idk how to write this essay omg On March 16, 2021 Robert..

idk how to write this essay omg On March 16, 2021 Robert Aaron Long carried out a series of shootings at 3 Atlanta massage parlors that ended in the deaths of 8 people, mostly Asian women. This outbreak in violence was predictable from what I have seen as a migrant sex worker who once worked at a massage parlor in Queens, NY. Robert Long claimed these acts were carried out as a defense against his “sex addiction” and his “bad day” to eliminate his “temptation”. He was a part of a Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) church, and they have steadily been moving toward a more conservative and neocalvinsim ideology for years now. Many anti-sex work ideologues believe that all sex work is literally slavery, that men are becoming “addicted” to sex and porn, and that sex work and immigration is destroying men, the family, and western civilization. Much like how the term “theory” has entered the public discourse, the term “addiction” has been dilated by public discourse. A scientific theory is as close to the truth as science can get. It’s an idea or an explanation of the world that can be verified by others through the scientific method. Examples of a theory would be atomic theory, or the theory of gravity. In the public discourse however, a theory is just any wild subjective idea you may have. Addiction is a term that is defined by how certain substances and behaviors impact the brain; they are testable, verifiable, objective. But in the public discourse, it means anything can be addictive, it collapses trauma responses, compulsion, and escapism/avoidance. In this viewpoint, ice cream, chocolate, puzzles, videogames, social media, and sex are just as much of an “addiction” as alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, or gambling. Sex and porn addiction is not a real thing; it’s not an accepted psychiatric diagnosis. In general, sex addiction is about sex workers, it associates any consumerism of sex work (strip clubs, e*scorting, webcamming, any sexualized images or videos) to be an addiction that needs to be fixed, cured, and eradicated. The way to become cured from the addiction is to stop consuming any erotic material, sometimes even to stop masturbating entirely until one finds their one true long or married. It’s attached to conservative and religious social norms. For the people and organizations behind the label, this is a “war” to control people’s private lives which is justified because all the world’s problems can be blamed on porn or sex outside the traditional two pair bond relationship. Recommended scholars on this are Chris Donaghue, Nicole Prause, David J. Ley People aren’t aware of the full ramifications of these ideas. People who endorse this viewpoint think that porn and sex is an addiction that impacts men. They believe it changes people’s brains, and causes them to become addicted to the high of masturbation and porn viewership. Addicts will become incapable of finding love, become impotent, end up in prison, or dead of an STD. It is believed that addicts will develop tolerance to the porn or masturbation and get worse as they struggle to maintain the same “high”. Eventually they will move to the harder drugs like BDSM, and ch8ild abuse videos. If not treated these men will *r*ape, pillage, and sexually enslave all women and children in society. Thus, it is taught in churches that if a man stops masturbating, viewing sexy women in bikinis, and seeing sex workers he will end “slavery” and change his entire life. They use words like becoming sober from sex or porn, relapse, the pink cloud. These phrases usually used for drugs, alcohol, cigrettes, etc. I see them as very distinctly different. One of the main arguments against this idea is that porn and sex addiction resembles an eating disorder. The issue with those with an eating disorder is that what needs to be treated is not the food itself, but the disordered thinking around food, and weight. The purpose of treatment for eating disorders is to address the root causes of the illness. This is why people are wary of the term, since it is often used by pedophiles to get “sex addiction” treatment instead of treatment for their attraction to minor, or rapists, cheaters, and others to excuse their behavior to get less harsh treatment. Porn is similar to social media addiction, can be a way to escape real life, and avoid dealing with issues/problems. It’s not the same as something that is addictive externally, and impacts your brain. These are things that can be cut from your life completely because they tend to be addictive substances or activities inherently. Porn, social media, and food aren’t inherently addictive. In treatment they would never make you stop eating chocolate, ice cream, or potato chips, even though it’s not good for you.