Just 25 years ago the pornography industry was on the periphery of society, grossing $10 million annually. Today, however, it has penetrated the mainstream, pulling in at least $10 billion per year.So-called “adult” bookstores outnumber McDonalds’ restaurants in the U.S. by a three-to-one-margin, and there are nearly 900 theaters that show pornographic material.In 1997 alone, the porn industry in America pooped out hard-core videos at the astonishing rate of 150 per week.When all the cyberporn and late night cable pornography that is available at the click of a button is added on, the conclusion is hard to avoid; pornography has indeed penetrated the mainstream.The common sentiment today is that it’s harmless and innocent, and the passion it baits is benign.However, the facts suggest something totally different. Many studies show that both hard and soft-core pornography does harm. In one study, researchers found that people who viewed non-violent pornography reported reduced sexual happiness, including reduced satisfaction with their partner’s affection, physical appearance, sexual performance and interest.James Check, York University in Canada, conducted an experiment where men were exposed to pornography, some violent, some not. He found that both groups showed a higher inclination to use force as a part of sex afterwards.A study by Dolf Zillman and Jennings Bryant showed that continued exposure to pornography has extremely adverse effects on beliefs about sexuality and attitudes towards women, and that it desensitizes people to rape as a criminal offense.In a nationwide survey, University of New Hampshire researchers Larry Baron and Murray Strauss found a compelling statistical correlation between circulation rates of pornographic magazines and rape rates. They found that in states with high circulation rates, rape rates were high, and vice versa.Pornography was connected with each of the 1,400 child sexual molestation cases in Louisville, Ky., between July 1980 and February 1984.There are many personal testimonies of sex offenders that document this connection as well.For instance, prior to his execution, Ted Bundy, in an interview with James Dobson, stated, “As a young boy, and I mean a boy of 12 or 13, I encountered … in the local grocery store, in the local drug store, the soft-core pornography that people call soft porn … Once [I became] addicted to pornography … I would keep looking for more potent, more explicit material.”He continued, saying, “You begin to wonder if maybe actually doing it would give you that which is beyond just reading it or looking at it … I’ve lived in prison for a long time now and I’ve met a lot of men who are motivated to violence just like me. And without exception, every one of them was deeply involved with pornography.”Now, of course, statistical correlation and testimonies do not prove a causal link between pornography and violence such as rape. Not everyone who uses pornography becomes a pedophile or a rapist. Plus, doing studies that could show a causal connection are obviously hard to perform.However, I don’t think its any coincidence that higher crime rates and more degrading sexual attitudes are prevalent where both hard and soft pornography is prevalent.Studies have even been done that examined other factors related to these adverse social affects. Joseph Scott and Loretta Schwalm conducted a study examining factors such as “macho” attitudes among men along with pornography as a factor, and they were not able to eliminate the correlation between pornography and rape.I’m writing this not because I’m a starch-collared jerk who wants to impose his stale, outdated sexual morals on everyone else. I’m writing against pornography because it is inherently dangerous to us.The facts cry out that it is sewage and a cancer for society. Personally, I’ve seen it destroy others’ lives.
Rich Bordner is a senior English major and philosophy minor. He can be reached at [email protected].