Box 7.2 Views of the Advocates Sexually Explicit Materials are Bad for Society Anti-pornography advocates believe that pornography is linked to a variety of socially destructive behavior, such as rape, child molestation, and sexual dysfunction.1 Furthermore, pornography is seen as disseminating dangerous misinformation about sexual relations and as promoting medically risky sexual practices, especially among adolescent boys, who are large consumers of sexually explicit material. One individual often quoted by those in the antipornography camp is Park Elliot Dietz, who has written: Pornography is a medical and public health problem because so much of it teaches false, misleading, and even dangerous information about human sexuality. . . . A person who learned about human sexuality in the "adults only" outlets of America would be a person who had never conceived of a man and a women marrying or even falling in love before having intercourse, who had never conceived of tender foreplay, and who had never conceived of procreation as a purpose of sexual union. Instead such a person would be one who had learned that sex at most meant sex with one's children, stepchildren, parents, siblings, pets, and with neighbors, plumbers, salesmen, burglars, and peepers.2 Anti-pornography advocates argue further that exposure to pornography that combines erotic images with violent images normalizes sexual assault and desensitizes men to rape. For example, they point to correlations between states in which large amounts of pornography are sold and high rates of rape, and between greater inclinations toward sexual coercion and being raised in home in which fathers read pornographic magazines and talked about watching X-rated movies. They also draw on clinical studies of sex offenders and self-described pornography addicts. For example, they note that a large fraction of sex offenders, child molesters, and those convicted of sexual assault are avid consumers of pornography. As for children, antipornography advocates argue that child pornography normalizes and promotes the sexual abuse of children. Graphic imagery is used to persuade children that sexual activity is normal and that other children willingly participate in such activities. Many of these advocates believe that viewing pornography, even for a moment, can have dire consequences. For example, American Family Online believes that "pornography is dangerous, and viewing it (even for a moment) can set off a terrible chain of events."3 The American Family Association stated that "Ted Bundy started on his road to perversion and murder by innocently looking at 'nudie' magazines as a boy. It only took one time for him to become hooked."4 In addition, some commentators argue that even short-term exposure to certain sexually explicit materials has long-lasting physiological effects. For example, Jodi Hoffman, founder of Restore America's Moral Pride, wrote, "Someone on this list . . . has made numerous attempts at convincing us that pornography 'does no harm' to children. . . . Studies have shown that an event which lasts even so much as three-tenths of a second, within five to ten minutes has produced a structural change in the brain. Exposure to porn causes actual brain damage, especially in a child."5 Feminist anti-pornography advocates believe that pornography degrades women by portraying them as sexually insatiable objects of male pleasure in a world of sexual inequality, and that pornography contributes to male contempt for women that can ultimately lead to sexual violence and rape. Finally, anti-pornography advocates argue that pornography eliminates from sexual acts the emotional intimacy needed to promote healthy relationships by reducing women and children to sex objects to be used on demand. Consumption of pornography is seen as the first step toward sexual addiction. Drawing on arousal theory, they argue that consumers of pornography are compelled to partake of more frequent "doses" of more varied and more extreme pornography in order to obtain the same sexual high. Eventually, they argue, the individual must act out the scenes being depicted to obtain the sexual highs‹and that the scenes depicted are obviously bad. Such individuals thus become incapable of natural sexual relationships. Sexually Explicit Materials Have Benefits for Society A different set of views is expressed by those who believe that the widespread availability of sexually explicit materials has benefits for society. One writer argues that the insistence on limiting such availability demonstrates restrictive attitudes toward sexual expression, and that "societies which hold restrictive attitudes towards sexual issues tend to breed child abuse."6 She asserts that such legislated limitations add to "the cultural squeamishness towards sex, which already appears to play a major role in child sex abuse," and that when "children think that sex is taboo, they will remain silent about being abused. If they think that they are doing something dirty because they are being abused, they will feel guilty, responsible for the abuse, they won't speak up and they'll continue to be abused." She further claims that restricting the availability of such materials is potentially hazardous for all women and children, citing the Danish experience in which "pornography was made freely available in Denmark in the late 60's," resulting "in the incidence of sex crimes [and] sexual violence towards women and children, [dropping] markedly." "Far from causing harm," she continues, "pornography appears to have a cathartic effect on people's sexuality. The Denmark experience of the 1960's teaches us that the incidence of sex crimes appears to lower dramatically when pornography is made freely available." Another writer concluded that "After thorough review of the existing research on effects of pornography and violent material on the viewer, we can answer this question simply: there is no known harm caused by the actual viewing of pornographic materials, and results of aggression studies in relation to violent material have been unable to demonstrate any changes in behavior in children after viewing such materials."7 She adds that "As of yet, no research has indicated a causal relationship between these materials and anti-social behavior that is said to justify censorship." Finally, according to another view, "Research attempting to demonstrate a causal link between images and violence has not been able to show such a link. Research on offenders demonstrates that poverty, actual violence, and abuse in the personal lives of offenders‹and NOT media images‹are the crucial factors in creating a tendency toward violence and criminal behavior."8 In addition, "Research on serious sex offenders demonstrates that rapists and abusers have been taught repressive messages about sex, masturbation, and pornography, and that anti-pornography activism actually exacerbates the problems that lead to sexual assault and abuse." 1Views of the "anti-pornography" advocates can be found online at <http://www.cwfa.org/library/pornography/1998-06_pp_poison.shtml> and <http://www.chuckiii.com/Reports/Social_Issues/pornography.shtml>. The material in this section is derived from content found online at <http://www.cwfa.org/library/pornography/1998-06_pp_poison.shtml> and <http://www.chuckiii.com/Reports/Social_Issues/pornography.shtml>. 2Closing statements of the Meese Commission's Final Report. See Attorney General's Commission on Pornography. 1986. Final Report. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., July. 3See <http://www.afo.net/help/block/Default.htm>. 4See <http://www.afajournal.org/archives/24060000438.asp>. 5See <http://www.inet-one.com/cypherpunks/dir.1997.10.30-1997.11.05/msg00377.html>. 6Patricia Peterson, speech given on May 28, 1999, available online at <http://www.efa.org.au/Campaigns/may28/bris/pp.html>. 7Carol Avedon, 1994, Censorship Won't Reduce Crime, Libertarian Alliance Pamphlet No. 24, available online at <http://www.capital.demon.co.uk/LA/pamphlets/censcrim.txt>. 8Frequently Asked Questions About "Feminists Against Censorship," available online at <http://www.mit.edu/activities/safe/data/feminists-against-cen>.