In an interview with the portal YUGA.ru, professional psychologist and sexologist, member of the Russian Psychological Society, Evgenia Shramchenko spoke about scientific views on porn and the film "Fifty Shades of Gray". Indeed. Is it scientifically worth speaking out against pornography in all its forms? Is pornography a terrible social evil? – The question of the benefits and harms of pornography is quite complex and multifaceted; it is impossible to get by with several theses that will immediately shed light on the true state of affairs. When answering such questions, we must take into account many factors: the personality of the direct consumer of the pornographic product, the frequency of viewing, the general level of development of sexual literacy in society, etc. I definitely advocate pornography as a way of developing sexuality and sensuality for established couples who ready to experiment in bed and get to know yourself. Here porn acts as a kind of ingredient, a necessary spice for the variety of sexual life, a trigger for emancipation and new discoveries. Pornography can also be a good way to relax and relieve tension for people who are still single and searching. But here we need to emphasize an important detail. Pornography is a bad textbook. Sex is a whole science, an art, and not just a set of certain movements, poses or techniques. And it is impossible to learn it from moving pictures that were not filmed for educational purposes. Another possible psychological disadvantage from watching pornography is fixation on it, fascination with phantoms on the monitor screen, which can lead to stiffness and complexes in sexual life. In the USSR, how It is known that there was no sex. Today, sex is one of the hottest topics in modern mass culture. Has this somehow influenced the development of sexual literacy of the population in our country? – Unfortunately, both for the Soviet Union and for modern Russia, the problem of lack of sexual literacy is relevant. They really started talking about sex more, sexuality has become a ubiquitous attribute of mass culture, but all this still does not guarantee the population’s literacy in these matters. I repeat, sex is a whole science, it cannot be learned from articles in glossy magazines, through shy conversations with friends and studying porn films. I am a practicing sexologist, many people come to my sessions and group trainings who want to understand their body and their pleasures . And among them there are both those who were brought up in the puritanical atmosphere of the USSR, and those who grew up during the “freedom of the nineties”. I am glad about the liberalization of the sphere of sex that has occurred in recent decades, but the issue of increasing sexual literacy is impossible without a professional approach. Opponents of “Fifty Shades of Grey,” in particular, emphasize that the start of the film’s release was timed to coincide with Valentine’s Day. Like, true love and real feelings are replaced by a pornographic surrogate. Do you separate sex and love? – The human body and what is commonly called the soul are interconnected. A person has mental feelings and bodily needs, they are inseparable from each other. Over my many years of sexological practice, I have repeatedly noted and told my clients that the best sexual relationships are possible only in an experienced couple. Between people who love each other, trust each other and have been together for a long time. A person can have a large number of one-time sexual partners, but this may not affect the quality of sex in any way. Sex is primarily about love, and not about lust. Therefore, I am not inclined to look at sexual relations and real feelings as something foreign in relation to each other. As for the film “50 Shades of Gray,” I, of course, do not have the view of a film critic or an art critic. But, from my point of view, this film is very subtle and deep. This is a complex movie with an abundance of metaphors and nuances,.