The Social Costs of Pornography: A Collection of Papers
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Although pornography is nothing new, the proximity of the sex industry to the public and private squares is new. In the past, the triple-X bookstore and restricted movie theater were tangible buffers between sexually explicit material and minors, as well as adults who did not want to be exposed to “dirty pictures.” Today, anyone with a cable or an internet connection has access to a smorgasbord of sexual content, including obscene content not protected by the First Amendment. Moreover, the sex industry has unprecedented access to those who are technologically connected, and it capitalizes on this contact with stunning effectiveness, not to mention blatant disregard for those who may be harmed (not just offended) in the process.
The rapid growth of internet usage has been identified as the primary reason for the exponential increase in pornography use and production, as well as compulsive sexual behaviors related to pornography use.2 As one study puts it, “Since its inception, the internet has been associated with sexuality in a kind of synergistic dance, each fueling the transformation of the other. The influence of the internet on sexuality is likely to be so significant that it will ultimately be recognized as the cause of the next ‘sexual revolution.’ ”3
This synergistic dance has made pornography and online sexual pursuits “a hidden public health hazard exploding, in part, because very few are recognizing it as such or taking it seriously.”4 My own clinical observations and research have caused me to align with this line of thinking. Over the last decade, I have noticed that often those who claim pornography to be harmless entertainment, benign sexual expression, part of developing one’s sexual potential, or a marital aid, have either never seriously explored the social science data on pornography’s risk potential, or minimize the data because it is incongruent with their own lived experiences, values, or sexual worldview. Public policies, psychological treatments, educational curricula, and legal processes need more substantive backing.
The influential interplay between the internet and sexuality has been fueled to a large extent by what has been called the internet’s “Triple-A Engine” effect of accessibility, affordability, and perceived anonymity.5 Additionally, the “Cyberhex of the Internet”—that the internet is intoxicating, isolating, integral, inexpensive, imposing, and interactive—makes it a unique and powerful medium, and helps explain why it has had such an influential role in altering the American sexual landscape.6
According to current internet traffic statistics, there are approximately 246 million internet users in North America (17.5% of internet users worldwide).7 Since 2000, internet usage has increased 127.9%, with 73.1% of the North American population now having access.8 Approximately 20% to 33% of those using the internet do so primarily for sexual purposes,9 and online measurement services indicate that 42.7% of internet users view pornography online.10 Online measurements also indicate that one out of every four search engine requests is related to pornography.11
Furthermore, the larger social context has troubling implications for the social, emotional, spiritual, physical, and intellectual lives of women, as the sex industry and pornography are gaining greater acceptance and presence in our culture, and around the world. For example:
In 2006, worldwide pornography revenue was estimated to be $97.06 billion, with $13.3 billion of that being generated in the United States.12
Approximately 30% of online pornography is consumed by females.13
In 2005, 13,585 hard-core pornographic video/DVD titles were released in the United States. This was up from 1,300 titles in 1988.14
22% of teen girls (ages thirteen to nineteen) and 36% of young adult women (ages twenty to twenty-six) have electronically sent nude or semi-nude pictures or video of themselves.15
37% of teen girls and 56% of young adult women have sent or posted a sexually suggestive message to someone.16
47% of teen girls and 38% of young adult women say “pressure from guys” is a reason why they have sent or posted sexually suggestive images or messages.17
At the November 2002 meeting of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, 62% of the 350 attendees said the internet had been a significant factor in divorces they had handled during that year. Sixty-eight percent of the divorce cases involved one party meeting a new love interest over the internet, 56% involved one party having an obsessive interest in pornographic websites, and 33% cited excessive time communicating in chat rooms (a commonly sexualized forum).18
The number of sex scenes on American television nearly doubled between 1998 and 2005.19
Between October 2004 and April 2005, 70% of the twenty television shows most commonly watched by American teens included sexual content, and 45% contained sexual behavior.20
Every two minutes, someone in the United States is sexually assaulted (including rape, attempted rape, and other sexually violent felonies), and every eight minutes someone is raped.21
In the United States, one in four adolescent females (ages fourteen to nineteen) is infected with at least one sexually transmitted disease, and 15% have more than one.22
There are many ways to interpret this data, as well as a plethora of other data that could be listed. Because many of these trends are relatively new, it will take time to clarify how these factors influence female development and lived experiences. In the meantime, my clinical work with women is teaching me that an increasing number of women are seeking out mental health practitioners for issues related to these trends and the manner in which these phenomena affect their relationships; their home, work, and school environments; their sexuality; their self-esteem; and their identity as women.
FEMALE ADOLESCENTS AND PORNOGRAPHY
Despite the illegality of exposing minors to sexually explicit material, and regardless of the lip service it gives to the contrary, the pornography industry does not discriminate against young consumers. Sexually explicit material on the internet, for example, is “very intrusive” and can be inadvertently stumbled upon while searching for other material or when opening e-mail.23 Thirty-four percent of adolescents report being exposed to unwanted sexual content online.24 Furthermore, a different study showed that 70% of youth ages fifteen to seventeen report accidentally coming across pornography online, and 23% of them said this happens “very” or “somewhat” often.25 In a nationally representative sample of youth ages ten to seventeen, 19% reported unwanted sexual solicitation, and 6% had been harassed online.26
Another startling indicator of this indiscriminate accessibility is that Nielsen NetRatings, a reputable and well-recognized source for online audience measurement, includes children beginning at two years of age in their demographic statistics for online “adult” traffic.27 It is troubling to consider the long-term impact of increasing numbers of youth being exposed to sexual content when they lack the risk attenuation and maturity to process and navigate these experiences in safe and healthy ways.28
Filters and active parenting are frequently touted as solutions, but the pornography industry and even our own justice system fall unacceptably short in supporting parents in the difficult task of safeguarding the choice not to have sexually explicit content in their home, never mind honoring existing laws by protecting children from obscenity. For example, only 3% of pornographic websites require proof of age before granting access to sexually explicit material, and two-thirds of pornographic websites do not include any adult content warnings; approximately 75% of pornographic websites display visual teasers on their homepages before asking if viewers are of legal age.29
Effective age verification systems are available, so why is the industry not employing them, and why are they not required to do so by society? It is strange how the virtual world has escaped the societal standards accepted in various public squares. Even more troubling is the fact that there are currently no effective filtering systems in place for cell phones with internet access or iPods that can transmit “podnography,” despite the growing popularity of those media amongst youth.30
A number of studies and surveys have shown that
one of the initial impacts pornography has on a developing, adolescent mind is that it evokes upset and distress when one is not psychologically able to process the images.31 Youth ages eleven to seventeen in an Australian survey used the words “sick,” “yuck,” “disgusted,” “repulsed,” and “upset” to describe how they felt about exposure to online sexual material.32 If the upset or distress was fleeting, it might not be as concerning, but we know that early exposures to pornography leave a lasting and mostly negative impression,33 and that females report more negative memories of sexually explicit content than do males.34
We are beginning to understand how pornography influences attitudes and behavior in adolescents, in addition to its leaving vivid memories and negative associations. For example, when male and female adolescents are exposed to a sexualized media environment, they are more likely to have stronger notions of women as sex objects,35 and this association is particularly strong when they consume audiovisual formats such as television shows or internet movies.36 As cable television and the internet are the most common ways adolescents access sexual content, the influence of these media on beliefs about women are of significant concern.37
Research conducted with first-year college students has brought forth insights into how adolescents and young adults are affected and even harmed by exposure to sexually explicit material. One study found that frequent exposure to pornography is associated with the following attitudes and dynamics:
Normalization of adverse reactions to offensive material;
Increased tolerance toward sexually explicit material, thereby requiring more novel or bizarre material to achieve the same level of arousal or interest;
Misperceptions about the extent of sexual activity in the general populace and the prevalence of less common sexual practices (e.g., group sex, bestiality, and sadomasochistic activity);
Diminished trust in intimate partners;
Decreased desire to achieve sexual exclusivity with a partner;
Increased risk of developing a negative body image, especially for women (Siegel, 1997);
Acceptance of promiscuity as a normal state of interaction;
Assuming that sexual inactivity or abstinence constitutes a health risk;
Beginning to view love in a cynical manner;
Belief that superior sexual satisfaction is attainable without having affection for one’s partner;
Belief that marriage is sexually confining; and
Belief that raising children and having a family is an unattractive prospect.38
The effects of these attitudes and behaviors can be especially dangerous to adolescents in light of the fact that young people are reaching puberty and engaging in sexual intercourse earlier than previous generations.39 Exactly how these beliefs and dynamics will play out in the lives of young women is unclear, but these research findings are consistent with what I am witnessing with young clients.
Through my clients, I have learned that pornography has become a major socializing agent and the primary sexual educator of today’s adolescents. If, through pornography, an adolescent stood a good chance of acquiring accurate, respectful, and helpful information about sexuality and had the developmental capacity to decipher it and avoid illegal, demeaning, fraudulent, or violent material, I would be less concerned. However, my clinical observations have taught me that internet pornography is handicapping youth from being able to develop a healthy sexual self, and affecting their attitudes and behavior on multiple levels. Pornography influences everything from how teens speak of and frame sexuality, to why and how they pierce certain body parts, to what they expect to give and receive in intimate relationships.
I am also witnessing more female adolescents tolerating emotional, physical, and sexual abuse in dating relationships, feeling pressure to make out with females as a way to arouse young men, looking at or producing pornography so that their boyfriends will think they are “open-minded” and “hot,” and normalizing sexual abuse done to them because they see the same acts eroticized in pornography—after all, how bad can it be if the larger culture around you finds abusive and demeaning acts a turn-on? Moreover, it concerns me as a woman, a mother, a clinician, and a citizen that an increasing number of young females have come to view sex as a spectator sport, and a form of entertainment totally detached from consequences, relationships, and (heaven forbid) a procreative or sacred role.
When female adolescents share with me some version of “my body and my sexuality are the most important things I have to offer the world,” I am struck at how ignorant this generation has become of the feminist ideals of preceding generations. Ironically, feminism has become a foreign, off-putting, rarely uttered word, while pornography and whorish behavior have become mainstream. How did so many young women become gullible to pornographic scripts, excruciatingly narrow definitions of ‘sexy,’ pseudo-intimacy, and eroticized violence toward women? Why are they selling themselves so short? Feminist writer and thinker Naomi Wolf provides an interesting insight:
Does all this sexual imagery in the air mean that sex has been liberated—or is it the case that the relationship between the multibillion- dollar porn industry, compulsiveness, and sexual appetite has become like the relationship between agribusiness, processed foods, supersize portions, and obesity? If your appetite is stimulated and fed by poor-quality material, it takes more junk to fill you up.40
Wolf ’s statement begs the question: How can society provide nourishing and ennobling messages to our youth regarding sexuality?
Exactly how exposure to pornography affects the beliefs and actions of today’s young women, if it does at all, is uncertain, but research indicates that it is affecting sexual behavior in young adults. Research has shown that adolescents themselves recognize that pornography influences their own sexual behavior, even though they tend to believe it influences others to a larger degree.41
For example, three separate studies that focused on adolescents and pornography use found that for males and females there was a strong association between pornography consumption and engaging in oral and anal sex,42 even though the majority of females described anal intercourse as a negative experience.43 Because condom use has been found to be low (40%) for those engaging in anal intercourse,44 and the number of sexually transmitted diseases being contracted through genitaloral contact has risen, the implications for the transmission of disease and other health risks need to be considered.
Young women are also facing increasingly complex interactions with young men as a result of the pornographic undercurrents in social and dating relations. Many young women I have worked with dislike the fact that young men consume pornography, but they are conflicted about how to reject their behavior while at the same time trying to garner and compete for their romantic attention. Young women used to have allure and mystery on their side. Now, young men are inundated with airbrushed images of naked and sexually engaged females that dramatically alter the flirtatious dance between the sexes. Culturally, we have forgotten that a big part of what made “Victoria” magnetic in the first place was that she had a “Secret.”
WOMEN AS CONSUMERS OF PORNOGRAPHY
It used to be that men were the primary consumers of pornography, while adult women were the staple of pornographic images. The internet era, however, has fostered a level playing field of sorts. More and more women are producing and viewing pornography than ever before. Some greet this cultural shift enthusiastically, claiming that it helps women “own” and “express” their sexuality. In my office, and the offices of many of my colleagues, however, we see female consumers of pornography regularly dealing with increased insecurity, poor self-image, deficient social skills, body-image issues, addictions, eating disorders, sexual anxieties, and relationship difficulties. It is not uncommon for a history of sexual abuse or trauma to be entangled in their pornography consumption, consistent with the finding that women who had suffered sexual trauma were more accepting of pornography than women who had not suffered sexual traum
a.45
Although men are 6.43 times more likely to use internet pornography than women,46 current research indicates a growing number of women are consuming it. In a recent study of college-age students, 31% of the women reported using pornography (compared with 87% of the men), and almost half (49%) agreed that viewing pornography is acceptable (compared with 67% of the men).47 The women surveyed were more accepting of pornography than their fathers were just one generation ago.48
Female patterns of usage, however, are markedly different from those of their male peers.49 For men, “pornography use is as common as drinking is among collegeage men,” and a significant number report “bingeing” on pornography with a frequency and intensity similar to those who binge-drink.50 Women who consume, on the other hand, are more likely to view pornography once a month or less, and only 3.2% report using it weekly or more often. Other gender differences in pornography consumption: Women are exposed to pornography at a later age than male peers, consume less hard-core and more soft-core material than men, are more likely to consume pornography with a regular sexual partner than by themselves, masturbate to pornography significantly less than men, and watch significantly more group sex (one woman with multiple men) than men.51
A key finding in the research is that the intellectual acceptance of pornography is as strongly correlated to women’s attitudes and behaviors as is their actual consumption. As the researchers state: