Iyoob 1

The Detrimental Effects of Pornography on Teenagers and

Society

ENG101b: Research Paper Done for Inquiry & Argumentation for

Research Writing
Dr. Joyce Silva

By

Umar Mohamed Iyoob

IYUM200709
Spring 2008
 Iyoob 2

Umar Mohamed Iyoob

Dr. Joyce Silva

English 101b

05 May 2008

‘The Detrimental Effects of Pornography on Teenagers and Society’

"I can't define pornography," one judge once famously said, "but I know it when I see

it."(Justice Stewart in Jacobellis v. Ohio 378 US 184 (1964).)The word "pornography comes

from the Greek for writing about prostitutes. However, the etymology of the term is not much of

a guide to its current use, since many of the things commonly called "pornography" nowadays

are neither literally written nor literally about prostitutes.

Here is a first, simple definition. Pornography is any material (either pictures or words)

that is sexually explicit. This definition of pornography may pick out different types of material

in different contexts, since what is viewed as sexually explicit can vary from culture to culture

and over time. "Sexually explicit" functions as a kind of indexical term, picking out different

features depending on what has certain effects or breaks certain taboos in different contexts and

cultures. Displays of women's uncovered ankles count as sexually explicit in some cultures, but

not in most western cultures nowadays (although they once did: the display of a female ankle in

Victorian times was regarded as most risqué). There may be borderline cases too: do displays of

bared breasts still count as sexually explicit in various contemporary western cultures? However,

some material seems clearly to count as sexually explicit in many contexts today: in particular,

audio, written or visual representations of sexual acts (e.g., sexual intercourse, oral sex) and

exposed body parts (e.g., the vagina, anus and penis-especially the erect penis).
 Iyoob 3

Within the general class of sexually explicit material, there is great variety in content. For

example, some sexually explicit material depicts women, and sometimes men, in postures of

sexual display (e.g., Playboy centrefolds). Some depicts non-violent sexual acts (both

homosexual and heterosexual) between adults who are portrayed as equal and consenting

participants. Other sexually explicit representations depict acts of violent coercion: people being

bound, whipped, beaten, tortured, penetrated by objects, mutilated, raped and even killed. Some

sexually explicit material may be degrading, without necessarily being overtly violent. This

material depicts people (most often women) in positions of servility and subordination in their

sexual relations with others, or engaged in sexual acts that many people would regard as

humiliating. Some sexually explicit material involves or depicts children. Some portrays

bestiality and necrophilia; and so on.

On the first definition of pornography as sexually explicit material, all such material

would count as pornography, insofar as it is sexually explicit. But this simple definition is not

quite right. Anatomy textbooks for medical students are sexually explicit-they depict exposed

genitalia, for example-but are rarely, if ever, viewed as pornography. Sexual explicitness may be

a necessary condition for material to count as pornographic, but it does not seem to be sufficient.

So something needs to be added to the simple definition. What else might be required?

Here is a second definition. Pornography is sexually explicit material (verbal or pictorial)

that is primarily designed to produce sexual arousal in viewers. This definition is better: it deals

with the problem of anatomy textbooks and the like. Indeed, this definition is one that is

frequently employed (or presupposed) in discussions of pornography.

 Iyoob 4

Even though the depiction of sexual acts is as old as civilization the concept of

pornography as we know it today did not exist until the Victorian Era. Before that time, though

some sex acts were mentioned and stipulated in laws, looking at objects or images depicting

them was not mentioned. Specific books, engravings or image collections were censored or

outlawed in some cases, but the movement to formulate laws that constrained viewing of

sexually explicit things in general was a construction of the Victorian Era.

Much of the erotic art of the Romans came to light when large scale excavations of

Pompeii were undertaken in the 1860s. This in turn shocked the Victorians who saw themselves

as the scholarly heirs of the Roman Empire. They had no clue as to what they should do with the

frank depictions of sexuality, and did as much as they could to hide them away from everyone

but upper class scholars. The moveable objects were locked away in the Secret Museum in Italy

and what could not be moved was enclosed and cordoned off as to not corrupt the mindsets of

women, children and the working class. The world's first law criminalizing pornography was

enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1857 in the Obscene Publications Act soon

after this excavation. The Victorian attitude that pornography was for a selected audience can be

seen in the wording of the Hicklin Test stemming from a court case in 1868 where it asks,

"whether the tendency of the matter charged as obscenity is to deprave and corrupt those whose

minds are open to such immoral influences." Despite their suppression, depictions of erotic

imagery are common throughout history, and remain so.

The issue that I am considering and putting forward here is how teenagers and in turn

women and society are affected by this device of evil – Pornography. I would be analyzing its

effect on teenagers, its role in the degradation of women and hence its role in disrupting society.
 Iyoob 5

The first major issue that I will be dealing with is pornography and teenagers. Being a

teenager is a very confusing age without pornography to complicate it more. Young teenagers are

prey to child pornography and pedophilia as well. While there are many ways that pornography

harms teenagers, I want to assure you that every teenager who views pornography will not

necessarily be affected and, at worst, traumatized in the same way. The effects of pornography

are progressive and addictive for many people. Just as every person who takes a drink does not

automatically become an alcoholic, every teen who is exposed to pornography does not

automatically become a sexual deviant or sex addict. However, since pornography has a new

door to the home, school, and library through the Internet, it is important for us to look at the

many ways that pornography can potentially harm teenagers.

The Internet has proven a useful tool for pedophiles and sexual predators as they

distribute child pornography, engage in sexually explicit conversations with young teens, and

seek victims in chat rooms. The more pornography these individuals access, the higher the risk of

their acting out what they see, including sexual assault, rape, and child molestation.

According to one study, early exposure to pornography is related to greater involvement in

deviant sexual practice, particularly rape. Slightly more than one-third of the child molesters and

rapists in this study claimed to have at least occasionally been incited to commit an offense by

exposure to pornography. Among the child molesters incited, the study reported that 53 percent

of them deliberately used the stimuli of pornography as they prepared to offend.

 Iyoob 6

The habitual consumption of pornography can result in a diminished satisfaction with mild forms

of pornography and a correspondingly strong desire for more deviant and violent material. In a

study of convicted child molesters, 77 percent of those who molested boys and 87 percent of

those who molested girls admitted to the habitual use of pornography in the commission of their

crimes. Besides stimulating the perpetrator, pornography facilitates child molestation in several

ways. For example, pedophiles use pornographic photos to demonstrate to their victims what

they want them to do. They also use them to arouse a teenager or to lower his/her inhibitions and

communicate to the unsuspecting child that a particular sexual activity is okay: "This person is

enjoying it; so will you."

As more and more teenagers are exposed not only to soft-core pornography, but also to

explicit deviant sexual material, they are learning an extremely dangerous message from

pornographers: Sex without responsibility is acceptable and desirable. Because pornography

encourages sexual expression without responsibility, it endangers children's health.

One of the grimmer consequences of adult-like sexual activity among teenagers has been

a steady increase in the extent to which youth are afflicted with venereal disease. In the United

States about one in four sexually experienced teenagers acquires a sexually transmitted disease

(STD) every year, resulting in three million cases of teenage STDs. Infectious syphilis rates have

more than doubled among teenagers since the mid-1980s. More children contract sexually

transmitted diseases each year than all the victims of polio in its eleven-year epidemic, 1942-

1953.

Another obvious result of children involved in adult sexual activity is the increased rate

of pregnancy among teenagers.

 Iyoob 7

Research has shown that "males who are exposed to a great deal of erotica when they are

in their teens are more sexually active and engage in more varied sexual behaviors as adults than

is true for males not so exposed." One study reveals that among 932 sex addicts, 90 percent of

the men and 77 percent of the women reported that pornography was significant to their

addiction.

Teenagers often imitate what they've seen, read, or heard. Studies suggest that exposure

to pornography can prompt teens to act out sexually against younger, smaller, and more

vulnerable children. Experts in the field of adolescents and teenager sexual abuse report that any

premature sexual activity in children always suggests two possible stimulants: experience and

exposure. This means that the sexually deviant teen may have been molested or simply exposed

to sexuality through pornography.

In a study of six hundred American males and females of junior high school age and

above, researcher Dr. Jennings Bryant found that 91 percent of the males and 82 percent of the

females admitted having been exposed to X-rated, hard-core pornography. Over 66 percent of the

males and 40 percent of the females reported wanting to try out some of the sexual behaviors

they had witnessed. And among high schoolers, 31 percent of the males and 18 percent of the

females admitted actually doing some of the things they had seen in the pornography within a

few days after exposure.

Most of the parents would want to instill in children their own personal values about

relationships, sex, intimacy, love, and marriage. Unfortunately, the powerful irresponsible

messages of pornography may be educating one’s children on these very important life issues.
 Iyoob 8

Just as thirty-second commercials can influence whether or not we choose one popular soft drink

over another, exposure to pornography shapes our attitudes and values and, often, our behavior.

Photographs, videos, magazines, virtual games, and Internet pornography that depict rape

and the dehumanization of females in sexual scenes constitute powerful but deforming tools of

sex education. The danger to teenagers stems at least partly from the disturbing changes in

attitude that are facilitated by pornography. Replicated studies have demonstrated that exposure

to significant amounts of increasingly graphic forms of pornography has a dramatic effect on

how adult consumers view women, sexual abuse, sexual relationships, and sex in general. These

studies are virtually unanimous in their conclusions: When male subjects were exposed to as

little as six weeks' worth of standard hard-core pornography, they developed an increased sexual

callousness toward women. They also began to trivialize rape as a criminal offense or no longer

considered it a crime at all. They developed distorted perceptions about sexuality and developed

an appetite for more deviant, bizarre, or violent types of pornography (normal sex no longer

seemed to do the job)In addition to all the above, they also devalued the importance of

monogamy and lacked confidence in marriage as either a viable or lasting institution and viewed

nonmonogamous relationships as normal and natural behavior.

During certain critical periods of childhood, a teenager's brain is being programmed for

sexual orientation. During this period, the mind appears to be developing a "hard drive" for what

the person will be aroused by or attracted to. Exposure to healthy sexual norms and attitudes

during this critical period can result in the teenager developing a healthy sexual orientation. In

contrast, if there is exposure to pornography during this period, sexual deviance may become
 Iyoob 9

imprinted on the child's "hard drive" and become a permanent part of his or her sexual

orientation.

Psychologist Dr. Victor Cline's findings suggest that memories of experiences that

occurred at times of emotional arousal (which could include sexual arousal) are imprinted on the

brain by epinephrine, an adrenal gland hormone, and are difficult to erase. (This may partly

explain pornography's addicting effect.) Viewing pornography can potentially condition some

viewers to have recurring sexual fantasies during which they masturbate. Later they may be

tempted to act out the fantasies as sexual advances.

Sexual identity develops gradually through adolescence. In fact, children generally do not

have a natural sexual capacity until between the ages of ten and twelve. As they grow up, and

follow into their teens they are especially susceptible to influences affecting their development.

Information about sex in most homes and schools comes, presumably, in age-appropriate

incremental stages based on what parents, educators, physicians, and social scientists have

learned about child development. But pornography short-circuits and/or distorts the normal

personality development process and supplies misinformation about a child's sexuality, sense of

self, and body that leaves the child confused, changed, and damaged.

Pornography often introduces teenagers prematurely to sexual sensations that they are

developmentally unprepared to contend with. This awareness of sexual sensation can be

confusing and over stimulating for children.

The sexual excitement and eventual release obtained through pornography are mood

altering. For example, if a young boy's early stimulus was pornographic photographs, he can be
 Iyoob 10

conditioned to become aroused through photographs. Once this pairing is rewarded a number of

times, it is likely to become permanent. The result is that it becomes difficult for the individual to

experience sexual satisfaction apart from pornographic images.

The pornographic lyrics of much of the music listened to by teenagers today is also

degrading, not only for the girls, but also for the young men whose focus becomes what they can

get and rarely on what they can give. Future relationships are sure to suffer because of the

perversions that one’s children are being raised on.

Almost every movie released today under the drama/action genre has a pornographic

scene in it. This is something that attracts teenagers attentions to the movie. A very famous

movie – ‘We Own the Night’ that was nominated for an oscar as well, starring a very famous

actress – Eva Mendes, started off with a partially nude sex scene. This caused a stir with a lot of

teenagers once they came to know that the actress was baring almost all in the movie. Teenagers

from all over rushed to see the movie. ‘Titanic’ was another controversial movie that started a lot

of fires when it was released.

Most of the adults find it difficult to talk to their children about sex in general, let alone

the harmful effects of pornography, as graphically described in this research. One wants to

protect the innocence and purity of one’s children for as long as possible.

The next major issue I would be dealing with is the pornography and the degradation of

women. The vast majority of pornography represents women as complete sexual objects, as

masochistic, as treacherous, as deserving of abuse, punishment, torture, mutilation, humiliation

and death. Pornography degrades women in many ways. It is very hostile towards women and
 Iyoob 11

also portrays women as if they are hated. Pornography does not have any form of love or

romance. Its main purpose is to humiliate and degrade the female body for male pleasure. The

objectification of women in pornography allows the viewer to separate him/herself from the

humiliation and pain experienced by the women portrayed in pornography. Viewers do not

question why pain brings sexual pleasure and why women (or children or men who act like

women) are the victims of the mental and physical abuse and violence pictured in pornography.

Also pornography is made mostly by men and for men. In an episode of the well known

television show “Friends”, Joey and Chandler, two male characters, stumble upon free porn

while switching channels. They keep the television set on and the channel unchanged for the fear

of losing the free porn channel. Later, they become so accustomed to watching pornography, that

they expect real life scenarios to change into pornographic scenarios. This in turn makes them

degrade women.

Firstly, Pornography causes a lot of violence against women. Men watch pornography

and try to do the same in real life. This is a very simple ideology. Whatever people see, they do.

This is true for children and people may argue that grown ups will not act out the ridiculous

things they see while watching pornography, but, they are forgetting that these people have been

watching pornography from the time they were kids, and most of the stuff they have watched are

etched in their mind. Hence, when it comes to courting a woman, or dating, all they would think

about is performing the acts that they have watched on the person they are trying to seduce at

that particular time. The women would have no idea that this is what the males are trying to do

and this in turn would turn violent if and when a woman objects to some ‘kinky fetish’ that the

man has and wants to perform. There is now tremendous violence against women in the U.S. For
 Iyoob 12

example, 70 percent of all victims of assault admitted to hospital emergency rooms are women

beaten by their husbands or boyfriends. those who have forgotten history, such a situation has

existed before: huge propaganda for violence against a group of people, and violence against that

group. It occurred during the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in this country and it occurred in pre-

Holocaust Nazi Germany.

A lot of men who watch pornography stumble upon incest while surfing the internet. It is

all interconnected. Every pornographic site nowadays has a string of links below each page that

leads a surfer to a hundred other links. In this way a hardcore porn lover would easily get hitched

onto incest as well. According to Google, the keyword search for ‘incest’ by surfers were a

thousand times less than the keyword search for ‘porn’ during the last year. This shows how

common incest has become amongst pornography lovers. Incest tugs on to the very roots of a

family. Incest is the carnal sin in 99.9% of social norms and religions. A man watches incest and

then looks at his female siblings with a different view and also looks at his mother and

daughter(s) with the same dirty eyes. I believe this is the worst effect on females that

pornography has. How horrible would it be for a member of a man’s own family to be looked

upon with dirty thoughts in mind? Even the thought would make any normal rational human

being shudder.

Another case of values versus pornography that now has pretty much vanished from the

public eye involved the megastar Vanessa Williams, who was Miss America in 1983. Because

she posed in nude pictures before she won the title, she was stripped of her crown. The Miss

America position represents traditional values of feminine honor; no woman who takes off her

clothes off for public viewing could reflect those values. Perhaps Williams was flattered to think
 Iyoob 13

her naked body would stimulate men all over the country. Yet she was misled by the idea still

held by many men that, aside from the kitchen, a women’s place in the bedroom. Penthouse

magazine, owned by Penthouse Media Group, with 2 Million magazine subscriptions in 45

countries and an estimated 30 million internet page viewers per month gives the title “Pet of the

Months” to a woman who will share her nude body in erotic photographs for male readers. Such

women are foolish to consider the term “Pet” an honor. It is perfectly normal for a woman to

share her body, but with someone she loves- and not the whole world!

Most of the women in pornography are exploited or victimized. This is an issue that is

debated a lot by feminist groups. They state facts that more than 80% of the women in

pornography are acting on their own free will. This might be true, but what about the rest 20%?

Is it fair to justify this issue without considering the women who are actually paying the price for

this industry to thrive? Young female runaways, drug addicts, prostitutes, and mentally ill women

often turn to pornography for security and money. Our whole culture is affected negatively when

we accept the sexual exploitation of women because we pay for the violence and crime attached

to it.

Respect for the human body is directly related to the degradation of women. When sex is

viewed as a mutual act of love and ceases to be seen as an unconscionable act of deviant sinners,

the degradation of women will end. But this is not an excuse if pornography is the cause and

effect of it all. Bans, censorship, the First Amendment and even civil rights aside, the fact is that

anyone who attends pornographic films is condoning violence toward women and the

exploitation and degradation of women. All studies aside, it is obvious that the portrayal of

women in pornography does and will affect our attitudes toward women.
 Iyoob 14

Both the previous issues on effect on teenagers and its role in the degradation of women

make it evident that pornography has a detrimental effect on society as a whole. Although some

people show lack of concern for women in pornography, most civilized societies feel that

pornography is extremely degrading. Pornographers are considered outcasts. In a well publicized

case a few years back, for example, women police officers posed for nude pictures. As a result,

the women were either suspended or fired from their jobs. Normal Citizens have little respect for

such displays and do not tolerate this kind of behavior from people in respectable positions in our

society.

Pornography is more just than arts, or freedom of sexual expression, or the liberation of

women. In fact, its potential harmful affects on society have been ignored because it is as

terrifying to mention as death in everyday life. Father Paul Murphy, Morality in Media's late

president warned, "too many decent grassroots Americans have been drifting and dreaming while

a monster has grown in our midst."

In reviewing the literature on the affects of pornography, there is a variety of evidence

suggesting risk and the possibility of harm. "In over 90% of my patients, regardless of what the

original initiating causes were-pornography may act as a facilitator... to their sexual addiction

and illness," says Doctor Victor B. Cline, a psychotherapist specializing in family/marital

counseling and sexual addictions at the University of Berkley. According to him, once involved,

the porn-consumers kept coming back for more and still more. The material seemed to provide a

very powerful sexual desire followed by sexual release, most often through masturbation. The

use of pornography by its very nature isolates individuals-making them more intent on satisfying

selfish needs. Once addicted, they could not throw off their dependence on the material by
 Iyoob 15

themselves despite many negative consequences such as divorce, and problems with the law.

Being immersed in their fantasies, they tend to have an increasing sense that "everybody does it"

and this gave them permission to also do it, even though the activity was possibly illegal and

contrary to their previous moral beliefs. Afterwards, "they tend to act out sexually the behaviors

viewed in the pornography, including compulsive promiscuity, exhibitionism, having sex with

minor children, rape, and inflicting pain on themselves or a partner during sex," said Dr. Cline.

This behavior grew into sexual addiction, which they found themselves locked into-no matter

what the negative consequences were in their life.

The largest problem with pornography is its ability to control the user. "It is difficult for

non-addicts to comprehend the totally driven nature of a sex addict," Dr. Cline added, "their

addiction virtually rules their lives." An example comes from Gary Bishop, convicted

homosexual pedophile who murdered five young boys in Salt Lake City, Utah, in order to

conceal his sexual abuse of them. He wrote in a letter after his conviction: "Pornography was a

determining factor in my downfall… For me, seeing pornography was lighting a fuse on a stick

of dynamite… My conscience was desensitized and my sexual appetite entirely controlled my

actions." Further research also indicates that violence can come from those who are vulnerable to

pornography. Kelvin who had heavy use of pornography in an interview conducted by journalist

Robert Jensen admitted "one that sticks out in my mind right now was really violent. There was

pistol whipping and a man chained this woman … like a dog in a doghouse... and then have sex

with her from behind." In his Kingston study, Marshal found that pornography could play a

number of roles in sexual offences. In some cases, men told him that they looked at pornography

with the intention only of masturbating, but then became aroused and decided to go out and

assault a woman or a child.

 Iyoob 16

These are vicious beyond the users of pornography. Experts estimate that as many as one

in three girls and one in seven boys will be sexually molested before age eighteen. In the United

States, pornography is the third largest money-maker for organized crime - after drugs and

gambling - an $8 - 10 billion per year enterprise. In response to the FBI's questions on the

subject, 81 percent of serial killers surveyed said that hard-core pornography was their highest

sexual interest. According to the report from Dr. William Marshall, Report on the use of

Pornography by Sexual Offenders, 57percent of serial rapists studied admitted to imitating

scenes found in pornography. A Michigan state police study of 38,000 rapes concluded that

pornography was used prior to or during the commission of the rape in 41 percent of all sexual

assault cases.

Some advocates of porn industries say that viewing pornography would help to improve

their sex lives. However, research proves that they are wrong. In fact, pornography can cause

disturbance in family life and decrease sexual satisfaction within marriage. "In my clinical

experience, the major consequence of being addicted to pornography is the disturbance of the

fragile bonds of intimate family and marital relationships," says Dr. Cline. He added "I have had

a number of couple-clients where the wife tearfully reported that her husband preferred to

masturbate to pornography than to make love to her." Betty Wein, an editor of Morality in Media

" shared her experience: "it is not uncommon to receive a distressed phone call from a woman

whose marriage has gone sour due to her husband's porn addiction." She further stated that "we

also hear from the addicted men themselves-tortured souls seeking help after the destruction of

their marriage and loss of their children." As Dr. Jennings Bryant noted, "if the values which

permeate the content of most hardcore pornography are examined have been espoused in the

value systems of most civilized cultures. Forget trust. Forget family. Forget love. Forget
 Iyoob 17

marriage. Here, in the world of ultimate physical hedonism, anything goes." This is a real danger

to the happiness of family life where a husband, for example, feels that his partner can be

disposed of when he is no longer satisfied. Additionally empirical research suggests that when

the experimental subjects are exposed to repeated presentations of pornography over a six-week

period, "they devalue the importance of monogamy and lack confidence in marriage as a lasting

institution." In a study by Mills College sociologist Diana Russell, it was found that viewing

pornography would intensify the "rape myth", (that most women really enjoy having sex forced

upon them) and the men were inclined to act out their fantasies. She found that when both the

fantasies were acted out, they led to considerable conflict and suffering particularly in sexual

relationships with their intimate partners.

The victims of pornography are all around us, in a child's lost innocence, a woman's lost

security and privacy, and a man's lost self-control. The women who "perform" in hard-core

pornography are also victims; many are teen-age runaways, drug abusers, and victims of sexual

molestation. If one saw the pornographic film Deep Throat, he would be surprised to realize that

Linda Marchiano, who appeared as Linda Lovelace in the film, was "kidnapped" and forced to

participate in the movie. From testimony before the Attorney General's Commission on

Pornography, she described being coerced in to participating by means of mental abuse, beatings,

and threats against herself and her family. "I was a victim of pornography"; that's how she

concluded her story.

Reflecting the pathological side of human natures, hardcore pornography features

sadomasochism, incest, bestiality, group sex, bisexuality, necrophilia and other aberrations.

Pornography, to be sure, has become more sick and violent. Ultimately, it destroys all human
 Iyoob 18

qualities from one who becomes addicted to it. An example is the loss of compassion towards

women expressed by Craig, a rapist and porn addicted in an interview. "They were made for sex

and that's all. Use them and throw them away," he said. Another example is from Thomas Schiro,

who was convicted of the rape and murder of a 28-year-old woman, unsuccessfully raised the

defense "pornography made me do it." An expert in the case testified that continual exposure to

hard-core pornography creates "a person who no longer distinguishes between violence and rape,

or violence and sex." To inform his people about the invasion of pornography in their daily

living, Pope John Paul II warned his flock, "by reducing the body to an instrument for the

gratification of the senses, pornography frustrates authentic moral growth and undermines the

development of mature and healthy relationships."

If society allows pornography to flourish, young teenagers today think it is "OKAY" to

hold a girl down and force her to have intercourse. When did the moral values of this society

deteriorate to such a low level? When a young boy has easy access and constant exposure to such

materials, the causal affects of such exposure of his mind helps him to formulate theories that

support the above situation. The consequences can be seen in newspaper headlines like "Boy in

rape case: Imitating video/10-year-old is held in detention home," or "Boy, 11, Who Raped 5-

Year-Old Says He Copied Cable TV." Already today youth have been misguided by the depiction

of eye-catching pictures that contain a "harmful message," but as vulnerable and inexperienced

as they are, the risk is extremely high. In a study reported to the Attorney General's Commission

on Pornography by Dr. Bryant, 600 American males and females of high school age and above

were interviewed about their "out of real life involvement with pornography." He found that 91%

of the males and 82% of the females admitted having been exposed to X-rated, hard-core

pornography. Two-thirds of the males and 40% of the females reported wanting to try out some
 Iyoob 19

of the behaviors they had witnessed. And, among high school students, 31% of males and 18% of

the females admitted doing some of the things sexually they had seen in the pornography within

a few days after exposure. This clearly suggests the "modeling-affect or imitative-learning affect,

as well as 'triggering affect,' that pornography has on human sexual behavior in some

individuals," concluded Dr. Bryant.

Whether pornography has any significant affects on consumers remains no longer a

mystery. However, some of the "experts" who publicly insist that pornography has no affects are

just unaware of the research and studies suggesting harm. Others really do not believe what they

are asserting. In some cases, they are pretending not to know because of their concern over what

they falsely believe is the loss of First Amendment rights. Some fear that the tyranny of a

moralist minority might take away their rights to use pornography, and then later take away free

speech and expression. Some themselves are sex addicts with a hidden agenda behind their

public posturing. These are kinds of people who are afraid to look at the evidences for fear that

they are responsible. If we don't start now to act now, and continue to ignore the seriousness of

this matter, we are unconsciously contributing to the corruption of society and of our children's

future.

Having discussed the three major issues I would like to reiterate the fact that the

detrimental effects of pornography weigh more exponentially than its supposedly beneficial

effects. I would like to establish the fact that pornography is just one of those things that is

entirely up to each person. Whether one views it or not, one is an advocate or not is entirely one’s

own problem. I have furnished evidence above on a number of issues as to how pornography will

lead one to one’s own demise.

 Iyoob 20

From surveys that I have conducted, the average age of first internet exposure is at the

tender age of eleven. Also, 80% of 15-17 year olds have multiple hard-core exposures online

almost weekly. Also, 90% of teenagers admit to having viewed porn online, especially while

doing homework. The numbers are higher onto the male side when broken down

demographically.

From my findings, I would like to confirm pornography’s effects on children. At the mere

age of eleven being exposed to pornography would be nothing less than traumatic. I myself was

first exposed to pornography when I was only 15 and that itself was distressing. Here we can see

numbers and statistics on how pornography affects us. I say ‘us’ because pornography first

affects children, who then grow up become adults and constitute members of our society. These

societies in turn horrifyingly constitute us as well. Now how will one be able to differentiate

between a pervert, a person who has been exposed and a person who hasn’t been exposed to

pornography in our very own society?

Since we can trace the epidemic of pornography starting from children viewing it, I

believe that we can stop this epidemic by slowly influencing children and educating them. Acting

as if everything is normal and not educating them about pornography will not do them any good

and as a matter of fact will influence them the way present generations are being influenced-

That pornography is not a big deal. Proper education and guidance to children and teenagers will

clean the beginning of the chain and hence the generation and societies that will be constituted

by them will be free of pornography and at the same time they will have a healthy sexuality

about them.
 Iyoob 21

Works Cited

1. "The Science Behind Pornography Addiction*," U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce,

Science and Transportation Web site, (expert witness testimony),

http://commerce.senate.gov/hearings/witnesslist.cfm?id=1343 (18 May 2005).

2. "Pornography, Sexual Callousness and the Trivialization of Rape," Journal of

Communication, 1982.

"The Effect of Erotica Featuring Sadomasochism and Bestiality of Motivated Inter-Male

Aggressions," Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 1981. 4 Rape and Marriage,

1982.

3. “The Effects of Pornography”- http://www.filterguide.com/index.htm

4. Baird, R. and Rosenbaum, S. (eds.), 1991, Pornography: Private Right or Public

Menace?, Buffalo: Prometheus.

5. Cornell, D. (ed.), 2000, Feminism and Pornography, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

6. Donnerstein, E., Linz, D. and Penrod, S., 1987, The Question of Pornography: Research

Findings and Policy Implications, New York: Free Press; London: Collier Macmillan.

7. Dworkin, R., 1985, "Do We Have a Right to Pornography?" in A Matter of Principle,

Harvard: Harvard University Press, ch. 17. -----,1993, "Women and Pornography", New

York Review of Books XL/17.

8. Edward Donnerstein, "Pornography: Its Effects on Violence Against Women," in

Malamuth and Donnerstein, eds., Pornography and Sexual Aggression (New York:

Academic Press, 1984).

 Iyoob 22

9. Green, L., 1998, "Pornographizing, Subordinating and Silencing" in Post, R (ed.): 285-

311. Gruen, L. and Panichas, G. (eds.), 1997, Sex, Morality, and the Law, New York:

Routledge: ch.3.

10. Hill, J. 1987, "Pornography and Degradation", Hypatia 2: 39-54.

11. Soble, A. 1985, "Pornography: Defamation and the Endorsement of Degradation", Social

Theory and Practice, 11(1:XX-XX).

12. “Pornography – Its Effects” - http://antonellagambotto.com/Pornography.htm

13. "The War Against Pornography," Newsweek, 18 March 1985, 60.

14. David Alexander Scott, "How Pornography Changes Attitudes," in Pornography: The

Human Tragedy, ed. Tom Minnery (Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers).
 Iyoob 23

Appendix

Internet Pornography Statistics

Pornographic websites 4.2 million (12% of total websites)

Pornographic pages 420 million

68 million (25% of total search engine
Daily pornographic search engine requests
requests)
Daily pornographic emails 2.5 billion (8% of total emails)

Internet users who view porn 42.7%

Received unwanted exposure to sexual material 34%

Average daily pornographic emails/user 4.5 per Internet user

Monthly Pornographic downloads (Peer-to-peer) 1.5 billion (35% of all downloads)

Daily Gnutella "child pornography" requests 116,000

Websites offering illegal child pornography 100,000

Sexual solicitations of youth made in chat rooms 89%

Youths who received sexual solicitation 1 in 7 (down from 2003 stat of 1 in 3)

72 million visitors to pornography:
Worldwide visitors to pornographic web sites
Monthly
Internet Pornography Sales $4.9 billion

Children Internet Pornography Statistics

 Iyoob 24

Average age of first Internet exposure to

11 years old
pornography
Largest consumer of Internet pornography 35 - 49 age group

15-17 year olds having multiple hard-core exposures 80%

8-16 year olds having viewed porn online 90% (most while doing homework)
7-17 year olds who would freely give out home
29%
address
7-17 year olds who would freely give out email
14%
address
Children's character names linked to thousands of 26 (Including Pokemon and Action
porn links Man)

Adult Internet Pornography Statistics

Men admitting to accessing pornography at work 20%

US adults who regularly visit Internet pornography
40 million
websites
Promise Keeper men who viewed pornography in
53%
last week
Christians who said pornography is a major
47%
problem in the home
Adults admitting to Internet sexual addiction 10%
Breakdown of male/female visitors to pornography
72% male - 28% female
sites

Women and Pornography

 Iyoob 25

Women keeping their cyber activities secret 70%

Women struggling with pornography addiction 17%

Ratio of women to men favoring chat rooms 2X

Percentage of visitors to adult websites who are 1 in 3 visitors

women

Women accessing adult websites each month 9.4 million

Women admitting to accessing pornography at work 13%