The Dark Side of Leisure - Pornography, Gambling, and Drug Use - Essay Example

The Dark Side of Leisure: Pornography, Gambling and Drug Use The significance of leisure activities cannot be gainsaid, and as first world countries have become more affluent, the significance of leisure time activities has increased considerably (Mason 2003, 58). Of course it would be a good idea if more and more people engaged in leisure activities because leisure is intrinsically motivating, it is enjoyable and it allows people to exercise their freedom of choice. In this sense, leisure activities can be viewed as activities for humanity to take a break from the normal routine of work. But this is not always the case, as pornography, gambling and drug abuse – which in most cases pass as leisure activities – often constitute the bad side of leisure. The first two activities above; that is, pornography, gambling are in the contemporary world connected with the use of the Internet and also take place offline in different forms. Johnson (2009, p. 11) presents evidence that too much use of the Internet, especially for activities such as gambling and accessing pornographic materials, can be addictive. It is true that even using the internet for other purposes like checking email can be additive, but not in the sense same ways as addiction due to accessing pornographic materials or online gambling. Johnson’s (2009, p. 11) evidence is based on a review of 442 online game players which suggested a clinical disorder of Internet addiction. In addition to online gaming, other forms of gambling are embodied in sports betting, lotteries, gaming machines, racing, scratch tickets and so on. The problem with gambling, whether done online or in other forms, is that it is highly addictive and this has implications since much of time of the people involved will be spent on gambling rather than other meaningful and productive activities. Gamblers are also likely to spend fortunes on gambling, which may be lost at the expense of investing in other, more reliable and dependable activities. For instance, the Australian government indicates that Australians spend approximately $12 billion every year on poker machines and that 75 per cent of individuals who have a severe problem with gambling are pokie players. The major problems associated with gambling addiction include family breakups (because the victims spend very little time with their families), moral decay, and persistent financial problems when players spend all their incomes on gambling. In particular, the Australian Government (2013) states that people who have a problem with their gambling behaviour lose about $21,000 annually. This is about one third of an individual’s annual salary and is the same money that would have been used to offset bills, pay off mortgage or pay for holidays expenditures with the whole family. When people have to spend much of their leisure time away from their families and utilise their resources on activities that are not in the interest of their families, then there is a problem. Thus, in way gambling is an embodiment of the dark side of leisure. Turning to pornography, it has been said that pornography is a major global leisure industry which is worth billions of dollars and that it has helped drive many mainstream hi-tech advances, for instance the Internet and video technology (Blackshaw & Crawford, p. 164). So big is the pornography industry, as Yawar (2006) notes that it stands at $57 billion. In the US alone, the industry is estimated to be worth $12 billion compared to the renowned Hollywood which is worth a lesser value of $10 billion. In fact, the value of the pornography industry can only be compared with some of the world’s biggest firm such as BHP Billiton, Sony and BMW. Now, looked at plainly, this is an industry that has a very large following globally and one of the biggest leisure attractions. But the significance of the pornography should not just be based on how big the industry is; rather, the industry needs to be analysed from the perspective of the impact it has on the society. Notably, even large firms have to engage in corporate social responsibility initiatives to ensure that they remain accountable to the society in regard to their impacts, both positive and negative. But aside from being a large industry, pornography does not seem to have many benefits. Just like gambling, when people spend their time viewing pornographic content, they are likely to become addicted, and this has significant ramifications for people’s relationships. There is no doubt that when people watch pornographic content they will always want to see more of that content, and this keeps them away from their families, partners, friends and so on. This view is supported by Weeks (2010, p. 1) from the Utah State University who, based on a wide review of literature, argues that pornography affects users in that they face difficulty being sexually aroused without pornography, they lose interest and engage in fewer sexual experiences with their partners, their partners feel sexually inadequate and threatened by use of pornography, the partners may feel that certain sexual activities desired by the user are objectionable, both user and partner encounter a decrease in relationship sexual pleasure and emotional closeness, relationship trust declines because of dishonesty and deception due to pornography use, and one or both partners may be worried about children’s exposure to pornographic content. A more comprehensive study on the social impacts of pornography was done by Eberstadt and Layden (2010). Based on the research, Eberstadt and Layden (2010) made eight key findings: (1) that today pornography is now available and used widely in the society, and this can be largely attributed to the Internet; (2) today’s consumption of the Internet involves streaming of realistic images as well as ‘hard core’ characters; (3) the modern-day consumption of Internet pornography can cause harm to women in particular; (4) consumption of Internet pornography is also likely to harm children; (5) today’s use of pornography can harm other people not immediately associated with the users of pornography; (6) the use of pornography can harm its users; (7) consumption is philosophically and morally problematic; and (8) the fact that not everyone is adversely affected by pornography does not imply that pornography should not be regulated. The figures relating to pornography are especially worrying because of the ease of access to pornographic materials. According to Eberstadt and Layden (2010, p. 13), Americans rent more than 800 million pornographic videos and DVDs each year, and 11,000 porn films are shot annually compared the 400 shot for Hollywood. In addition, Eberstadt and Layden (2010, p. 13) indicate that men look at Internet pornography more than they look at any other object. Further, about 66 per cent of men aged between 18 and 34 visit a porn site each month. These figures would not be worrying if pornography were not associated with negative impacts. The problem is that apart from affecting partners in relationships, pornography is likely to be viewed by young people, especially children, since they can easily open photographic sites in the comfort of their rooms on their phones or laptops. Such young people are likely to be addicted to pornography at very tender ages, thus exacerbating the problems associated with this kind of leisure. Another point of looking at the issue is that the pornographic materials such as videos and pictures are recordings of people involved in sexual activity or expressing nudity. The actors are human beings, and thus their moral standing must be questioned even as they promote pornography as a form of leisure. Lastly, the use of drugs as a form of leisure is a major problem in many parts of the world. In Australia for instance, cannabis is the drug that most young people aged between 14 and 19 years use (Holt 2005, p. 3). The growth of music and club cultures since the 1990s has also fuelled a rise in the use of drugs such as ecstasy among young people (Holt 2005, p. 3). The problem with drug abuse is that large amounts of resources have to be spent on rehabilitation and treatment programmes for the people involved in the use of drugs such as cannabis and cocaine. This is because illicit drug use (which is the subject of this discussion), has both short-term and lasting impacts, including severe conditions such as poisoning, mental illness, infective endocarditis, self-harm, death by overdose and suicide. The use of illicit drugs is also associated with transmission of disease such as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B and hepatitis C since shared objects such as syringes are used in administering some types of drugs (National Rural Health Alliance Inc., 2012, p. 1). References Australian Government 2013, ‘Problem gambling’, viewed 28 May 2013, Blackshaw, T & Crawford, G 2009, The SAGE dictionary of leisure studies, SAGE, London. Eberstadt, M & Layden, M A 2010, ‘The social costs of pornography: A statement of findings and recommendations’, viewed 26 May 2013, Holt, M 2005, ‘Young people and illicit drug use in Australia’, Social Research Issues Paper, No. 3, February 2005, viewed 26 May 2013, Johnson, N F 2009, The multiplicities of Internet addiction: the misrecognition of leisure and learning, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd, Aldershot. Mason, T 2003, Thinking nursing, McGraw-Hill International, New York. National Rural Health Alliance Inc., 2012, ‘Illicit drug use in rural Australia’, viewed 29 May 2013, Weeks, N 2010, ‘Effects of pornography on relationships’, Families and Communities, Utah State University, viewed 29 May 2013, Yawar, A 2006, The End of Sex? Pornography is changing the nature of physical affection’, OhmyNews, viewed 24 May 2013, Read More