What is Pornography?

'Soft porn' leaves something to the imagination. It might show a man and woman kissing, or a woman in sexy underwear. 'Hardcore porn' shows clear images of sex, for example a naked woman with her legs apart or a close-up of a man and woman having intercourse.

Porn isn't real

When you look at porn, you often see things most people don’t experience in real life. Sex involving several people, sex between strangers or blindfold sex - anything’s possible in porn.

But remember that sex in porn films is not like real-life sex. It’s like a fairytale for you to fantasise about. Don’t expect real sex to be the way it is in porn films. What’s more, the actors in porn films usually have bigger muscles and penises than most men. And the actresses are much thinner and have bigger breasts than most women – and they’ve often had breast enlargements or other cosmetic surgery. And does your partner really moan as loudly as that – or come as easily? Remember most porn is made for men, and only shows men’s fantasies. And in porn, no one wears a condom!

Pros and Cons of porn

• Is it wrong to look at pornography? Well, you certainly won’t be alone if you do! In principle, there’s nothing wrong with being turned on by sexy films or pictures. It’s OK as long as you remember it’s not real life. But remember you’ve no way of knowing if the actresses were happy about taking part.
• Be aware that porn on the internet often shows violence towards women, or women being degraded. And the women are only there to give pleasure to the men. You can fantasise about whatever you like, but there’s a big difference between fantasy and reality.

• Porn can be addictive. It can even start to spoil real-life sex, because you find you start enjoying porn more than the real thing. And then you can start trying to make the real thing like porn, which isn’t going to work. If you find yourself wanting to watch more and more extreme kinds of porn, it’s time to stop.