The Badger Catholic General Speaker Series welcomed author Matt Fradd Thursday to discuss the myths surrounding pornography and how to overcome pornography addictions.
Fradd is a Catholic apologist, or a defender of the Christian faith. He is an author of several books including Amazon Prime’s best-selling novel, “The Porn Myth.”
Through these books and speeches, he advocates for society to “break free from pornography.”
In one year, people watch 4,392,486,590 hours of porn, Fradd said. We, as a society, have reached a “tipping point,” Fradd said, meaning the negative effects of the porn industry have reached everyone in society.
“Pornography isn’t wrong because sex is bad,” Fradd said. “Pornography isn’t bad because sexual desire is wrong. [Pornography is bad because] pornified culture has forgotten how to think about sex.”
Fradd laid out the seven myths of porn:
- Society wouldn’t feel sexually deprived if they were to go without porn.
- Porn is for adults.
- Porn is a religious issue.
- The porn industry is liberating.
- Porn is only a fantasy.
- Porn isn’t addictive.
- Society can’t free itself of porn.
Fradd denounced the porn industry as not being liberating, citing instances where women went into the industry because they were sexually abused or suffer from substance abuse.
These women, Fradd said, feel like they don’t have a choice or can’t escape from the industry.
Citing a study where researchers analyzed porn DVDs, the report found instances of verbal and physical abuse, with 73 percent of the aggressors being men.
“[Porn is] body punishing [and] misogynistic,” Fradd said.
Even though porn isn’t a drug, it is still addictive, he said.
Dopamine triggers all addictive habits, along with sexual desires, Fradd said. When humans use porn excessively, there is a surplus amount of dopamine being released, thus eventually shrinking the brain.
Many people feel as if they can’t be free of the stigma associated with watching porn, Fradd said. But, there are stages between wanting to watch porn and actively watching porn.
The first stage is the stimulus: Something happens that makes people want to watch porn, Fradd said. It could be a variety of things including feeling emasculated or wanting human connection.
Afterwards, there is an emotional response to the stimulus and the first thought of watching porn, Fradd said. Then, the body prepares for climax and body language follows that.
Next, there is a battle between the body language and whether or not watching porn is wrong, Fradd said. The end result is whichever thought wins.
Fradd asked those who suffer from a porn addiction to “seek genuine help.” He suggested people do this through prayer or therapy.
He ended the meeting by asking the audience to join him in prayer.
“We have intrinsic worth and this is why … pornography is wrong,” Fradd said.
