Porn Studies > Porn in the News
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PRNewswire/ -- A Harris Poll finds that the public is divided on the subject of
pornography and what, if anything should be done about it. The poll also shows that women
are generally much more critical of pornography than men. As a result, a small majority of
women, but not of men, favors government regulation of pornography on the Internet (if
that were possible).
These are the results of a Harris Interactive® survey of 2,555 U.S. adults conducted online between September 20 and 26, 2004. Among the more interesting findings of this research are:
* About half of all adults believe that pornography "raises men's
expectation of how women should look" (51%) and that it "changes men's
expectations of how women should behave" (48%). However, women are much
more likely than men to believe these (62% vs. 40% and 58% vs. 37%,
respectively).
* Two out of five adults (40%) believe that pornography "harms
relationships between men and women" with this view also held by a
higher percentage of women (47%) than men (33%).
* Almost half of all adults (48%) believe that "pornography is demeaning
towards women" but this view is more widely held by women (57%) than by
men (38%).
* There is no consensus on the impact of pornography on children but most
people, including both men and women, think the effects are mainly
negative. When asked which one phrase best describes their beliefs
about the impact of pornography on "children who see a lot of it," 30
percent of adults say "it distorts boys' expectation and understanding
of women and sex," 25 percent say "it makes kids more likely to have sex
earlier" and another seven percent say "it distorts girls' body images
and ideas about sex." Very few people say that "it helps kids better
understand sexuality" (2%).
What Government Should Do When it comes to the role of government, the most widely endorsed position is that the government should "regulate Internet pornography specifically so that children cannot access X-rated material online" (42%). Whether this would be possible is debatable, but it is the preferred policy of 53 percent of women and 30 percent of men. The remainder are divided between the following:
* Twenty-three percent believe "whether one likes it or not people should
have full access to pornography under the Constitution's First
Amendment."
* Thirteen percent believe "the government should regulate pornography in
a similar way to how cigarettes are regulated -- with warning labels and
restrictions so that harm is minimized."
* Ten percent think "the government has no role with regard to
pornography."
* Only one percent says their preferred policy would be for "government to
fully legalize all forms of pornography."
TABLE 1
SOME AFFECTS OF PORNOGRAPHY
"Do you agree or disagree that pornography has any
of the following affects on the people who look at it?"
Total
Agree Disagree Not sure/Refused
Raises men's %
expectations 51 26 22
of how women
should look
Changes %
men's
expectations 48 29 23
of how women
should
behave
Harms %
relationship 40 33 27
between men
and women
Improves the %
sex life of 22 36 42
people who
look at it
Men
Agree Disagree Not sure/Refused
Raises men's %
expectations 40 38 21
of how women
should look
Changes %
men's
expectations 37 41 22
of how women
should
behave
Harms %
relationship 33 43 25
between men
and women
Improves the %
sex life of 28 29 42
people who
look at it
Women
Agree Disagree Not sure/Refused
Raises men's %
expectations 62 15 23
of how women
should look
Changes %
men's
expectations 58 17 24
of how women
should
behave
Harms %
relationship 47 24 29
between men
and women
Improves the %
sex life of 17 43 40
people who
look at it
Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding.
TABLE 2
THOSE WHO DISAGREE WITH TWO STATEMENTS
Percent saying they strongly or somewhat disagree
Total Male Female
All men look at pornography % 47 46 48
Pornography is demeaning towards women % 27 34 20
TABLE 3
IMPACT OF PORNOGRAPHY ON CHILDREN WHO SEE IT A LOT
"Which one of the following statements best describes your opinion
about the impact of pornography on children who see a lot of it?"
Total Male Female
% % %
It distorts boys' expectations 30 27 34
and understanding of women and
sex
It makes kids more likely to 25 24 26
have sex earlier than they
might otherwise
It distorts girls' body images 7 4 9
and ideas about sex
It makes kids more likely to 6 8 4
look at pornography when they
are adults
It helps kids better understand 2 3 1
sexuality
None of these 9 10 7
Not sure / refused 21 24 19
Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding.
TABLE 4
WHAT GOVERNMENT SHOULD DO
"Which one of the following statements best reflects your opinion
about what the government should do about pornography?"
Total Male Female
% % %
The government needs to
regulate Internet
pornography specifically so 42 30 53
that children cannot access
X-rated material.
Whether one likes it or
not, people should have
full access to pornography 23 32 14
under the Constitution's
First Amendment.
The government should
regulate pornography in a
similar way to how
cigarettes are regulated -- 13 12 13
with warning labels and
restrictions so that harm
is minimized.
The government has no role 10 11 8
with regard to pornography.
The government should fully
legalize all forms of 1 1 *
pornography.
Not sure / refused 12 13 12
Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding.
Methodology
The Harris Poll® was conducted online within the United States between September 20 and 26, 2004 among a nationwide cross section of 2,555 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online. In theory, with probability samples of this size, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the results have a sampling error of plus or minus 2 percentage points of what they would be if the entire U.S. adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (nonresponse), question wording and question order, and weighting. It is impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors. This online sample is not a probability sample. Note: Harris Interactive was not commissioned to conduct this survey. However, in developing the questions we worked with Pamela Paul, an author who has written a book about the subject. These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls. This page contains copyrighted material and is made available to better understand pornography, e.g., its effect on society. It is distributed without profit to those who have an interest in receiving the information for research and educational purposes. |
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