Porn and Fantasies

The below isn’t about it, but it is about it

My latest Facebook status reads:

“Emotional porn. They are everywhere. Oh God help me stay away from it. #lovestorynostory”.

And while it didn’t bring on a barrage of comments like I was hoping to, it did raise just one question among the one or two who commented: “what is emotional porn?”

Sometime this year (or was it last year) I began defining porn as media content that objectifies something unrealistically and turns it into a fantasy for people, which brought on terms like food porn, emotional porn, inspiration porn, etc. The scenario is such: a group of people consume media that objectify another group of people for their own benefit (I’m paraphrasing Stella Young here). We feel gratified when we take in such content, and in turn we use it to fuel our fantasies of a life we dream of living in: how “achieved” we are, who the “love of our lives” are, what “pretty food” we are eating, and other pleasures which we thrive on. And it’s addictive.

In the end, we find ourselves substituting real life with the porn we consume, sexual or not. We begin living in our own fantasies like it were real. We find ourselves craving for more when we feel that we’re not getting enough. We find ourselves disappointed when real life is different from the “porn” we consume.

But what I feel is most unacceptable, is how we forsake the joy of the Lord at the end of it all; and it’s idolatry — it’s a sin!

I will not go into details of how it’s a sin, but one thing I will end with: we have the grace to overcome such temptations! The resurrecting power of Christ lives in us, and therefore we are more than conquerors. I am not perfect, and I don’t want to judge anyone, but I can truthfully say, it is indeed liberating to live in such a power! I am no longer concerned with how porn will bind up my life, I only have to make sure my walk with God is steadfast while I continue to strive to guard myself from falling again. Even so, I do not rely on my own strength, but the joy of the Lord is my strength.