Pornography is NOT adultery

Let's face it, we know pornography is out there and that people watch/use it. If it were not so, then this would not be over a 2.6 billion dollar industry (Forbes). I concede that watching porn may not be morally just, however I disagree with the belief that pornography can be a form of adultery.

Adultery as defined by Merriam-Webster can be strictly defined as "voluntary sexual intercourse between a married man and someone other than his wife or between a married woman and someone other than her husband." Of course, this definition is extremely rigid in form and excludes many things consistent with society's definition. For example, a married man paying a stripper to give him a lap dance would be considered adulterous in nature. Adultery is after all a word that branches from moral beliefs and therefor must be defined from it. Porn, in being indeterminate, not targeted for one person but for mass consumption is not adulterous. The difference in a stripper giving a lap dance and a person sitting at a table in a strip bar is simply that in one situation an actual two way relationship or action is formed, while simple lust is simply a form of hormonal attraction. In addition, the article that prompted this post, The Atlantic, made an excellent point. Porn, unlike adulterous scenarios, can be considered a form of fiction. It is a form of imagination or fantastical adventure/escapade.