Why There’s Nothing Wrong With Masturbating to Porn

“But isn’t that a little strange?” you might be thinking. There’s already an article on HornyintheJungle called ‘How to Masturbate Without Porn’. Doesn’t this article contradict that one?

At first glance, it might seem that way. But not really. Hear me out.

As you may have read in that article, we at HornyintheJungle have nothing against porn. We don’t believe there’s anything inherently wrong with porn. For many people, it can be a fun and exciting part of their sexual life. That previous article was written for people who consciously choose to cut back on porn, take a break from it, or perhaps stop watching it altogether.

But there’s another side to the story.

Porn and Masturbation: Another Perspective 

Maybe you find porn, like I do, arousing. Maybe you’re curious about it, but hold yourself back because you constantly hear and read that porn is bad for you. Or perhaps you wonder whether you should feel guilty when you masturbate to it.

So this time, I want to explore the other side: why is there actually nothing wrong with masturbating to porn?

Not because I think you have to watch porn. And not because I want to claim that masturbating without porn is better or worse.

I want to show you another perspective.

The Human Fascination With Nudity 

Our fascination with naked bodies is probably as old as humanity itself. Long before the internet, magazines, or even written language existed, people were already creating images of the naked human body.

The so-called Venus figurines from prehistoric times are a well-known example. One of these figurines, found near Mal’ta in Siberia, dates back roughly 21,000 years and depicts a highly stylized female body, with particular emphasis on features such as the breasts and buttocks.

And that fascination certainly didn’t disappear after prehistoric times. The naked human body also played an important role in Greek and Roman art. The Greeks developed a strong tradition of depicting the naked human body, with particular emphasis on the idealized form.

During the Renaissance, this classical tradition was embraced once again. Several artists created famous works in which the naked body played a prominent role. Think of Michelangelo’s David and Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus. 

But nudity in art was not always intended to be viewed solely from a detached artistic or religious perspective. Some works also had a distinctly sensual or erotic appeal. Titian’s Venus of Urbino, painted in 1538, is a well-known example. The naked Venus looks directly at the viewer, while her pose and presentation are unmistakably sensual. 

These are, of course, only a few examples, but they do show that our fascination with the naked human body is certainly not a recent invention.

With the arrival of photography and film, it was primarily the way we could capture and experience this fascination that changed. As early as 1896, Le Coucher de la mariée appeared, a French short film in which a young woman slowly undresses. The film is considered by some to be one of the earliest erotic films in the history of cinema. 

Sexually explicit films began appearing as early as the first few decades of film history. A well-known example is A Free Ride, an American pornographic film considered one of the oldest surviving American porn films. The film is often dated to around 1915, although its exact year of production remains disputed. 

From there, things moved quickly. Over the course of the twentieth century, more and more sexually explicit films appeared, first through specialized screenings and cinemas and later through videotapes and DVDs, allowing people to watch pornography in the privacy of their own homes.

But the biggest change came with the internet. Pornography became digital, instantly available, and eventually accessible almost everywhere.

Porn as a Sexual Stimulus

That was, in a nutshell, a brief look at the history. Not because I want to tell the complete history of nudity or pornography, but to make one thing clear: our fascination with the naked human body is certainly nothing new.

Of course, fascination is not the same as sexual arousal. You can find a naked body beautiful, interesting, or attractive without necessarily becoming sexually aroused by it.

Still, for many people, naked and sexual images can indeed be a powerful sexual stimulus. An attractive body, an erotic scene, or an explicit image can trigger sexual arousal. Research into visual sexual stimuli shows that such images can produce physiological and neurological responses in both men and women that are associated with sexual arousal. 

And really, that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Sexual arousal doesn’t suddenly begin the moment someone touches you. What we see can already play a role in it. Sometimes an image, a fantasy, or a particular situation is enough to spark sexual interest or get you turned on. 

And when it comes to porn, of course, it’s not just about what you see. In addition to still images, there are videos. And with most pornographic videos, there is another stimulating component as well: sound.

Research shows that sound can enhance the sexual response to visual sexual stimuli. Sexual sounds, such as voices, moans, and sighs, can further intensify the experience.

From Sexual Arousal to Masturbation

These kinds of sexual stimuli can lead to masturbation, depending on how aroused you become and how strong your desire is.

An image, a sound, a smell, a fantasy, or a touch can spark sexual desire. But what you do with that arousal afterward naturally varies from person to person. One person may simply enjoy the feeling and let the excitement fade away. Another may feel like sexually stimulating themselves and masturbating.

And if that arousal is caused by porn, it really isn’t all that surprising that someone might then use that same porn while masturbating. The images and sounds create sexual arousal; that arousal creates the desire for further sexual stimulation, and porn remains part of the experience.

To me, that may be one of the most obvious reasons why people combine porn and masturbation in the first place. Porn can get you sexually aroused, and masturbation can then be a way of experiencing and enjoying that arousal.

Porn Provides the Right Stimulus

One important difference from the past is that you’re no longer limited to whatever erotic magazines, films, or videos happen to be available. Thanks to the internet, the range of pornography has expanded enormously. Almost any sexual preference, fantasy, or curiosity you can think of has a place somewhere within that vast selection.

That also means people can much more easily find porn that matches what personally turns them on. One person might be aroused by a particular type of body, while someone else might respond more to a certain atmosphere, dynamic, sexual act, or fantasy.

With just a few search terms, you can find something within seconds that matches your mood or desire at that particular moment.

In that sense, porn can be a very targeted source of sexual stimulation for some people. Not because porn affects everyone in the same way, but precisely because the range of content has become so vast and diverse.

And perhaps that helps explain why porn and masturbation have become such a natural combination.

Porn Within Reach and Complete Privacy

It’s not just the variety of porn that has grown enormously. The way we consume it has changed completely as well. You no longer have to wait for a particular movie to be shown on television or go to a store to buy a video, DVD, or magazine. With the internet, porn is just a few clicks away, whether you’re using a computer, television, or phone.

And perhaps even more importantly, you can explore it in complete privacy. Even if you live with other people, you can easily do so without anyone else knowing or watching over your shoulder. You can simply use your phone or computer in your bedroom, or another private space, and choose whatever appeals to you.

That combination of choice, convenience, and privacy makes porn a very different experience from what it was in the past. You can decide what interests you, when you’re in the mood for it, and where you want to explore it, without anyone else having to know.

It also makes it easier to use porn as a personal source of sexual stimulation while masturbating. You don’t have to adapt your fantasies to whatever happens to be on hand; you can actively seek out something that fits your mood or desire at that particular moment.

But Why Is Masturbating to Porn So Often Seen as Problematic?

So far, I’ve mainly explained why it makes perfect sense that people combine porn and masturbation. Sexual images and sounds can arouse us. That arousal can then create the desire to masturbate. And when porn is what gets you turned on in the first place, it’s hardly surprising that you might continue with the same material while masturbating.

Yet porn is often viewed with suspicion. We regularly hear claims that it can have all sorts of negative consequences. And I suppose that if these concerns are valid in general, they would naturally apply to someone who turns to porn while masturbating as well.

So, in the following sections, I want to take a closer look at some of the most common arguments against porn and explain why I don’t think they automatically mean that there is anything wrong with porn—or with masturbating to it.

Porn Is Addictive

One of the most common arguments against porn is that it is addictive. The idea is that regular porn use can turn into a form of addiction in which someone loses control over their behavior, keeps seeking out porn despite negative consequences, and may feel the need to consume more or more extreme content to achieve the same level of sexual satisfaction.

There is indeed scientific research on problematic porn use and compulsive sexual behavior. So yes, for some people, porn can become genuinely problematic and may be associated with a loss of control and negative consequences in their lives.

But that doesn’t mean that simply watching porn regularly is an addiction. There is an important difference between enjoying porn as part of your sex life and feeling unable to control your use of it. Scientists are still debating how problematic porn use should be understood and whether it is appropriate to classify it as an addiction at all.

My own view is fairly simple: the fact that some people can develop a problematic relationship with porn doesn’t mean that porn is addictive for everyone. If you watch porn occasionally—or even regularly—enjoy it, and masturbate to it, that alone is no reason to assume that something is wrong with you. It becomes a problem when you find yourself unable to control your behavior or when it starts having negative consequences in your life.

Porn Ruins Your Brain

Another common argument against porn is that it somehow damages your brain. There has certainly been research into the relationship between porn and the brain. Researchers have found certain neurological differences in people who use porn in problematic ways, but that doesn’t mean porn has been shown to damage the brain. And it isn’t always clear whether these differences are caused by porn itself or by other factors.

And honestly, I sometimes wonder why porn is treated so differently from other forms of entertainment in this respect. If someone spends hours watching Netflix every night and finds it hard to stop, we would probably call that problematic binge-watching. There is even scientific research on the subject.

So why should someone who regularly watches porn and enjoys masturbating to it automatically be told that they’re damaging their brain? To me, that’s quite a leap.

Unrealistic Expectations About Sex and the Human Body

Another concern often raised about porn is that it can give people an unrealistic idea of sex and the human body. Pornographic images often feature bodies that fit certain beauty standards, and the sex itself is usually far from an ordinary representation of what happens in a bedroom.

That gives people way too little credit. Most people, I think, understand perfectly well that porn isn’t a realistic depiction of sex. Then again, there is an enormous variety of porn out there these days, including plenty of content that tries to portray sex in a more realistic and everyday way. Think, for example, of what is sometimes referred to as “female-friendly porn” or “amateur porn.”

But when porn is exaggerated or unrealistic, that can actually be part of its appeal. Sometimes it’s precisely the fantasy, the exaggeration, or the fact that something would never happen in real life that makes it interesting.

A James Bond movie isn’t exactly a realistic portrayal of everyday life, is it? The main character has a perfectly trained body, survives one spectacular situation after another, is constantly surrounded by attractive women, and finds himself in all kinds of situations most people will never experience. Yet I’d like to think that viewers don’t automatically assume that everyday life actually looks like that.

So why would we suddenly assume that people watching porn don’t understand that they’re watching a fantasy?

Porn Ruins Your Intimate Life

Then there’s the idea that porn can ruin your intimate life. You might become so accustomed to the intense sexual stimulation of porn that a real-life partner eventually becomes less exciting. It’s also often claimed that porn can make you less interested in having sex with a partner, lead to less sex within a relationship, or even contribute to relationship problems or a breakup.

But if porn really made real-life sex consistently less appealing, that would suggest that the images and sounds on a screen somehow become more attractive than reality. That seems like quite a remarkable conclusion to me. Real-life sex isn’t just about what you see and hear, is it? It also involves touch, smell, physical closeness, intimacy, and the interaction with another person.

Besides, porn doesn’t have to be a substitute for sex with a partner. You can enjoy porn while masturbating and still very much enjoy having sex with someone else. The two don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

Of course, porn can cause problems in some relationships. But in my view, it’s more interesting to look at what is actually behind those problems. Is it the porn itself, perhaps because it reflects insecurity, emotional distance, or some kind of dissatisfaction within the relationship? Or is it the frequency with which someone uses it, which may eventually reduce their desire for sex with their partner and lead to less sex within the relationship?

Porn Makes You Unhappy

Finally, there’s the broader idea that porn can make people unhappy. I’m using the word “unhappy” here deliberately as something of an umbrella term for the various negative effects that are often attributed to regular porn use, such as guilt, shame, lower self-esteem, loneliness, or simply feeling less satisfied with life.

But here too, I wonder what the cause and effect actually are. Does porn make people unhappy? Or are people who already feel lonely, insecure, or unhappy simply more likely to turn to porn? And perhaps there’s another factor at play as well: if you’re constantly told that porn is bad for you, is it really so strange that you might eventually feel guilty or ashamed when you enjoy it?

Shame, and More Shame 

Those are some of the main arguments you’ll often hear against porn. Of course, I’ve come across plenty of others while researching this subject. But honestly, some of them struck me as so childish that I didn’t even think they were worth discussing in detail.

Still, let me give you one example: the argument that watching porn simply means you’re wasting your time.

Well… you could say that about almost anything.

You waste time watching TV. You waste time playing video games. You waste time going out for dinner, reading a book, taking a walk, listening to music, or spending an hour lying on the couch.

Just because something takes up your time doesn’t mean it has no value or contributes nothing to the quality of your life.

But I think there’s a much more interesting reason why masturbating to porn is so often viewed negatively.

Shame. And more shame.

Masturbation is still seen by many people as something they should feel ashamed of. We’ve already written an article about this.

And then there’s porn on top of that. Because even though the fact that porn sites such as Pornhub and xHamster are among the most visited websites in the world, there is still plenty of shame surrounding porn.

So if masturbation is already something you’re supposed to be ashamed of, and watching porn is something you’re supposed to be ashamed of too, then combining the two must really seem like you’re doing something terribly wrong.

But why?

Why should we feel ashamed of something that gives us sexual pleasure?

I think some of the negative stories we tell ourselves about porn may have far more to do with shame than we’re willing to admit. If you’re constantly told that something is wrong, unhealthy, or shameful, is it really surprising that you eventually start feeling guilty about enjoying it?

And then that shame itself can be used as evidence that something must be wrong.

Maybe we should ask ourselves what our ideas about porn are actually doing to us.

I’m certainly not suggesting that all the problems surrounding porn are caused by shame. But I do think we often underestimate how much influence it can have.

So… Is Masturbating to Porn Wrong? 

In this essay, I’ve put forward several arguments to explain why, in my view, there’s nothing wrong with masturbating to porn.

Of course, there will always be arguments that could lead you to see things differently. Ultimately, it’s also a matter of perspective. As I mentioned earlier, we also have an article on this website about how to masturbate without porn.

And that’s exactly my point: it’s a personal choice. Some people prefer to masturbate with porn, while others prefer to do it without. Or maybe, like me, you masturbate with porn sometimes and without it at other times. As long as porn isn’t a problem for you, I see no reason why masturbating to porn should be considered wrong.

Masturbating to porn is not inherently wrong. As long as you enjoy it and it feels right for you, I don’t see why you should give it up.