Voluntary exposure to pornography and men's attitudes toward feminism and rape

Journal of Sex Research, Spring, 1997 by Kimberly A. Davies

The effects that pornography have on men's attitudes toward women remains an issue of contention. Most previous researchers who have examined the relationship between pornography and attitudes toward women have used experimental studies or aggregate studies. Instead, I examined a sample of men who voluntarily viewed sexually explicit videos of their choosing in a non-experimental setting. I examined the relationship between these men's renting of pornographic videos and their attitudes toward feminism and rape. More specifically, the purpose of this research was to determine whether men who rented more X-rated videos displayed more negative attitudes toward feminism and if they were more likely to condone violence toward women than were men who rented fewer X-rated videos. In this article, I used cross tabulation to compare 194 men who rented X-rated videos of their choosing from a single pornography establishment in a large metropolitan county during 1988. The men were compared on their attitudes concerning the Equal Rights Amendment, a law against marital rape, and punishment for date rape and marital rape. No correlations were found between the number of videos a man had rented and his attitudes toward feminism and rape. These findings suggest that calloused attitudes toward women may not be generated by sexually explicit videos but are more deeply ingrained in our society.

The availability of pornography and the effects it may have on the public, men in particular, continues to be controversial. Anti-pornography feminists argue that pornography teaches men to despise women. Through pornography, these feminists believe, men learn that women are to be abhorred, seen as less human than themselves, and used. Robin Morgan (1980, p. 128) asserted that "pornography is the theory; rape is the practice." Andrea Dworkin and others believe that pornography trivializes rape (Everywoman, 1988) and makes men "increasingly callous to cruelty, to infliction of pain, to violence against persons, to abuse of women" (Dworkin, 1988, p. 205). Pornography and men's attitudes about violence and women are clearly linked, according to anti-pornography feminists. Yet, empirical research on the possible effects of pornography remains contradictory.

The purpose of my research was to explore the relationship between men's viewing of sexually explicit videos and their attitudes toward feminism and rape. This work is different from much previous experimental and aggregate research in that I examined a sample of men who rented sexually explicit videos of their choosing.

For the most part, two methodological approaches have been used in social science research to explore the links between exposure to pornography and aggressive attitudes and actions toward women (Baron, 1990; Childress, 1991; also see Davis & Bauserman, 1993, for a more inclusive literature review). First, researchers have used aggregate studies to examine the relationship between the availability of pornography and officially reported rape rates within particular geographic areas. Second, in experiments, men have been exposed to pornography in a laboratory setting and then either given the opportunity to aggress against a female confederate or given questionnaires intended to measure attitudes toward women and rape. The findings of these aggregate and experimental studies are mixed, and the limitations of these types of research are many.

During the 1960s, pornography was decriminalized in Denmark, and its production and sales increased. This situation allowed researchers to compare reported rates of sex crimes before and after decriminalization. Both Kutchinsky (1973) and Ben-Veniste (1971) reported a significant decrease in reported sex crimes, including rape, during the years in which widespread dissemination of pornography increased in Copenhagen, Denmark. This finding leads to the belief that pornography may actually lead to a decrease in the number of sex crimes rather than to an increase in calloused behavior toward women (Ben-Veniste, 1971; Kutchinsky, 1973). On the other hand, Court (1984) argued that, although the number of sex crimes overall may have decreased in Denmark after the decriminalization of pornography, rape actually increased. Yet, Danish crime experts argued that this increase in rape reports was not a result of a greater tolerance of rape but a "greater willingness to report rape because of increased public awareness" (Donnerstein, Linz, & Penrod, 1987). Overall, the Denmark experience is inconclusive and may not be generalizable to the U.S. because of differences in cultural norms.

Others have compared the consumption of pornography with rape rates in different geographic areas. Both Baron and Straus (1984) and Scott and Schwalm (1988b) compared the circulation rates of sex-oriented magazines and rape rates for each state in the U.S. Findings in both studies supported anti-pornography feminists' claims about the connection between pornography and rape. Both Baron and Straus (1984) and Scott and Schwalm (1988b) found that circulation rates of sexually explicit magazines and rape rates were positively correlated. On the other hand, Scott and Schwalm (1988a) compared the numbers of adult theaters with rape rates in 41 areas of the U.S. (either individual states or 2 states together) and found that the relationship between rape rates and adult theater rates was nonsignificant. Similarly, Gentry (1991) essentially replicated the research of Scott and Schwalm (1988b) and Baron and Straus (1984) but used standard metropolitan statistical areas (cities and the surrounding metropolitan areas) as her units of analyses, resulting in the finding of no relationship between the circulation of sexually-oriented magazines and rape rates. Furthermore, Baron (1990) compared gender equality (measured with an index reflecting the status of women relative to men in politics, economics, and legal rights) and pornography circulation rates in states and found that gender equality and pornography were positively correlated.