You’re Not Alone
With 1 in 3 women watching porn regularly, there are countless others like you struggling with porn consumption. Here are the stories of other women who have also felt porn's effects.
" I started to see that I was far from alone. I saw that I wasn’t the only person who felt trapped. It was saddening, yet surprising, to see that so many people, young and old, boy and girl, struggle with porn. I started actually feeling like I could help them and that I could be helped too. I saw that they were all trying to reach out, trying to ask for help, and just silently hoping for somebody to listen to them. I saw that all these struggling people were just looking for someone who they could trust completely, someone who would tag team with them in their fight. I decided to be that person for them. I decided to be that person that I didn’t have when I sought help as a teenager. I became a leader and witnessed the trials of many young girls who struggled with self-esteem. My desire to help them grew while I found myself losing the desire to look at the lies of porn. It turned out that while I was trying to help them, they were the ones that were helping me."
–A Fighter from Alaska
Overcoming Porn
"As a woman who had this obsession with pornography, I can say from experience that there is a lot of shame branded to this issue. It labels you as a freak with a twisted mind. Sure, guys deal with this problem, but I didn’t know any women who do. If you are a woman who struggles with porn, know that you are not alone! Sometimes I get so caught up in thinking that I am disgusting and dirty. That I am so undeserving of love. That if my little sisters saw what I’ve done, they would be horrified. That this habit has been burned into my brain for the last 5 years so it will never change. That no one could look at me the same way if they knew my secret. But then those three friends who I opened up to two years ago lift me up. They tell me the truth: that I am worth loving. That every time I say no, I get one step closer to freedom." –S
Porn Is a Woman’s Issue
"There’s just this idea that a woman having this problem would be appalling. Every time I go to a meeting, it’s the same: “I have an eating disorder.” Or maybe it’s self-harm, because that’s what college girls struggle with. College boys struggle with pornography addictions. They have a men’s pornography addiction meeting literally every day of the week, two, three, four times a day. And I can’t go because it says, “Men only.” You wouldn’t guess by looking at me that I have an addiction. I was on the seminary council, I went to church and mutual and the temple every week. I read my scriptures and say my prayers every day. You look at me and you think, “She has it all together.” Every time I tell people, they’re completely shocked. I know that there are other people like me that exist. I know that they’re there. It just makes me sad that they can’t come forward."
Overcoming the Stigma
"It was fun at first, but afterward, everything started to collapse around me. I developed a huge lack of self-confidence, I started to hate my body and I didn’t know how to start and keep real relationships. (I never even got into a serious relationship until after my struggle really stopped.) I started to become attracted to women, in a sense, because the porn I watched always focused on women, although I identify as straight. Watching so much porn had affected me in so many ways. When I met my first and current boyfriend, he struggled with porn too. When I first found out, I was devastated. It ruined our relationship because I never felt good enough for him and it seemed like he only wanted the women on the screen. It was so hard on both of us. But now he has been clean for about one year, thanks to our love. I’m so proud of him. As I struggle so deeply, I am just so mad that society’s completely casual attitude around porn influenced me to keep going for years. I hope with your help, this won’t happen to another innocent 8-year-old girl. I’ll keep fighting!” –T