Even if someone does not have misguided moral objections to the basic use of erotic media, they might still discourage use of such media on the grounds that it destroys the ability of a person's body to become sexually aroused in its absence. This thinking is rooted in fear inspired by a myth. I have addressed the fact that there is nothing Biblically sinful about the creation or consumption of certain kinds of erotic media elsewhere [1], so the emphasis here is not on the Biblical ethics of the issue, but on the myth that this media has some inevitable causal relationship with arousal disorders. This idea persists in both religious and secular minds, meaning it is fairly entrenched in public consciousness.
First, I need to address the irrational tendency for problems with male arousal to be taken more seriously than those of women. Women, of course, can suffer from physiological arousal disorders, but the sexuality of women does not receive the same amount of attention as the sexuality of men does. Furthermore, women have an anatomical component that is somewhat analogous to the male penis: the clitoris. Both the clitoris and the penis can become erect randomly or due to various thoughts, sensations, or external stimuli. Therefore, both men and women can have problems experiencing erections of the penis and clitoris respectively. Everything I write here about arousal dysfunctions applies to both genders, since both can suffer from the same general problem despite the lack of awareness of how women might experience it.
Second, it needs to be emphasized that whether or not masturbation or erotic media cause arousal problems is completely irrelevant to whether using or masturbating to erotic media is immoral. The subject of erectile issues is not a moral one. Bringing the matter up as if it establishes that enjoying sexually explicit literature, images, or videos is wrong amounts to a desperate, uninformed attempt to persuade people that there is something depraved about erotic media. The fact of the matter is that there is nothing sinful about consuming, enjoying, or masturbating to sexual material, given that the material does not promote sexual immorality (again, see [1]).
Of course, if an issue with physical arousal does hypothetically arise, it can interfere with the quality of sexual expression in a relationship. Husbands and wives can be deprived of sexual satisfaction as a result of the inability of their spouses to experience or sustain physical arousal. Even if someone is single, they might still want to keep the functionality of their genitals intact for the sake of a future relationship, or even just to ensure future self-pleasuring. These things do need to be considered. Nevertheless, whether a person wants to engage in a nonsinful activity that allegedly or actually might lead to inconvenient results like arousal disorders is ultimately up to each individual and them alone. This is further cemented by the fact that masturbation and the use of erotic media do not necessarily produce arousal disorders.
Men and women can masturbate each day for years without ever dealing with any sort of difficulties in stimulating their genitals. Even if this masturbation is usually connected with the viewing of sexual videos or images, their hands or thoughts alone might be enough to arouse their bodies and keep them aroused for prolonged periods of time. Might such a lifestyle lead to the narrowing of the range of things that can trigger bodily arousal? Perhaps in the case of some individuals. This routine is by no means an inevitable cause of arousal dysfunctions, though. A person might never masturbate and still have arousal difficulties, and another person might masturbate regularly to particular erotic stimuli without physiological consequence.
This fact does not stop people from spreading illogical and pseudoscientific nonsense to the contrary. Some people might simply dislike erotic media and masturbation, and, instead of recognizing that this dislike is nothing but a subjective preference, try to come up with some argument for why everyone else should dislike them as well. The reasons that people produce, of course, are only fallacies. Logic and science erode the myth of a general causal relationship between self-stimulation accompanied by the viewing of sexual material and problems with becoming aroused. Even if such problems do chronologically follow use of erotic media, other factors, like general anxiety or guilt over the issue of erotic media as a whole, might be the source.
There is no need to avoid masturbation, even masturbation aided by erotic media, on the grounds that it will diminish one's capacity for bodily arousal. People are certainly able to regularly include it in their lifestyles and never suffer from arousal problems. In fact, couples might find that it facilitates their sexual bonding by providing additional stimulation whenever the need or desire arises. Whether used for solitary purposes or for foreplay with a spouse, erotica is a tool that can be used to celebrate arousal instead of hinder it.
[1]. See here:
A. https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-truth-about-erotic-media-part-1.html
B. https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-truth-about-erotic-media-part-2_19.html
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