By Armstrong Williams
On visits to Italy, I have had many opportunities to indulge my passion for fine art. Masterworks like the Sistine Chapel ceiling, Michelangelo’s marble David, and the Birth of Venus never fail to take my breath away, the same effect they’ve had on art lovers for 500 years.
This time, however, something struck me that I hadn’t considered before. The three pieces I mentioned (alongside thousands of other classical treasures) contain full nudity, but I certainly wouldn’t object to children going to the museums that house them.
That’s because art and pornography are two drastically different things, especially with respect to minors. And as sexual taboos continue to crumble throughout the media, that distinction is more important than ever.
Michelangelo and Botticelli celebrated the human body as God’s signature creation, modelled in His own image. Humans are imperfect, they knew, but the body is a miracle, and their art shows it. Works like the David speak to our highest ideals of physicality, idealised and pure, and any nudity involved is entirely devoid of sexuality.
Pornography is the opposite. In many cases, it degrades rather than celebrates the body, appealing to the most base elements of human nature – elements that classical artists strove to discard in their search for beauty.
Watching porn isn’t great for adults (starting to watch it while married nearly doubles your risk of divorce), but it’s protected by the First Amendment. As Justice Thurgood Marshall wrote in Stanley v. Georgia, “a State has no business telling a man, sitting alone in his own house, what books he may read or what films he may watch.”
Children, on the other hand, have no right to pornography, thank God. They shouldn’t – it is poison for developing minds.
That might seem like an old-fashioned opinion, but it’s the official position of groups like UNICEF, the American College of Pediatricians, and the Institute for Family Studies. It’s also backed by data.
Watching pornography as a minor is linked to increased incidence of sexual violence, negative attitudes towards women, and unsafe sex, including being more accepting of those behaviours in others, as well as poor body image.
Keeping porn away from children before the internet was easy. As a parent, you knew what it looked like and where it was sold, and there was always a physical item to take away if a child did get their hands on prurient material.
Not anymore. For kids today, finding pornography is as easy as hitting a few keys on the phone in their pocket. The fact that they’re getting phones earlier makes it worse; the younger a child is when they see pornography for the first time, the worse the effects are.
The average age at which an American child first consumes pornography is now just 12 years old – or more accurately, young.
73% of teens have been exposed to it, and tragically, more than half of those teens have been exposed accidentally.
If current trends continue, the maladaptive and misogynistic effects of porn will become even more pervasive throughout society.
So, what can we do about it?
One option is mandating that pornographic websites require users to verify their age before entering the site, a step that sixteen states have already taken. There’s private-sector precedent for this too, as many social media apps already require such verification and a myriad of tech companies offer solutions for entities looking to age-gate their content.
That’s not a silver bullet, however; the image-based verification that some organisations rely on requires uploading a picture of your child into a third-party database, posing considerable privacy and safety concerns.
Parents can work with their internet providers and phone companies to impose parental controls; you can even buy your child a phone with protective restrictions built in.
None of the above, however, is a substitute for good parenting. The “birds and bees” talk needs an update that includes the harmful effects of pornography, especially online. And regardless of awkwardness, no one is better positioned to deliver that vital education than a parent.
We need to teach the next generation to understand the difference between the Birth of Venus and an x-rated video. With our help, they will lead healthier lives for it.
* Armstrong Williams is an American political commentator, entrepreneur, author, and talk show host. Williams writes a nationally syndicated newspaper column, has hosted a daily radio show, and hosts a nationally syndicated television program called The Armstrong Williams Show.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.