PORNOGRAPHY AS A VIRUS
The Prophets have repeatedly warned of the dangers and consequences of pornography use. However, despite these warnings, pornography has become more pervasive throughout all aspects of our culture. What would have been considered “softcore” porn forty years ago is now rampant in PG-13 movies. Additionally, between 80-90% of men regularly use pornography. With the rise in disordered sexual desires and behaviors, further investigations into how pornography affects the brain are warranted.
Pornography, like any other drug, chemically alters the brain’s dopamine receptors. Though people seek pornography for a variety of reasons, a common thread is often lust and loneliness. Similar to traditional drugs, more exposure and consumption is required to achieve the same level of pleasure. Some start by watching vanilla “softcore” porn, then gradually progress to “hardcore,” “BDSM”, “transgender,” and other niche porn genres. However, what makes pornography so dangerous, is that it morphs one’s sexuality by transforming what seems erotic to the individual. Sexuality is not unchangeable and innate as many activists claim; environment and differing influences change how people think about sex and what they find arousing. Thus, pornography takes natural and good sexual impulses that push people to get married and start a family, and leads people to destructive sexual activity focused on chasing a “high.” Consequently, highs become increasingly difficult to obtain, and the type of content consumed must become more and more taboo.
RAPID ONSET GENDER DYSPHORIA
One contributing factor of transgender identification is a phenomenon known as Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria: this phenomenon can largely be explained as a social contagion. Though most individuals in this category are pubescent teenage girls, the least understood is the second category of Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria known as autogynephilia: a sexual fetish in which men are aroused by viewing themselves as women. The combination of trans pornography and a radically trans-positive culture makes viewers suffering from autogynephilia more likely to transition. As described before, pornography can alter or exaggerate one’s sexual desires and fantasies. Below are experiences by prominent trans activists and online forums of individuals discussing their experiences about how porn contributed to their gender dysphoria.
“SISSY” PORN
Sissy porn, also known as “sissificiation porn” and “trans porno remix,” is a type of pornography that uses “modes of direct address to the viewer, on-screen captions, and audiovisual montage… to create space for viewers to experiment with gendered embodiment through imagining a future-oriented transformation into a trans subject.” In other words, sissy porn is a visual/audible hypnosis designed to portray the participant as the opposite sex. Since it intends to assist or transform the viewer into a certain persona, this genre of porn serves not only for arousal but encourages lifestyle changes. Additionally, pornography often encourages individuals to live these taboo sexual ideas in their public lives, rather than simply being an erotic reenactment for lustful masturbation. In perhaps the most telling manner, Pulitzer Prize winner Andrea Long Chu described in Females:
“Sissy porn’s central conceit is that the women it depicts are in fact former men who have been feminized (‘sissified’) by being forced to wear makeup, wear lingerie, and perform acts of sexual submission. Captions further instruct viewers to understand that the very act of looking at sissy porn itself constitutes an act of sexual degradation, with the implication that, whether they like it or not, viewers will inevitably be transformed into females themselves. This makes sissy porn a kind of metapornography, that is, porn about what happens to you when you watch porn.”
Among popular figures influenced by sissy porn are the Wachowski brothers, Andrew and Larry, largely known for directing The Matrix. Both Wachowski brothers now claim they are women, with Andy referring to himself as Lilly, and Larry now calling himself Lana. Andy self-admitted in an interview in 2019 that “something unlocked in my brain” after viewing transgender pornography. Andy further described the feeling of seeing “these wonderful, fearless performers becoming desirable,” and thinking, “If I could be desirable, then maybe I could be loved.” Additionally, Andrea Long Chu claimed that “sissy porn did make me trans.”
In addition to popular figures are dozens of individuals on online forums telling the same story: pornography heavily contributed to their gender dysphoria. One Reddit user on r/Sissy described his experience:
“I started watching trans porn initially five or so years ago and I remember I had post-orgasm regret. Back then, I imagined myself as the guy… About a year and a half ago, I started to imagine the possibility of being the girl in these scenarios… Recently, I’ve started to really question everything. I love the attention and consequently feeling like the woman. This has lead [sic] me to have some gender dysphoria, as I would love to be the woman and see where that would take me in my life (fully transitioned transwoman).”
Another post titled “Am I trans or am I a sissy?” further illustrates this phenomenon. The user describes:
“I became interested in sissy porn around age 16-17. I was blown away by it! I loved the idea of someone (whether it be a man or a woman) ‘forcing’ me to become a sissy considered with nothing but pleasing ‘real men’. As of late, however, my fantasies have been less about someone forcing me to be a girl and simply me being a girl. I usually fantasize about having sex with a man as a woman.”
Additionally, an entire subreddit support group is dedicated to individuals struggling with gender dysphoria after years of porn use; countless stories of uncontrollable fantasies, urges, and obsessions with being female, particularly during sexual intercourse, are shared and read by over fourteen-thousand members. The extent of this problem is inconceivable, and the role pornography has played in Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria is clear.
The notion that a transgender individual is only a “man born in a woman’s body,” or vice-versa, is a sweeping definition absent of any alternative considerations. Any look at the aforementioned individual accounts, along with a brief glance at the skyrocketing percentages of LGBTQ-identifying individuals within such a short period, is enough to determine the reality of Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria: this correlation between increased porn consumption and Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria cannot be ignored. It is apparent that this pornography-initiated transgenderism is a culmination of increasingly celebrated sexualities in public and excessive pornography use in private. As we hear Prophets’ and Apostles’ warnings of pornography use, we must look beyond well-known consequences such as infidelity and addiction to understand the even greater effect of pornography on gender and sexual confusion.
Written by: Jacob Christensen and Ian Farris
Editor-In-Chief and Opinion Editor
The opinions in this article are those of the authors.
The Cougar Chronicle is an independent student-run newspaper and is not affiliated with Brigham Young University or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
