Porn 101 is a recurring series that follows the less alluring side of porn from cultural studies, to legal issues.
Let’s face we all look at the porn now and then. If say you don’t you’re either lying or Amish. Not that I think the Amish don’t have access to some porn, i just don’t think that they have the internet. But that’s neither here nor there as they say. So yes we all watch/read/listen to porn in someway or another But how much is too much or is there such a thing. Do you reach a porn threshold? Does your brain then just shuts off and says “Ok buddy that’s enough for today”. You hear evangelicals and conservatives spouting off on the horrors of pornography, saying it destroys lives and can ruin marriages and relationships. Don’t get me wrong it can do all of that,but then so can drinking , a crack habit and being obsessive about your model trains.
Back in ‘96 there was a study of Canadian custom agents who reviewed porn. These guys and gals didn’t star in or create porn themselves ( that we know of), but simply reviewed porn up to 60 hours a month to ensure that it met Canada’s high standards. No shaky cam gonzo work here. Actually they reviewed mostly illegal content trying to be imported as the researcher noted
“Their work most often focuses on materials of an extreme nature which deal with clearly unacceptable sexual activities such as incest, children in a sexual context, necrophilia, bestiality, and sex involving violence, bondage and degradation.”
( by the way those are going to be craptacular key words for google.. fuck)
What they found was startling but not unsurprising.
- repeated exposure to such graphic pornography had little or no measurable harmful effect on the officers, 40 per cent of whom were female.
- only half of the customs officers who regularly review graphic pornographic books, magazines and films support banning sexual materials featuring violence and degradation — the current Canadian law.
- one in six of the customs officers use pornography in their private lives; nearly half have in the past.
The 1992 study’s key finding of no appreciable harm from heavy porn viewing contradicts the arguments accepted by the Supreme Court of Canada three years ago in widening the legal definition of obscenity. The finding also runs counter to current social science orthodoxy — and to the expectations of the principal researcher, Queen’s psychology professor William Marshall.
“There are grounds for expecting exposure to pornography to have harmful effects, even when such exposure is part of a person’s job requirements”, wrote Marshall. “Customs officers, then, who review pornography may be expected to experience problems or to develop anti-social inclinations, and these effects might be particularly apparent among those officers who review these materials on a full-time basis.”
Interesting, so lots and lots of porn at work won’t make you crazy. Good to Know. There is some other thought that may not be as academic as above but never the less still true. (See graph to the left)
I know how Clark Kent must feel. Having a secret that’s both a blessing and a curse. Not being able to tell anyone out of fear that Lex Luther will try to harm them. OK maybe not the Lex Luther thing but really you try telling members of your family or worse yet someone you just met that you are in fact looking at porn all day.