While I'm late to the party on this post, I have significant concerns about the ubiquity of pornography, it's normalization and its potential impact.
I want to preface this by saying there is nothing inherently wrong with pornography (between consenting adults) - it has existed in one form or another for centuries, and arousal in response to visual stimuli is a biological trait. However, I think something has fundamentally shifted over the past 10-15 years where the barrier to access (both as a viewer and as a performer) has been completely removed - high speed internet and video sharing platforms has essentially allowed for on demand access to pornography - in every fetish/genre imaginable. The proliferation of cell phones and other media consumption devices has also resulted in pornography being available on the go, and accessible to pretty much anyone and anytime.
I have a niece and two nephews who are pre-teens, and they all own cell phones and tablets. While I don't know if they have watched porn (I don't want to know), it wouldn't surprise me if they did. I saw a study recently that found that young people are first exposed to pornography at an average age of 10, and regular users by 14.
This "on demand" exposure and access has given rise to things like pornography addiction, largely because you can indulge at almost any time - it boggles my mind when I hear about how many people are accessing porn sites at work, while driving, on public transit etc. It is no longer something you do in hiding when no one is home, and as a result, you have people who become almost desensitized to it, as it becomes part of their daily routine. The taboo associated with watching porn has also pretty much disappeared - I have buddies that will share videos with one another, or talk about their favorite stars openly. This doesn't happen to everyone, but there are a significant number of people who watch pornography daily, requiring increasingly graphic/extreme content to satiate their sexual desires. This shouldn't come as a surprise, as scientific research has conclusively demonstrated that the pleasure centers in the brain stimulated by pornography, are the same ones stimulated through drug use.
I view pornography much like alcohol - in moderation it can be fine, with no ill effects. However, if it becomes an addiction, the fallout is also analogous to what happens when you are an alcoholic - strained relationships, psychological and physiological dependency, disruption in your quality of life etc. If you are avoiding real life relationships and intimacy in favor of pornography, I think that is unhealthy and a sign that something needs to change. If you suffer from sexual dysfunction and can only become aroused by pornography, that is also a sign that something needs to change.
There is also a part of me that is concerned about how sex is depicted in pornography (some, not all). Real intimacy is fundamentally different than what is often portrayed in porn - there is a thin line between having fun and being abusive/degrading. This issue is more difficult to gauge - I have been with partners who genuinely enjoy being rough or being restrained, but I have also been with woman who feel like they are pretending to be into it, because that is what they think I want. I don't know if I am articulating this clearly, but I have concerns about people (both men and woman) who think that sex depicted in pornography is what real world sex is supposed to be. As a result, they feel compelled to do the things they see in porn, even if they may not be into it. Given how many young people are first exposed to sex through pornography, I worry about this happening to them. Sex is supposed to be fun, not pressure you into doing the things you think your partner enjoys.
Alot of my attitudes towards porn changed after watching a documentary featuring Bella Donna and hearing about just how much performers hated doing it, the prevalence of STDs (even with regular testing) and how girls relied on drugs to make it through scenes. That killed it for me - while I still watch porn on a very rare occasion (once every couple of months), it is accompanied by a guilt thinking that the people in it didn't really want to.
