ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses self-stimulation and erotic fantasy as a way of connecting and coping with emotional and physical reality. The core problem is that of any gratifying and potentially addictive activity or experience, which is that it, provides an almost guaranteed avoidance of frustration and work. The common use of the adjective is the absurd irony of sexually explicit pornography being referred to as "adult material". It would be a massive step forward if the emotional damage caused by pornography received similar recognition to the damage to health caused by smoking. Soft porn we might loosely define as “baby sex” and voyeurism. At its simplest level, this probably starts with the normal sexual curiosity of the pubescent child, but it immediately lends itself to indulging in masturbatory attacks on the parents’ relationship. Just as masturbation provides a defence against the experience of emotional dependency, it has the effect of interfering with emotional development and the capacity for personal, intimate relationships.
