In the first version of Kicking the Habit, I wrote that this book is for Christian men. After sending the book to the publisher, the women at church started telling me about women who were involved with porn. When I checked the research literature on pornography use among women. I found out that it’s not just a guy thing anymore. In fact, the rapid rise in pornography use among women I found in the research literature was alarming.
Although It’s hard to measure precise rates of pornography use for a variety of reasons, it’ safe to assume that the rates will not peak until we reach the point of maximum possible saturation. That is, virtually everyone over the age of 10 or 12 will encounter or seek out internet pornography, and everyone who is vulnerable or unprotected will be using porn compulsively.
In American adults aged 18-39 years old, 46% of men and 16% of women intentionally view pornography in a given week.[i] Rates are higher in young adults but lower among practicing Christians. A recent representative survey of the United States by the Barna Research Group (Ventura, CA) reported that among Americans who were not practicing Christians, 72% of young men (ages 13-24) and 36% of women view porn regularly.[ii] Among practicing Christians, 40% of young men view porn regularly compared to 13% of young women. Rates of self-reported pornography use were somewhat lower among pastors of Protestant churches: 14% of senior pastors and 21% of youth pastors use pornography on a regular basis.
What has contributed to the rapid rise in internet porn use among both men and women? Well, we have a toxic internet environment that continues to get worse as culture deteriorates. For example, only in the last dozen years have we seen the widespread availability of high-speed mobile internet and porn streaming “tube” sites. Although women are still less likely to use internet pornography than men, porn use appears to be growing fastest among young women.[iii] Women are also less likely to use internet pornography compulsively than men, which may contribute to the myth that women do not use porn. For both women and men, rates of regular and compulsive pornography use have not peaked, much less started to recede. “Generation Z” is the first generation of Americans to grow up during the era of high-speed data roaming plans and porn-streaming tube sites,[iv] and we do not know how heavy exposure to pornography during the formative years will affect this generation’s lives. Without strong countermeasures, there is every reason to expect that our families, friends, and members of our churches will suffer the full devastation of the flood of internet pornography sweeping the globe.
Next time we’ll (I am consulting my wife Kathryn on these blogs) consider women’s motives for using pornography, which may provide some insight into how to best help them stop if they want to quit. If you don’t want to wait, head over to the handout download page and get “Appendix C.”
[ii] Kinnaman, David. (2016) “The Porn Phenomenon.” The Barna Group
[iii] Josh McDowell interview on Line of Fire Radio with Dr. Michael Brown—June 28, 2016
[iv] Dimock, M. (2018). Defining generations: where millennials end and post-millennials begin. Pew Research Center.