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From: karlton@decwrl.UUCP (Philip Karlton)
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Pornography and aggression
Message-ID: <353@decwrl.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 5-Sep-85 18:21:23 EDT
Article-I.D.: decwrl.353
Posted: Thu Sep  5 18:21:23 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 7-Sep-85 04:20:40 EDT
Distribution: net
Organization: DEC Western Software Lab, Palo Alto, CA
Lines: 39

Dr. June Reinisch is the director of the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex,
Gender and Reproduction at Indiana University. One of the questions she
recently addressed in her weekly column on human sexualtiy was "Does
pornography cause sex crimes against women?"

The is her answer:

From what researchers are now finding, it looks as though viewing certain
types of materials may make it more likely that some people might act
aggressively toward women.

According to Dr. Edward Donnerstein, a psychologist at the University of
Wisconsin, viewing both pornographic and non-pornographic materials that
depict violence against women increases aggressive behavior toward women and
decreases the view of rape as inappropriate behavior.

One crucial factor appears to be how the female victims are portrayed. if a
male subject views films in which the female victim is shown to be aroused by
or to enjoy sexual aggression (the so-called "rape myth"), he is more likely
to later view rape victims as in some way responsible for the rape or not
particularly harmed by it. This and related findings provide a basis for the
theory that some men can become conditioned to being sexually aroused only
when their sexual behavior includes aggression, violence and ultimately, a
rape victim.

Donnerstein cautions, however, that most types of explicitly sexual materials
do not increase aggressive behavior or feelings. In fact, explicit depictions
of sexual behavior between consenting adults appear to have little or no
effect on aggression. On the other hand, non-sexual materials that show
violence against women (such as the so-called "slasher films") do evoke
increased aggression ratings in general.

This topic needs more careful research before scientists can say whether it is
sexual content or violence that increases aggressive behavior against women.
To date, however, the results point to violence as the key factor, not
explicit sexual activity.

Phil Karlton
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