Pornography and Its Relation to Violence (From Violent Family: Victimization of Women, Children and Elders, P 131-155, 1988, Nancy Hutchings, ed. -- See NCJ-112886)

• NCJ Number: 112893
• Author(s): D W DiGioia
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 25 pages
• Sale Source: Human Sciences Press
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

In pornography, the fusion of sexuality with violence and degradation and exacerbating effects on the victimization of women.

Abstract

Pornography treats women as objects to be dominated by males and to serve their sexual needs. Much pornography depicts rape, bondage, torture, and sometimes even murder. Several highly publicized cases have involved rapes and murders that were imitative of media depictions. Research has shown higher rates of rape in areas with a heavy concentration of pornography. While the 1971 Presidential Commission on Obscenity and Pornography concluded that there was no evidence of a relationship between erotica and aggression, particularly sex crimes, the 1986 Commission concluded that pornography contributes to assault, is defamatory and degrading, and constitutes a practice of sexual discrimination. Other researchers have pointed to the desensitizing and evaluative conditioning effects of a pairing of erotic stimuli with aggression and violence on attitudes and behavior. Several studies have shown a relationship between exposure to sadomasochistic pornography and rape sentencing decisions, aggression against women, degree of sexual arousal to rape descriptions, and attitudes toward rape. In addition to passing antipornography laws, society can meet the problem of pornography by refusing to patronize pornography and its sellers and by educating others. 49 footnotes.