1 What is Pornography?

According to Webster’s Online Dictionary, Pornography is the depiction of erotic behavior such as pictures, writing, videos, etc. intended to cause sexual excitement. The word originally signified any work of art or literature depicting the life of prostitutes. There are also two different sub-genres of porn, these include; Soft core pornography and hardcore pornography. Soft core porn generally depicts naked or partially clothed women and/or men in sexually suggestive situations but excludes explicit sexual activity and sexual penetration. While, hardcore porn depicts graphic sexual acts and visible penetration. There are a ton of different “themed” pornography’s such as; Child Pornography, Teen Pornography, MILF (Moms I’d Like to F***), and a ton more. [1]

2 History of Online Pornography

Before the internet was fully developed, people would use a system called Usenet which exchanged messages and files between computers. The Usenet newsgroup alt.sex included many sexual files like sex pictures and sex movies. By October 1993, this newsgroup had an estimate of 3.3 million readers which made up eight percent of the total usage of Usenet. [2] The development of The Netscape Browser made the internet more accessible to the public in 1994. As the internet became more and more popular, the accessibility of porn increased. Playboy created their website in 1994 and Penthouse created their website in 1995 with 620,000 and 802,000 daily visits each. By 1997, the amount of daily visits to Playboy’s website increased to an average of five million per day. [2] Video conference technology was also developed in 1995 which produced live striptease and mutual masturbation on the internet. [2] The revenues of Internet pornography in 1996 were estimated to range from \$50 million to \$150 million. In only two years the revenue increased to an estimated \$750 million to \$1 billion. [2] “Pornography is now the most popular internet destination for American men aged 18 to 34.” [2]

3 Types of Online Pornography

There are 3 types of pornographic content readily available online. They are photos, videos, and live shows. Pornography websites tend to specialize in one of those types of content. Videos and photos are often obtainable at no cost to the viewer. Many pornographic websites, such as Youporn, do not ask for or verify the age of the person viewing it. Live shows start off at no cost, but explicit content is usually not shown until a certain amount of money is obtained from viewers.

Pornographic material can be obtained through file sharing technologies such as BitTorrent. The popular BitTorrent site the piratebay has torrent files for hundreds of pornographic videos. Downloading pornography using peer to peer technology can be dangerous because there is no way to know the content of the file ahead of time. It is possible to accidentally download illegal material such as child pornography.

4 Effects on Society

Since the onset of the internet, pornography has become increasingly available and easier to gain access to; which brings forth the question on whether internet pornography has a positive, negative, or no effect on society. The topic of internet pornography is subjective and the results of the research surrounding it vary depending on the questions or topics in pornography examined, the subjects involved, and the personal beliefs of the individuals doing the research.

5 Studies

Neil M. Malamuth and Gert Martin Hald completed a survey for their 2008 paper titled Self-Perceived Effects of Pornographic Consumption which used a “newly developed Pornography Consumption Effect Scale”*,* and surveyed 688 young Danish adults aged 18-30 (men = 316, women = 372). [5] The survey asked the individuals how pornography affected their “sexual knowledge, attitudes toward sex, attitudes toward and perception of the opposite sex, sex life, and general quality of life.” [5] The survey revealed only a small portion of the participants reported negative effects and a fair amount of both men and women reported positive effects. Of course, this could be argued by other analysts that the research doesn’t address all aspects of pornography. Another study by Milton Diamond, a professor at the University of Hawaii, “scientifically investigated that as pornography has increased in availability, sex crimes have either decreased or not increased.” [6]

6 Marriage & Family

Studies exist on whether online pornography is detrimental to relationships or beneficial and the results vary, but there are some findings, especially in the court system, that internet porn could play a factor in divorce and/or child custody battles. “At a 2003 meeting of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, two thirds of the 350 divorce lawyers who attended said the Internet played a significant role in the divorces in the past year, with excessive interest in online porn contributing to more than half such cases. Pornography had an almost non-existent role in divorce just seven or eight years ago.“ [7] The findings claimed that Internet porn had played a significant role in divorce. Having ”relationships" by the use of social networks and chat rooms have also reportedly been a factor in divorce. [7] “However, according to a 2002 survey of more than 7,000 adults, two-thirds of the respondents who say they regularly visit porn sites report it has not affected their relationships.” [8]

7 Juveniles

Many children have been exposed to online pornography whether intended or not. A survey conducted by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2005, which interviewed adolescent internet users between ages 10 and 17, found 42% had been exposed to internet pornography in the past year, with 66% of those exposures reported as unwanted. [9] This spectrum of online pornography is a growing concern and many studies are being conducted on the effects that pornography could do to youth psychologically and developmentally.

8 Variables

There are several types of online pornography as well as venues and these factors weigh heavily on how acceptable or unacceptable they are to society. An individual’s psychological and developmental make-up also plays a huge role in whether pornography can be detrimental to the individual themselves or third parties. Topics discussed more on the subject include: anti-social behaviors, hardcore porn, addiction, violence against women, and child pornography just to name a few.

9 Legalities

Pornography comes in various types of forms, which can all be interpreted differently. What may be obscene or pornographic to one individual might not be to another. Currently, pornography as a whole is not illegal; however, certain types are. The Government can regulate child pornography and also very obscene pornography. The Government also forbids the production, distribution, and possession of child pornography. “Moreover, certain sexually explicit materials are regarded as free speech under the First Amendment to the Constitution.” [11]  If an individual is 18 years or older and giving consent, it makes it hard to say pornography is illegal in certain aspects. The Supreme Court case Roth v. United States (1957) challenged this first amendment claim. Still, pornography has and will struggle with legal issues for quite some time to come. Other cases such as Miller v. California, Adult Theatre v. Slaton, and New York v. Ferber [12 ] to name a few have battled over pornography regulation. Pornography control has been an argument for years. Even though congress has passed laws aimed to regulate pornography, it has been struck down by the Supreme Court of the United States. The Communications Decency Act was ruled unconstitutional in Reno vs. ACLU in 1997.

10 Ethical Issues

Online pornography raises a few ethical questions. Models and actors in pornographic materials are being paid to perform sexual acts. Is it ethical for prostitutes to face criminal charges but not porn actors? Is being paid to engage in sexual acts for the purpose of creating pornography different than prostitution?

According to health care providers, men who view a lot of pornography can have difficulties getting or maintaining erections during sexual encounters [3][[4]. Excessive viewing of pornography might cause sexual dysfunctions. According to an American Psychological Association article, it is unknown if viewing it has any significant [10] affects on minors. Is having pornography readily accessible online ethical?

11 References