# Has universal access to porn changed society at all? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 3, 2017, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-universal-access-to-porn-changed-society-at-all/785769 "2017-05-03T11:01:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-universal-access-to-porn-changed-society-at-all/785769/1 "2017-05-03T11:01:15Z")
When I was a kid in the 50s porn was not easily obtained. Oh you saw the occasional grimy b&w photos passed around between kids like something rare and precious, which in a way I guess it was. But in our wildest fantasies we would never have imagined the unlimited porn of the modern age. This by any measure is a huge difference between then and now and reason dictates that such a change would have some sort of impact on society. But has that impact been for good or bad? I can’t believe that such a sea-change in the availability of porn wouldn’t make ripples of some sort, either affecting the way that men see women or changing the norms of what people think is acceptable behavior or whatever. To sum it up porn in the past, at least in the post-Victorian past, has always been very difficult for young kids to get hold of. Now they all look at stuff which would have shocked the saltiest of old sea-dogs years ago. Is that a good thing or a bad? ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-universal-access-to-porn-changed-society-at-all/785769/2 "2017-05-03T11:36:03Z")
It has definitely contributed to the coarsening of society, and is part of the autumn cycle of this fading culture. _Fin de siècle_ aside, I would believe there are less rapes\* than there would have been,\* and a **lot** less sexual frustration which would have expressed itself badly. As for rapes and murders, I imagine those weirdos of the 50s and 60s like the Boston Strangler and Son of Sam — not I hasten to add, that I have ever read much about either — would have calmed down. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-universal-access-to-porn-changed-society-at-all/785769/3 "2017-05-03T11:48:49Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > _Fin de siècle_ aside, I would believe there are less rapes\* than there would have been,\* and a **lot** less sexual frustration which would have expressed itself badly. > As for rapes and murders, I imagine those weirdos of the 50s and 60s like the Boston Strangler and Son of Sam — not I hasten to add, that I have ever read much about either — would have calmed down. Ummmmmm…no. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-universal-access-to-porn-changed-society-at-all/785769/4 "2017-05-03T12:13:51Z")
“Whatever consenting adults are up to in the privacy of their own spaces is fine” was already a societal trend, but I expect the easy access through the internet has made the variance in practice slightly larger. Other than that I think the majority of adults consume minimal amounts of porn and that the impact, outside of on the actual activities of producing and consuming porn, have had some small impact that is difficult to tease apart from other changes in society. ---
**Author:** ![rnhaas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b9e5f3/32.png) [@rnhaas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rnhaas)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-universal-access-to-porn-changed-society-at-all/785769/5 "2017-05-03T12:45:29Z")
I think there’s a tendency to see certain types of porn and believe that consuming it will give permission for men to behave more poorly towards women. There’s some pretty awful stuff out there. But, much like violence in movies, TV shows and video games, I don’t know that anyone has been able to establish a connection. Anecdotally: I personally have watched an absolute ton of porn in my life and, to the best of my knowledge, it hasn’t made me devalue women any. For whatever reason, porn has always felt very different to me than strip clubs, where I feel overwhelmed by the abjectness. On the other hand, though I have zero evidence to back it up, I do feel like porn must be an outlet for a lot of people who have fantasies that are not acceptable to their partners and/or society. You can discover by watching porn that things you imagine are “hot” are actually kind of disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-universal-access-to-porn-changed-society-at-all/785769/6 "2017-05-03T13:08:44Z")
> [@rnhaas](#): > > On the other hand, though I have zero evidence to back it up, I do feel like porn must be an outlet for a lot of people who have fantasies that are not acceptable to their partners and/or society. You can discover by watching porn that things you imagine are “hot” are actually kind of disgusting. Huh. I honestly thought that last sentence was going to a totally different place. Like, imagine you have a secret burning desire that you keep hidden because you think it’s so weird that you must be alone in craving it – and, back in the day, that’s maybe where your thought process begins and ends. But now? You spend _seconds_ on google and HOLY MOLY, LOOK AT THOSE FOLKS DOING THAT! I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE ACHING FOR IT, AND THAT GUY IS GETTING IT FROM A BLONDE AND A REDHEAD?!?! I AM NOT ALONE IN THIS WORLD! PEOPLE ACTUALLY DO WHAT I’VE ONLY DREAMED ABOUT! ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-universal-access-to-porn-changed-society-at-all/785769/7 "2017-05-03T13:10:57Z")
It certainly put a number of theaters out of business. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-universal-access-to-porn-changed-society-at-all/785769/8 "2017-05-03T13:25:19Z")
See [**Your Brain on Porn**](https://www.yourbrainonporn.com/) ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-universal-access-to-porn-changed-society-at-all/785769/9 "2017-05-03T14:03:16Z")
See also [Is Internet Pornography Causing Sexual Dysfunctions? A Review with Clinical Reports](http://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/6/3/17/htm) The authors are a US Navy Flight Surgeon, and others from the Naval Medical Center, San Diego. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-universal-access-to-porn-changed-society-at-all/785769/10 "2017-05-03T15:07:13Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Ummmmmm…no. “No” to which part? Because the [rape rate has been steadily going down](http://blogs.reuters.com/data-dive/files/2015/03/US_RAPE0315_SC.jpg) and it dovetails well with the rise of the internet and, by extension, access to pornography. Of course correlation does not equal causation but that is a heck of a correlation and I cannot think of another explanation. Even if there is another explanation it is hard to see how access to pornography has hurt in this regard. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-universal-access-to-porn-changed-society-at-all/785769/11 "2017-05-03T15:56:54Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > See > [**Your Brain on Porn**](https://www.yourbrainonporn.com/) Actually that source is biased to only look for the studies that support their negative views about porn. > **[Pornography: Beneficial or Detrimental?](https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/homo-consumericus/201001/pornography-beneficial-or-detrimental)** > > Does pornography yield deleterious effects to individuals or to society? The evidence suggests otherwise. > [@](#): > > “Indeed, the data reported and reviewed suggests that the thesis is myth and, if anything, there is an inverse causal relationship between an increase in pornography and sex crimes. Further, considering the findings of studies of community standards and wide spread usage of SEM [sexually explicit material], it is obvious that in local communities as nationally and internationally, porn is available, widely used and felt appropriate for voluntary adult consumption. If there is a consensus against pornography it is in regard to any SEM that involves children or minors in its production or consumption. Lastly we see that objections to erotic materials are often made on the basis of supposed actual, social or moral harm to women. No such cause and effect has been demonstrated with any negative consequence.” > [@](#): > > What about at the individual level? Are women who view pornography terrorized beyond redemption? Do they descend into a well of despair and self-doubt about their sexuality? Do men become misogynist monsters upon viewing pornographic material? Do they develop debilitating penis insecurities at the sight of well-endowed male porn actors? Let’s see what Gert Martin Hald and Neil M. Malamuth found in their 2008 paper titled Self-Perceived Effects of Pornographic Consumption. I should mention that Neil Malamuth is a highly regarded scholar of pornography who has often argued for its supposed ill effects. Hence, if there exists a possibility of an a priori bias here, it would be in hoping to find that pornography yields negative consequences. > > In their survey of 688 young Danish adults (men = 316; women = 372), Hald and Malamuth found that respondents construed the viewing of hardcore pornography as beneficial to their sex lives, their attitudes towards sex, their perceptions and attitudes towards members of the opposite sex, toward life in general, and over all. The obtained beneficial effects were statistically significant for all but one measure across both sexes. Now here is the kicker: A positive correlation was obtained between the amount of hardcore pornography that was viewed and the impact of the benefits reaped. This positive correlation was found for both sexes. In other words, the more that one watched porn, the stronger the benefits (for both sexes)! > [@](#): > > This post should not be construed as my being in favor of pornography, as my personal opinion is irrelevant to the matter at hand. Rather I am reporting on recent data regarding this debate and in so doing I wish to highlight the fact that ideology should never trump scientific evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-universal-access-to-porn-changed-society-at-all/785769/12 "2017-05-03T16:07:37Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > It has definitely contributed to the coarsening of society, and is part of the autumn cycle of this fading culture. > > _Fin de siècle_ aside, I would believe there are less rapes\* than there would have been,\* and a **lot** less sexual frustration which would have expressed itself badly. > As for rapes and murders, I imagine those weirdos of the 50s and 60s like the Boston Strangler and Son of Sam — not I hasten to add, that I have ever read much about either — would have calmed down. I sometimes wonder what the liberal distribution of porn to ISIS infiltrated areas would be. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-universal-access-to-porn-changed-society-at-all/785769/13 "2017-05-03T16:08:29Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > See also > > [Is Internet Pornography Causing Sexual Dysfunctions? A Review with Clinical Reports](http://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/6/3/17/htm) > > The authors are a US Navy Flight Surgeon, and others from the Naval Medical Center, San Diego. I would point out that AFAIK there had been reports of a reduction of libido that predate the wide introduction of porn thanks to the internet. However, as **Whack-a-Mole** noted, the study he links shows that reducing rape should be encouraged even if there is a slight side effect of reducing the libido also on the ones that do not rape. (Of course I have seen studies that report that exercising hard and some forms of pollution also reduces libido among males, the correlation with porn is not so strong IMHO) ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-universal-access-to-porn-changed-society-at-all/785769/14 "2017-05-03T16:10:21Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > “No” to which part? > > Because the [rape rate has been steadily going down](http://blogs.reuters.com/data-dive/files/2015/03/US_RAPE0315_SC.jpg) and it dovetails well with the rise of the internet and, by extension, access to pornography. > > Of course correlation does not equal causation but that is a heck of a correlation and I cannot think of another explanation. Even if there is another explanation it is hard to see how access to pornography has hurt in this regard. Well, at the very least, porn doesn’t seem to be causing an epidemic of rapes by men who want to emulate the porn. And is it just me or is there disproportionately large amount of transgender stuff, like there must be something going I don’t understand. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-universal-access-to-porn-changed-society-at-all/785769/15 "2017-05-03T16:12:07Z")
On the other hand, any study of self-perceived effects is going to be highly problematic. Of course the people who view porn view porn as beneficial to their sex lives: If they didn’t, they wouldn’t view it. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-universal-access-to-porn-changed-society-at-all/785769/16 "2017-05-03T16:37:54Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > “No” to which part? > > Because the [rape rate has been steadily going down](http://blogs.reuters.com/data-dive/files/2015/03/US_RAPE0315_SC.jpg) and it dovetails well with the rise of the internet and, by extension, access to pornography. > > Of course correlation does not equal causation but that is a heck of a correlation and I cannot think of another explanation. Even if there is another explanation it is hard to see how access to pornography has hurt in this regard. The median population is steadily getting older too, and the elderly are less likely to commit rape. Most violent crime is decreasing. I don’t believe access to porn prevents rape. The Son of Sam was in the '70’s when theaters and magazines were bursting with porn. Serial killers who get a sexual thrill out of brutalizing their victims are not going to be satisfied with pictures and movies. ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-universal-access-to-porn-changed-society-at-all/785769/17 "2017-05-03T16:41:02Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > On the other hand, any study of self-perceived effects is going to be highly problematic. Of course the people who view porn view porn as beneficial to their sex lives: If they didn’t, they wouldn’t view it. I agree any study of self-perceived effects is problematic. But the question is whether people’s urge to use porn, facilitated now by its immediate availability in basically unlimited quantity, is really beneficial to them, or even that their ‘better nature’ thinks it is. People do plenty of things they realize in their better moments are not good for them. Anyway I’d be surprised if anyone could prove porn has a simple direct effect like making sexual assault much more or less common. The definition of sexual assault has tended to change for one thing. I’d guess an omniscient view could see changes caused in society by greater availability of porn, but I’d expect them to be more subtle and harder to prove in the real world of social ‘science’. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-universal-access-to-porn-changed-society-at-all/785769/18 "2017-05-03T16:47:25Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > It certainly put a number of theaters out of business. I think it was VCR’s that killed the porn theaters. Most people would rather watch porn in the privacy of their own homes rather than in a public venue. But while VCR’s may have killed porn theaters, they were great for the porn business overall. The ability to watch porn at home opened up the market to the millions of potential customers who hadn’t been willing to go to theaters. Whatever business porn lost in ticket sales was more than made up for in videotape sales. The internet then killed the “golden age”. A lot of viewers decided there was no need to pay for porn when it became so easy to get it for free. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-universal-access-to-porn-changed-society-at-all/785769/19 "2017-05-03T17:10:31Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Actually that source is biased to only look for the studies that support their negative views about porn. > > [Pornography: Beneficial or Detrimental? | Psychology Today](https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/homo-consumericus/201001/pornography-beneficial-or-detrimental) Actually, the paper you quote **doesn’t even address the issues raised** , which gave nothing to do with sex crime, or the other matters it mentions. This is completely different, as you will will see if you actually bother to read this: [Evolution has not prepared your brain for today’s porn](https://www.yourbrainonporn.com/doing-what-you-evolved-to-do) And here’s a listing of **research papers** about porn addiction: [Addiction Research and Articles About Research](https://yourbrainonporn.com/research-articles-and-abstracts) There are also other studies demonstrating that porn use caused sexual dysfunctions, besides the study that I linked to previously. This is not opinion based on approval or disapproval of porn, or religion, or moral ideas, but **hard scientific research**. But perhaps you’re not interested in research that doesn’t agree with what you prefer to believe. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-universal-access-to-porn-changed-society-at-all/785769/20 "2017-05-03T17:39:15Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > Actually, the paper you quote **doesn’t even address the issues raised** , which gave nothing to do with sex crime, or the other matters it mentions. > > This is completely different, as you will will see if you actually bother to read this: > [Evolution has not prepared your brain for today’s porn](https://www.yourbrainonporn.com/doing-what-you-evolved-to-do) Neither almost all new technology of the 20th and 21st centuries, in fact cars were condemned for allowing young people to gain access to not only porn but to activities parents did not wanted to see them get into. > [@GreenWyvern](#): > > And here’s a listing of **research papers** about porn addiction: > [Addiction Research and Articles About Research](https://yourbrainonporn.com/research-articles-and-abstracts) > > There are also other studies demonstrating that porn use caused sexual dysfunctions, besides the study that I linked to previously. I got as far as one study they linked to, the abstract reported that “The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has recognized one such Internet related behavior, Internet gaming, as a potential addictive disorder warranting further study, in the 2013 revision of their Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. **Other Internet related behaviors, e.g., Internet pornography use, were not covered.** ” Of course the issue there is addiction, an issue that indeed is harmful \*\*but it does apply to even subjects that normally are not harmful when done in moderation. \*\* > [@GreenWyvern](#): > > This is not opinion based on approval or disapproval of porn, or religion, or moral ideas, but **hard scientific research**. But perhaps you’re not interested in research that doesn’t agree with what you prefer to believe. piffle, the bias is clear from a site that does have articles that have noting to do with science. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-universal-access-to-porn-changed-society-at-all/785769.md?page=2)