Heart-throbs John Mayer and Robert Pattinson both recently gave interviews to big magazines, and in the process revealed interesting perspectives on pornography.

While Mayer’s interview is likely to be noted for some other things said which Mayer will likely regret, we found his points on the impact of pornography on his generation to be rather salient:

Internet pornography has absolutely changed my generation’s expectations. How does (porn) not affect the psychology of having a relationship with somebody? It’s got to.
John Mayer

Mayer added that his pornography consumption has made sex less satisfying for him and has made it harder to connect to the woman that he is with and less likely to seek out meaningful relationships with women.

Robert Pattinson of the wildly successful Twilight saga, who apparently objected to having to appear with several near-naked models for a Details cover shoot, also wondered about the impact of the prevalence and availability of porn on his generation.

Pattinson in describing his aversion to the shoot lamented that today, as opposed to the eighties, that porn is “everything” and “everywhere,” and that it has lost aspects he described as “quaint” and even respectful.

Many groups, from the feminist left to the Christian right, have connected constant pornography consumption to sexual crimes or deviant behavior, but what Mayer and Pattinson both inherently realize as members of younger generations is that the effect of pornography goes far beyond such worst-case scenarios. The increasingly apparent and felt impact is that the ubiquitous nature of online pornography is changing the face of sex and relationships in much the same way that social networking and media are changing interpersonal interaction: substituting endlessness for intimacy.

What do you think? Will the availability and ubiquity of pornography in the digital age substantially alter human relationships and behavior?

Filed under: Uncategorized