I know this probably sounds hypocritical but I find the ubiquity and ease of availability of porn in this day and age depressing. Where’s the excitement, nowadays, of jerking off to something that your average 10-year old is probably accessing? It’s a double-edged sword as porn is now harder, cheaper and available on tap (all of which, I admit, are good things). Still, I remember with fondness the days of my youth when I used to painstakingly journey from sex shop (adult bookstore) to sex shop and newsagent (newsstand) to newsagent in search of ‘top shelf’ thrills. And ‘thrill’ is the right word, as it was genuinely exciting to acquire a new magazine or videotape back then. I could feel my boner growing in anticipation on the way home. Now, I finish downloading my 4,000,000th video clip and it’s all so ‘ho-hum…’ Oh well, at least unscrupulous mail-order companies have been rendered extinct (anyone remember when sending off for porn was a genuinely terrifying endeavour?

As far as porn nowadays affecting people’s real life sexual behaviour, I can’t see how it wouldn’t. Obviously, blokes are gonna want to replicate what they see in porn. That’s only natural, I think. I know I partake in porn-influenced sexual activity (luckily, I have a tolerant and broadminded partner). What always puzzles me is the ‘chicken & egg’ question when it comes to porn: do I want to give a girl a facial because I’ve seen it in porn or was it always a subconscious desire for a man (to do this), therefore it is shown in porn? Did cavemen give facials? I guess that’s the question.