What is the impact of pornography and/or sexual violence on behaviour and attitudes?

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What is the impact of pornography and/or sexual violence on behaviour and attitudes?



The advent of the Internet has certainly increased the availability of pornography to youth. There are some scary statistics about this, especially if you have children. Children as young as eight years old are going on the Internet to view pornography. Pornography websites represent more than 10% of all the websites on the Internet. 90% of 8 to 16 year-olds have viewed online pornography. But watching pornography isn't the only problem: there is increased risk for children and teens using the Internet of being victimized by sex criminals. Have you ever been approached in a sexual way by someone on the Internet? Lots of people have.

What do we know about the effects of pornography on people who are exposed to it? Repeated exposure to fictional eroticism has several effects:
Decreased attraction to one's real-life partner
Increased acceptance of extramarital sex
Increased acceptance of women's sexual submission to men

Viewing pornography results in distorted perceptions of sexual reality. Viewing fictional scenes of a man overpowering and arousing a woman can distort one's perception of how women respond to sexual coercion, and increase men's aggression against women. Furthermore, watching pornography can result in the reinforcement of rape myths: "No doesn't really mean no". "No" is just the first answer -- being persistent will change things. These are myths. It is not only men who are affected by these: women are affected too.

Does this mean that everyone who watches pornography is going to experience negative effects? No. Remember, we are talking averages. There are also new genres of pornography becoming more mainstream that focus on consensual sex. Saint Mary's University offers Psychology courses in sexuality and gender roles, taught by leading experts in this research domain. If you are interested in learning more details about research in this area, they are great courses to take.

At this point in time, I want to acknowledge that one in four Canadian women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime. Men can also be victims of sexual assault. There is no excuse for sexual assault. As a society, we are now having many difficult conversations around sexual assault, which is good. Learning about sexual assault can be uncomfortable, and it will require us to overcome many social barriers (that we've been talking about throughout this class!) to make progress. If there is ambiguity about what is/isn't assault, the best option is to ask. You can ask a doctor, lawyer, therapist, trusted expert. Importantly, ask your partner. For example, "Is this okay?" Consent to sexual activity is paramount for anyone engaging in sexual activity. Consent can be withdrawn at any time, and if someone decides "no" or "stop" at any point, legally the activity must stop.

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