Monday, September 29, 2008

I remembered some time last year when I asked a guy friend for some files on his laptop. As he was transferring the files, I accidentally saw a folder. It was filled with pornography. He was shy when the file was exposed and quickly closed the window. A sudden sense of awkwardness sipped within me. I could not look into his eyes. I felt disgusted and angry and since that very day, I felt dry whenever I encountered him, I never looked at him the same way again.
We used to get along pretty well. Though he was not the kind of friend I would seek for heart to heart talk, he was a good companion. Someone whose company I enjoyed when playing games and doing other chores. I found it hard to face him ever since I discovered that he kept those files in his computer. I felt disappointed, I felt insecure.
To be honest, I despise pornography and I have difficulty accepting people who indulge in it. It is not art, it is lust. I feel that people who indulge in pornography has no sense of respect towards the opposite gender. How can one say that that he loves his partner if he finds delight watching another woman naked? How can he say he love his mother, wife and daughter if he finds delight watching the erotic moves of another woman and fantasizes himself in the picture?
To me, a man who indulges in pornography is no different to a man who visits a prostitute. I may be an old school but to me, the body is sacred and is not meant to be exploited and I will never ever give myself to another who cannot respect and appreciate me. To me, one of the most devastating thing in a relationship is to have a partner that finds delight feasting on another person’s flesh, to have no sense of respect towards the sacredness of his own body and also mine. To me, it is equally similar to him having a relationship with another woman and that is something which would hurt me terribly.
Likewise, I would never do such a thing to the man whom I respect.
Why am I writing this? Of late, I discovered that that guy friend whom I mentioned earlier is not the only person whom I know who indulges in it. I am terribly sad and disappointed with my discovery and I ask myself why. Honestly, sometimes I just want to cry. Why pornography when there are so many more better things to enjoy in life? Why behave like an animal when we have brains to think? Are we so hopeless?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Guess you have your say/opinion on that matter. Let's not equate the liking or tendency of something negative as perceptually the person's sole desire or want. You may be different in your thinking but no matter how negative it may be, for some it may be a real problem, a reality that they have to cope with and be "content" with. Some who later developed a u-turn or revert from their negative habit may be trying all their might to change or "repent" thus not all should be condemned with the same sentence. The development of such habit is gradual and same goes to rejecting or making a u-turn from whatever the negativity maybe. (We) may change our opinion of that person but in reality we do not know how that person struggles with such addiction or continues to harbour such addiction. Such as these do need mercy and prayers. Trust me, sometime, we may never know when a particular person may change out of the blue or still sticks to the addiction or is silently making an effort to change(with nobody to take notice of the change except God. No doubt, its true that the body is sacred in God's eye. Such a teaching is evident in John Paul's Theology of the Body (TOTB) but understand that once "condemned" can be redeemed. In such case, running away aka avoiding the person like a plague will not help to resolve the matter. I do not intend this as a polemic but just to share my two cents' worth. I'll leave it at that, period.

jennvaz said...

Thank you Alex for your honest comment. I do not disagree with you. Perhaps I am over generalizing in this criticism of mine.

Just for your information, I do not hate that guy friend of mine. I just feel ackward. Perhaps I think too much.

Anonymous said...

Maybe we can look at this matter from a different angle too..ya, we human have brain but do we often use to brain to think and judge all the time? Nope, most of the time, we let our emotion to take over and decide for us. Rationally, this (watching porn) is wrong! Do they know about this? Yes, they know but they can't control...so how? They have to figure out themselves.

Jen, like you, I don't like these type of guys too, as a matter of fact, I really really hate these type of guys, who doesn't? But that's life now-a-day, getting more and more ridiculous and harsh word to use - "animalic"...human seldom use brain anymore, just like animal, most prefer to act/respond instinctively.

jennvaz said...

I do not hate the person who watches it. The reason I get hurt is because I love the person and it hurts to know that the person opts to do something which he/she knows extreemly well that it is not right. It is not about judging and condemning those who watch porn. It is just to say that when I know someone I love doing something as such, it effects my feelings.
Not everyone who indulges in porn are fully aware of the impact. Not everyone sees the consequences. Sometimes we tend to follow blindly what others do. I know of children to watch porn because their parents left it exposed in the house. Are they to be blamed? But then again, not everyone is naive too. But of course, who am I to judge? What do I know about their lives.