How porn can damage a Nairobian's mind

After the so-called ‘gubernatorial’ elections were conducted, Kenyans adopted the idea of their own miniature governments within the counties. The Bungoma county stunned the country by allocating Sh20 million towards fighting pornography. It caused a pandemonium of some sort but let’s face it: Pornography is more real today than it has ever been. Our sister paper, The Standard, carried the story of a woman related to Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko appearing in court for pornography-related charges. On Facebook and Twitter, koinangestreet.com has sprung and is live, with images and pictures that involve Kenyan men and women. In fact, downtown along the infamous River Road, there are hounds and piles of locally shot blue movies. Word is also rife that local pornography is emerging as big business. It is not hard to believe it as not long ago the media adequately fed us on the escapades of some nondescript white man in Mombasa, paying young women to go as far as having sex with dogs – all for the insatiable psyche of human sexuality. And recently, many Nairobi book readers have been exposed to non-conventional, violent sex in an erotic romance novel that has become popular in the city – Fifty Shades of Grey by British author E. L James.
The dangers of pornography are yet to be laid bare to Kenya’s populace, which is still reeling in the initial excitement pornography allegedly creates. But researchers and experts say that pornography has deep ramifications on a person’s mind – beyond sexual response of the person. “Pornography– especially among young people – is spiteful and affects both males and females. It slowly consumes a person’s sexuality; some can’t be satisfied and are disturbed in their lives of addiction,” says Catherine Mbau, a practising counselling psychologist. Catherine adds that pornography affects a person’s mind and can predispose them to sex-related psychological illnesses. She points out that issues such as abuse and sexual violence can be exacerbated by pornography. Furthermore, pornography has the dire consequence of destroying an initially functional marriage. Her hypotheses are supported by numerous studies, like one done by Neil Malamuth, a psychologist at University of California, Los Angeles) (UCLA). In an experiment conducted in 1986, Malamuth recruited 42 men and assessed the likelihood that they were inclined to rape. He divided them into three groups. Reports indicate that the first was given a selection of sexually explicit materials containing scenes of rape and sadomasochism. The second was given non-violent pornography. The third group - the control - was given none at all. Malamuth created scenarios where these men would interact face-to-face with a woman afterwards, ‘allowing’ them to ask suggestive questions and to react in several ways towards the women.
He concluded that if a man consumes a lot of aggressive pornography, there is a greater likelihood that he will commit a sexually aggressive act. According to Mbau, pornography can drive patients to psychological brinks that would require medical intervention.
-The standardmedia