.  It ran clearly against my religious beliefs, but sharing moral or religious reasons for being opposed to something at a secular university doesn’t win many converts.  I did have a sense that pornography objectified the actors in it, both men and women (and children), so I went with that.  Few cared much, but I got a lot of people to think.

I realized once the battle was over that I needed better ammunition to fight the next one; and indeed, there would be more battles to fight as I had become convinced that the pornography industry was not only evil, it was also a major force behind sexual violence in our society.  Over fifty studies showed as much.

Research

Fortunately, I was (and am) a Professor and one of the things I get paid to do is academic research.  I set about the task of finding research articles documenting the harms of pornography.  There were so many I had a hard time reading them all.  But read hundreds of articles I did, and dozens of books too.  I then began to contribute my own original research to the mountain.  A few articles later I decided it was time to write a book, How Pornography Harms.  More recently I rewrote the book for parents in my 2022 volume, Protecting Your Children from Internet Pornography: Understanding the Science, Risks, and Ways to Protect Your Kids.  In the latter, I share hundreds of studies about how pornography is harmful, and guide parents through the process of having conversations with their kids of various ages about the very difficult topic. 

Resources for Parents and Leaders

Not wanting to have my work go to waste for people who don’t buy books, I built a new portion of my website documenting the harms of pornography: https://www.johnfoubert.com/is-porn-bad

In it I go through numerous categories of research on pornography including research on its connection to violence, racism, effect on relationships, effect on mental health, revenge porn, effects on sexual relationships, erectile dysfunction, porn and the brain, religious beliefs, influences on adolescents, along with a complete bibliography of references.  So, the point of this article is to share ammunition.  I hope you will use the resources on my website, and will consider picking up a copy of Protecting Your Children from Internet Pornography.  I’ve put thousands of hours into compiling this information and hope that it can be useful to those engaging the battle against the cancer on our society that is pornography.

Thanks, Dr. John D Foubert. Check out his resources and, if you haven’t already, subscribe to Hopeful Mom below for a FREE PDF and inside information on my upcoming book, to be released August 2023. And be sure to share this post with your friends. You never know when you may be helping a parent who is feeling isolated.

About the author

John D. Foubert Ph.D.

Dean of the College of Education at Union University | Website | + posts

John D. Foubert, Ph.D. is a professor and Dean of the College of Education at Union University.  Dr. Foubert is the author of 11 books, including his latest 2022 volume, Protecting Your Children from Internet Pornography: Understanding the Science, Risks, and Ways to Protect Your Kids.  His website includes a treasure trove of research demonstrating the many ways that pornography is harmful to children, adults, and society at large.  See https://www.johnfoubert.com/is-porn-bad

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