It began casually, just a mild curiosity, subtle yet persistent. I would visit pornography sites on the Internet every several months. Not a major issue, I felt. I eventually found, and became a member of, a site that consisted entirely of submissions by "amateurs," including many married people. This was OK, I told myself, because there was no exploitation involved.
Well, that thought was off the mark! It turns out there was exploitation. I realized I was the one being exploited. I started visiting the site often. And I began to notice a subtle change in the way I now looked at the women around me. Suddenly I saw them as objects rather than as people. I used to meet women's eyes with mine when I engaged them in conversation, but now my eyes wandered toward the rest of their body, which caused me much embarrassment.
Also, a rift began to develop in my marriage because of my daydreaming about this exaggerated version of women. I thought I could compartmentalize my thoughts without adversely affecting my relationship with my wife, but I was wrong.
