Pornography has been a part of human culture since the dawn of man. Erotic imagery dates back thousands of years from the iconic Paleolithic Venus figures to hand drawn images of female genitalia found on the walls of caves in England which appear to be more than 12,000 years old. Erotic sex manuals like the Kama Sutra stand side by side with infamous titles of erotic literature such as Lady Chatterley’s Lover and the modern Fifty Shades of Grey. With so much erotic history, it’s no wonder that pornography continues to be a popular form of adult entertainment.
While porn has a rich history, it’s also heavily criticized and has been accused of causing madness and, at various times throughout history, has been censored and banned outright. Now there is a growing belief that pornography may be linked to serious and chronic sexual performance issues, including premature ejaculation. Is there a link between the two or is this another case of porn being blamed without cause?
The Growth and Variations of Pornography
Pornography is used to depict a variety of sex acts. Some scholars believe that ancient pornographic statues and drawings may have been part of various spiritual or fertility rites. Others believe that it was no different than it is now, and that these images and idols were used for sexual gratification by being used during masturbation or group sex play. While much of the pornography of the past focused on depicting simple naked figures or sex acts, modern pornography covers just about everything people can imagine from the pedestrian to the bizarre. Some critics point out that these extremes in pornography leads to people becoming desensitized to “traditional” sex and results in problems with arousal or an inability to perform.
At the same time, erotic imagery has become almost ubiquitous, appearing in everything from car and food commercials on television to print ads, billboards and store front windows. The mantra ‘sex sells’ has clearly been proven right and marketing teams often refer to ‘sexing things up’ in order to get more public interest in a product, service or even a specific celebrity. Having these images plastered everywhere has been linked to an increased sexualization of society as a whole and, once again, has been blamed for desensitizing society to sex.
Pornography, Masturbation and Sexual Dysfunction
Being surrounded by erotic imagery and frank discussions about sex is one thing, but being closed off and constantly masturbating is quite another. Masturbation and porn go hand in hand, so to speak, and so it can be difficult to pinpoint which is truly the problem. Men who masturbate chronically do report greater instances of problems such as early or premature ejaculation, but this isn’t necessarily linked to the type of porn they watch. Instead it is linked to how often they masturbate.
Masturbating so often that it begins to affect a man’s sex life is a definite red flag. This kind of behavior can easily lead to premature ejaculation but, luckily, it’s also just as easy to reverse the damage. Abstaining from pornography and masturbation for a week may seem difficult at first, but it can help with successfully treating premature ejaculation.
Once a man has gone through the process of avoiding self-gratification and the pornography which can trigger it, he is free to begin training his body once again. Masturbation is often used as a way to treat various sexual problems but the trick is to control how and when ejaculation occurs. Controlled masturbation to treat premature ejaculation can include some pornography if that helps the man to become sufficiently aroused, but pornography should not be necessary. Sometimes men need to continue to use pornography and wean themselves off slowly, not because the porn itself is the problem, but their reliance on it has become an issue.
Does pornography cause premature ejaculation? The short answer is no. But a reliance or full dependence on it can affect a man’s ability to perform well sexually and control his own orgasms. Reversing this trend can be difficult at first, but finding ways to retrain those impulses can improve performance, enhance technique and even inspire men to come up with new positions and techniques based on what they’ve seen already and letting their imaginations run wild.