Fight the New Drug collaborates with a variety of qualified organizations and individuals with varying personal beliefs, affiliations, and political persuasions. As FTND is a non-religious and non-legislative organization, the personal beliefs, affiliations, and persuasions of any of our team members or of those we collaborate with do not reflect or impact the mission of Fight the New Drug.
Here at Fight the New Drug, we are lucky to have a worldwide movement of supporters who recognize this important cause and are dedicated to helping spread the facts on the harms of pornography. And we know we say it a lot, but we truly do have the best Fighters from around the world. These people are informed and educated on the issue, and are passionate about taking a stand in our society where porn has become so mainstream.
Among those educated on the harmful effects of pornography, we are always excited to meet influencers who aren’t afraid to use their platform to push this conversation into the spotlight. And when the followers of this movement use their social platforms to speak out on multiple occasions, we take notice.
Meet Kenzie, a self-taught yogi who has some seriously mind-blowing skills.
She’s got a cool family, and a huge passion for this movement for love. We first started taking notice of her on Instagram, when she posted some seriously awesome pics repping the movement to her 392k followers. We decided to catch up with her and uncover her passion for this movement for love, her love of yoga, and why she’s such a bold Fighter.
Check out this exclusive Q&A we had with her.
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Fight the New Drug: We love your bold passion for the movement, and we want to uncover where that comes from. What are your reasons for speaking out about porn and sexual exploitation?
Kenzie: Ever since I’ve known what pornography was, I couldn’t understand why something like that could be acceptable. And that was way before I even knew what it truly was, in our modern digital world. I knew the bare minimum. To me, it is one of the worst, toxic influences our world faces.
I am passionate because pornography is a plague—in some ways, it can be worse than a drug. Unlike the worst hard drug or narcotic you can get illegally, pornography is incredibly easy to access—it’s free, and it’s literally at our fingertips. It’s easy to hide too. And yet, despite how easy it is to get and become addicted to it, pornography is one of the most difficult things to break away from. It literally changes how your brain is wired, and accessibility of it makes it extremely difficult to say “no” to.
Related: My Big Sister, The Porn Actor: How Porn Derailed Her Life And Hurt Our Family
I am passionate about this fight because pornography is destroying our world as we know it. Love is what makes life worth living—love is living, and living is love. And yet, pornography is behind crime, disrespect, violence, trafficking, addictions, the degradation of men and of women, and the destruction of relationships and families. The more I spread the word, the more people reach out to me and tell me heartbreaking stories about how porn destroyed their family. It breaks my heart, and I want to do something about it. I want to spread more love in this world.
FTND: When did you first get involved with the movement?
Kenzie: A while ago, we were given a lesson on the destructions of pornography at my church. This organization was mentioned as a resource, and I was so intrigued that an organization was fighting porn and taking a stand that didn’t have anything to do with my church—and one that is run by young adults. Right away, I went to FTND’s website and joined the fight.
FTND: As someone who has a pretty serious following on Instagram, tell us how it’s been to rep the cause and interact with your followers.
Kenzie: As soon as I had a decent following on Instagram, I knew I needed to post about FTND. I realized that, with a large following, I should use my platform for good, even if it isn’t always popular. Because I knew from the beginning that I would reach people that maybe hadn’t heard of the dangers, or people that would agree and want to join the fight.
I think I had only like 20k when I first posted about my stance on porn, and how it is destroying consumers and the world we live in. Now, since I’ve had between 100-200k, I’ve posted a few times. Mostly I get positive feedback, but I also get a lot of hate. People who are so mad! People who will defend pornography, and fight tooth and nail with anyone who disagrees. People who say I’m a liar, and that none of these facts are true. People that say “not all porn is bad,” and others who laugh and say it’s ridiculous that porn could be behind any destruction or violence. Those comments infuriate me, but I’ve made it a rule to not respond. I let other people respond, and mostly I allow comments on my posts so that others can see how many people out there are willing to fight.
Related: Porn Kills Love Q&A: Filmmaker/Actor Josh Radnor On Why He’s Against Porn
At the end of the day, I want people to be aware of the dangers. I want people to follow FTND, and to know what I stand for, and what I’m against. I want them to want to fight for themselves, too. I’ve had people comment that they watch porn, but after reading my posts, didn’t want to support an industry that’s filled with drugs, violence, and trafficking, and so they stopped. That’s amazing! I’ve also had a lot of women, who are victims of relationships destroyed by porn, reach out to me just to talk to me. They tell me their stories, because they feel like they have no one else to talk to, and that they’re the only ones going through this. Often, they believed they were the ones in the wrong for being “too sensitive,” or something crazy like that. It breaks my heart!
Ultimately, I’m really happy that my platform allows these connections—it’s so obviously needed in our porn-obsessed society.
FTND: Yoga and porn. In our pornified society, it seems like people have really sexualized yoga and made it something it’s not. How do you think your love for practicing yoga and your passion for fighting porn overlap?
Kenzie: Everything about yoga contradicts the basis on which pornography is produced. I personally believe in monogamous sexual relationships anyway, and yoga actually encourages this lifestyle, too.
The fourth yama, or ethical precept of yoga, actually refers to committed relationships and warns against the misuse of sexual energy. Think about it—pornography is every misuse of sex, something that should be beautiful and special between two people who love each other. Porn has nothing to do with love, and everything to do with objectifying the body, especially women, and dehumanizing the act of sex itself.
Related: Why Real Love Is The Gift That Keeps On Giving
Yoga teaches respect and love for others, but porn teaches the total opposite. There is no respect in porn, just impulsive, selfish acts based on selfish pleasure, not love. Yoga teaches a connection between mind, body, and spirit, but porn rewards the impulsive disconnect between mind, body, and heart—the mind causes the body to react to stimulations, while the heart is not involved at all. Yoga teaches loyalty to friends and family, while pornography makes you throw these away and even sexualize family members. But for what? All for images on a screen—fake, airbrushed images.
Yoga is about being the best people we can be, and loving who we are as we truly are, so that we can love others the same in return. Porn is all about lies, and has nothing to do with truth, or being happy about ourselves or our loved ones.
Porn is fake, with fakely enhanced bodies, fake and exaggerated acts of pleasure. Porn teaches consumers that if you don’t look and act like a porn performer, you’re not good enough, not hot enough, not sexy enough. Pornography is a digression to our humanity and eats away at it like an acid, or cancer, until there is nothing left. But yoga is a journey to enlightenment and healing.
FTND: What advice would you give to anyone who wants to join this movement for love, but doesn’t know where to start?
Kenzie: If you want to get involved, simply go to FTND and read up on the facts. Sign up to become a Fighter. Be willing to talk about it, and spread the knowledge about the dangers. Be willing to stand against it, even in the face of adversity. Buy some gear, and spark some coversations—talk to your families about it. Teach your children about it. Honestly, that’s one of the best ways we can fight this. If every parent warned their kids about pornography and taught them how to avoid it and deal with it, think about how much better off we would be.
Related: 40 Reasons To Start Off The New Year By Ditching Porn
A huge part of the problem is that no one is talking about it. It’s still viewed as “acceptable,” and so no one says anything against it, and it gets ignored. For example, with the #metoo movement. Such an important discussion we’re having in society, and yet, why isn’t anyone willing to connect porn with rampant crimes and sexual harassment? It’s time we talk openly and honestly about this topic that affects so many of our lives. That’s why I’m taking a stand, and I encourage you to, too!
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With more and more people starting conversations about the real scientific harms of pornography, we are making a real impact in society. Instead of accepting porn as normal, we can fight for love by being educated and changing the conversation surrounding pornography.
We want to give a big shout out to Kenzie for speaking out on this issue and taking the time to chat with us. We hope to see more people get involved with the movement as the research continues to show the facts.
