Pornography Has a Cultural Effect

¶ … pornography has a cultural effect on society, and back up the conclusion with information and research. Since the rapid popularity and use of the Internet in the United States and around the globe, pornography and the viewing of pornography online seems to have mushroomed tremendously. Along with this increased availability of pornographic materials for general viewing, come numerous studies about the effect of pornography on our society and culture. Does pornography have a cultural effect on society? Most experts agree it has a negative effect on society, and can lead to more violence, less general empathy and understanding, and a general moral decay of the principles and ideals that make up a civilized society.

What is pornography? Obviously, pornography and its definition depend on the time, the place, and the person. What one person sees as pornographic another might simply see as titillating entertainment, and that is part of the problem with defining and controlling pornography. One Australian expert, Dr. Michael Flood, defines pornography as "sexually explicit media that are primarily intended to sexually arouse the audience'" (Flood 2). This definition seems adequate for the discussion of pornography and culture, because pornography that is designed to "sexually arouse the audience" is the type of pornography that could also have a lasting effect on the culture and mores of a society. However, opponents of controlling pornography often point to it as an art form and a form of self-expression expressly covered by the First Amendment's guarantee to a right to free speech. Clearly, simply defining pornography is difficult, and so are the many other issues surrounding this media.

There are many different forms of pornography. Some people consider erotica, which is designed to be more artistic and less graphic and explicit as a form of pornography. Others consider borderline publications such as "Playboy" and "Playgirl" pornographic, while still others feel that label better defines more hard-core publications such as "Hustler." This illustrates much of the problem with pornography - it is not the same for each person. Each person views pornography differently, and each person allows pornography to effect them differently. Some people spend their entire lives quite happily without ever viewing anything even remotely pornographic. Others become addicted to the medium, and cannot go more than a day or two without viewing pornography. As the Internet has become more popular and readily available, so has pornography, and many researchers have studied the effects of pornography both on individuals and society. Most results indicate that pornography, especially violent and extremely explicit forms of pornography are harmful to society in the long (and short) term.

Of course, one of the most controversial forms of pornography is child pornography, and there seems to be little disagreement that this form of pornography is both harmful and extremely dangerous. The recent case in Idaho, where a convicted sex offender had only recently been released from prison and promptly murdered a family, kidnapped their young children, and repeatedly molested them, murdering the young boy, indicates that child molesting seems to have become more prevalent in our society, and that many child molesters are also interested, and even addicted, to child pornography. This is evident in the many cases of child molesters that have been caught and/or discovered by the presence of child pornography in their homes and on their computers. Dr. Flood continues, "The problem here is very clear: children do not consent to their participation in child pornography, and they are harmed in being coerced into sex" (Flood 3). Thus, child pornography may be the most pernicious form of pornography in our society, and it may also be one of the most dangerous because of the violence against children that it suggests and supports.

Numerous studies and panels have explored the many facets of pornography and its effect on society and culture, and most have concluded that pornography can be harmful, and can sway society into new ways of thinking. Dr. Flood notes, "Some pornography is worse than other pornography because it is more likely to have harmful cultural effects - because of the social meanings it suggests and invites" (Flood 3). Included in this type of pornography is rape or violent pornography, which shows rape and violent acts toward women, and seems to condone these acts as socially acceptable. Feminists and women around the world decry this form of pornography, and it has been shown that rape pornography desensitizes the viewers and makes them think these acts are socially and morally acceptable.

Another researcher, Catherine Helen Palczewski, notes that more and more women believe that pornography berates and belittles women, and that "pornography is the ideology of a culture which promotes and condones rape, woman-battering, and other crimes of violence against women" (Palczewski). Thus, this prevalent aspect of pornography leads to a general degrading of women and a societal acceptance of that degrading as a norm. This is illustrated by many other forms of media, from advertising to film and television, where often the women are portrayed as little more than sex objects. In many music videos, women are simply there as "window dressing," and at sporting events, the cheerleaders dress in skimpy costumes and dance suggestively in front of a largely male crowd. Even two decades ago, many of these activities would not have been acceptable or televised, but today they are commonplace. They show that society's morals and views have changed, and many feel that much of that acceptance of women as mere sex objects relates to pornography and its' increased availability, acceptance, and violence. Dr. Flood states, "Adults show significant strengthening of attitudes supportive of sexual aggression following exposure particularly to violent pornography. They are more likely to accept rape myths, more desensitized to violence, and less empathetic towards victims" (Flood). Thus, after viewing violent pornography, a person may be more open to violent acts toward both men and women, and less emotional or empathetic about the victims and the violence itself.

There is another powerful aspect of pornography that can lead to increased violence and desensitivity. Most pornography is based on a dominant/submissive theme, whether it is geared toward men or women. Thus, one person holds control over another, and in pornography, this is desirable and acceptable. Researcher Palczewski continues, "Pornography functions not as a cause of an effect, nor as the effect of a cause, but rather as the primary agent and agency through which biological sex becomes socially constructed gender, thus demonstrating an active interrelation between pornography and sexism" (Palczewski). Power and domination are of primary importance in pornography, and if the viewer sees enough of this in media and online, then they may take that skewed vision of domination with them into society and integrate it into the culture. This seems to be at least one reason that violence and sex have become so prevalent in just about every form of media, from magazine advertisements to films and television shows. People have become desensitized to violence. They see it on the nightly news, in the newspapers, hear about it on the radio, and view it in the movie theaters and on television screens, and of course in their own neighborhoods. Violence seems to have permeated society, and much of this has been squarely blamed on the media and increasingly lax standards that condone violence and aggression. The same theory applies to pornography and its effect on society and culture.

If viewers of pornography become increasingly desensitized to violence acts against others, especially women and children, then society can expect to become even more violent and skewed. It is interesting to note that as violence and aggression have increased in our modern society, so has pornography. Researchers Ven-hwei Lo, and Ran Wei write, "Pornographic web sites have shown tremendous growth in the past few years, increasing by nearly 300 a day and $700 million a year. They now total approximately 170,000. "Cybersex" or "cyberporn" came hand-in-glove with global interconnectivity" (Lo and Wei).

Even more research concludes that pornography appeals to those individuals who are the most susceptive to coercion and deviance. Dr. Flood cites studies that note, "Men who are relatively high in risk for sexual aggression are more likely to be attracted to and aroused by sexually violent media... And may be more likely to be influenced by them" (Flood 3). Thus, as pornography becomes more available, society shifts as higher risk aggressive males have more access to pornography, and so are more aroused and more disposed to act aggressively toward women - including wives, mothers, and even children. This explains some of the increasing violence in society, and the increased instances of violent acts that are simply overlooked or accepted. Examples include increased bullying in schools, violent acts that go unreported or unrecognized, the general dehumanizing and desensitizing of society toward one another, and the general acceptance of much more violence in film, media, and in video games and media geared to children. While certainly all of this violence cannot be traced directly back to pornography, it is clear that general acceptance of violent pornography is simply another rung in the ladder of violence and malevolence in general society and culture. Is pornography a result of a general degrading of our culture, or is our culture degrading because of many factors, including increased violence and the prevalence of more violent forms of media, including pornography? As the use of the Internet has grown and developed, more studies have been conducted to try to answer those nagging questions.

Several studies have looked at the "third-person effect" of Internet pornography. Basically, the third-person effect is one where most people tend to believe that a certain media or other trigger affects others in society more than it affects themselves. Researchers Lo and Wei continue, "Similar research conducted in Taiwan shows that respondents perceived pornography to have greater negative influence on others than on themselves" (Lo and Wei), and this seems to hold true around the globe. For example, researchers Azy Barak and William a. Fisher report, "individuals who approach Internet sexuality with strong arousal responses and positive affective and cognitive responses to sexuality will be more inclined to incorporate elements of Internet sexual scenarios into their covert and overt sexual behavior" (Fisher and Barak). Thus, those who are most affected by pornography, and may be the most susceptible to affecting others, may not even perceive the risk or the damage they themselves could perpetrate. This has heavy moral and ethical implications for society. If pornography appeals to individuals who are more sexually aggressive, and these individuals are more apt to act on their impulses than others, than it seems that society could be impacted in a wide variety of ways.

As the availability of pornography increases, so would the prevalence of sexually aggressive crimes and actions. This seems to be the case with child pornography, which seems to have jumped considerably in the news and in society. Just about every nightly newscast seems to include information on a sexual predator kidnapping or murdering innocent children, and this type of news seems to have increased dramatically in the last decade. This position is backed up by a counselor working with sex offenders, Rory Reid, who writes, "During these therapy sessions, it is not uncommon to hear an inmate indicate that part of the reason for their sexual deviance was due to consumption of pornography which influenced the way they behaved" (Reid). Reid also cites other studies in his conclusion that sex crimes and pornography are intertwined, and that sex crimes are increasing in the country. He notes, "The study concluded that, in fact, there was existence of reliable associations between frequent pornography use and sexually aggressive behaviors, particularly for violent pornography and/or for men at high risk for sexual aggression" (Reid). Thus, it may not be simply the imaginations of many that sex and child sex crimes are increasing in the country.