Post by Chuck on Apr 13, 2004 14:00:41 GMT -5
Psychological acceptance of s**ual violence
According to Edward Donnerstein, "After only 10 minutes of exposure to aggressive pornography, particularly material in which women are shown being aggressed against, you find male subjects are much more willing to accept these particular [rape] myths." These males are also more inclined to believe that 25% of the women they know would enjoy being raped.
Acceptance of Interpersonal Violence.
Males' internal inhibitions against acting out their desire to rape can also be undermined if they consider male violence against women to be acceptable behavior. Studies have shown that when male subjects view portrayals of s**ual violence that have positive consequences--as they often do in pornography--it increases their acceptance of violence against women. Examples of some of the beliefs used to measure acceptance of interpersonal violence include the followingbr]- Being roughed up is s**ually stimulating to many women;
- Sometimes the only way a man can get a cold woman turned on is to use force;
- Many times a woman will pretend she doesn't want to have intercourse because she doesn't want to seem loose, but she's really hoping the man will force her.
Malamuth and Check conducted an experiment of particular interest because the movies shown were part of the regular campus film program. Students were randomly assigned to view either a feature-length film that portrayed violence against women as being justifiable and having positive consequences (Swept Away or The Getaway) or a film without s**ual violence. Malamuth and Check found that exposure to the s**ually violent movies increased the male subjects' acceptance of interpersonal violence against women, but not the female subjects' acceptance of this variable. These effects were measured several days after the films had been seen....
Trivializing Rape
According to Donnerstein, in most studies on the effects of pornography, "subjects have been exposed to only a few minutes of pornographic material." In contrast, Dolf Zillmann and Jennings Bryant examined the impact on male subjects of what they refer to as "massive exposure" to nonviolent pornography (4 hours and 48 minutes per week over a period of 6 weeks). After 3 weeks the subjects were told that they were participating in an American Bar Association study that required them to evaluate a trial in which a man was prosecuted for the rape of a female hitchhiker. At the end of this mock trial, various measures were taken of the subjects' opinions about the trial and about rape in general. For example, they were asked to recommend the prison term they thought most fair.
Zillmann and Bryant found that the male subjects who had been exposed to the massive amounts of pornography considered rape a less serious crime than they had before they were exposed to it; they thought that prison sentences for rape should be shorter; and they perceived s**ual aggression and abuse as causing less suffering for the victims, even in the case of an adult male having s**ual intercourse with a 12-year-old girl. The researchers concluded that "heavy exposure to common nonviolent pornography trivialized rape as a criminal offense."
The more trivialized rape is in the perceptions of males who would like to rape women or girls, the more likely they are to act out their desires. Since the research cited above shows that exposure to pornography increases males' trivialization of rape, it is reasonable to infer that this process contributes to undermining some male consumers' internal inhibitions against acting out their desires to rape....
Donnerstein and Linz described the impact of the R-rated movies on their subjects as follows:
By the fifth day, the subjects rated the movies as less graphic and less gory and estimated fewer violent or offensive scenes than after the first day of viewing. They also rated the films as significantly less debasing and degrading to women, more humorous, and more enjoyable, and reported a greater willingness to see this type of film again. Their s**ual arousal to this material, however, did not decrease over this 5-day period.
On the last day, the subjects went to a law school, where they saw a documentary reenactment of a real rape trial. A control group of subjects who had never seen the films also participated in this part of the experiment. Subjects who had seen the R-rated movies: (a) rated the rape victim as significantly more worthless, (b) rated her injury as significantly less severe, and (c) assigned greater blame to her for being raped than did the subjects who had not seen the films. In contrast, these effects were not observed for the X-rated nonviolent films. However, the results were much the same for the violent X-rated films, despite the fact that the R-rated material was "much more graphically violent."
Donnerstein and Linz point out that critics of media violence research believe "that only those who are already predisposed toward violence are influenced by exposure to media violence." This view is contradicted by the fact that Donnerstein and Linz actually preselected their subjects to ensure that they were not psychotic, hostile, or anxious; that is, they were not predisposed toward violence prior to the research.
Donnerstein and Linz's research shows that exposure to woman-slashing films (soft-core snuff pornography) increases males' desensitization to extreme portrayals of violence against women. It seems reasonable to infer that desensitization contributes to undermining some male viewers' internal inhibitions against acting out their desires to rape.
In summary: I have presented only a small portion of the research evidence for several different effects of pornography, all of which probably contribute to the undermining of some males' internal inhibitions against acting out their rape desires. This list is not intended to be comprehensive....
According to Edward Donnerstein, "After only 10 minutes of exposure to aggressive pornography, particularly material in which women are shown being aggressed against, you find male subjects are much more willing to accept these particular [rape] myths." These males are also more inclined to believe that 25% of the women they know would enjoy being raped.
Acceptance of Interpersonal Violence.
Males' internal inhibitions against acting out their desire to rape can also be undermined if they consider male violence against women to be acceptable behavior. Studies have shown that when male subjects view portrayals of s**ual violence that have positive consequences--as they often do in pornography--it increases their acceptance of violence against women. Examples of some of the beliefs used to measure acceptance of interpersonal violence include the followingbr]- Being roughed up is s**ually stimulating to many women;
- Sometimes the only way a man can get a cold woman turned on is to use force;
- Many times a woman will pretend she doesn't want to have intercourse because she doesn't want to seem loose, but she's really hoping the man will force her.
Malamuth and Check conducted an experiment of particular interest because the movies shown were part of the regular campus film program. Students were randomly assigned to view either a feature-length film that portrayed violence against women as being justifiable and having positive consequences (Swept Away or The Getaway) or a film without s**ual violence. Malamuth and Check found that exposure to the s**ually violent movies increased the male subjects' acceptance of interpersonal violence against women, but not the female subjects' acceptance of this variable. These effects were measured several days after the films had been seen....
Trivializing Rape
According to Donnerstein, in most studies on the effects of pornography, "subjects have been exposed to only a few minutes of pornographic material." In contrast, Dolf Zillmann and Jennings Bryant examined the impact on male subjects of what they refer to as "massive exposure" to nonviolent pornography (4 hours and 48 minutes per week over a period of 6 weeks). After 3 weeks the subjects were told that they were participating in an American Bar Association study that required them to evaluate a trial in which a man was prosecuted for the rape of a female hitchhiker. At the end of this mock trial, various measures were taken of the subjects' opinions about the trial and about rape in general. For example, they were asked to recommend the prison term they thought most fair.
Zillmann and Bryant found that the male subjects who had been exposed to the massive amounts of pornography considered rape a less serious crime than they had before they were exposed to it; they thought that prison sentences for rape should be shorter; and they perceived s**ual aggression and abuse as causing less suffering for the victims, even in the case of an adult male having s**ual intercourse with a 12-year-old girl. The researchers concluded that "heavy exposure to common nonviolent pornography trivialized rape as a criminal offense."
The more trivialized rape is in the perceptions of males who would like to rape women or girls, the more likely they are to act out their desires. Since the research cited above shows that exposure to pornography increases males' trivialization of rape, it is reasonable to infer that this process contributes to undermining some male consumers' internal inhibitions against acting out their desires to rape....
Donnerstein and Linz described the impact of the R-rated movies on their subjects as follows:
Initially, after the first day of viewing, the men rated themselves as significantly above the norm for depression, anxiety, and annoyance on a mood adjective checklist. After each subsequent day of viewing, these scores dropped until, on the fourth day of viewing, the males' levels of anxiety, depression, and annoyance were indistinguishable from baseline norms.
By the fifth day, the subjects rated the movies as less graphic and less gory and estimated fewer violent or offensive scenes than after the first day of viewing. They also rated the films as significantly less debasing and degrading to women, more humorous, and more enjoyable, and reported a greater willingness to see this type of film again. Their s**ual arousal to this material, however, did not decrease over this 5-day period.
On the last day, the subjects went to a law school, where they saw a documentary reenactment of a real rape trial. A control group of subjects who had never seen the films also participated in this part of the experiment. Subjects who had seen the R-rated movies: (a) rated the rape victim as significantly more worthless, (b) rated her injury as significantly less severe, and (c) assigned greater blame to her for being raped than did the subjects who had not seen the films. In contrast, these effects were not observed for the X-rated nonviolent films. However, the results were much the same for the violent X-rated films, despite the fact that the R-rated material was "much more graphically violent."
Donnerstein and Linz point out that critics of media violence research believe "that only those who are already predisposed toward violence are influenced by exposure to media violence." This view is contradicted by the fact that Donnerstein and Linz actually preselected their subjects to ensure that they were not psychotic, hostile, or anxious; that is, they were not predisposed toward violence prior to the research.
Donnerstein and Linz's research shows that exposure to woman-slashing films (soft-core snuff pornography) increases males' desensitization to extreme portrayals of violence against women. It seems reasonable to infer that desensitization contributes to undermining some male viewers' internal inhibitions against acting out their desires to rape.
In summary: I have presented only a small portion of the research evidence for several different effects of pornography, all of which probably contribute to the undermining of some males' internal inhibitions against acting out their rape desires. This list is not intended to be comprehensive....