Sexual Objectification Part 4 (Porn)

                                    Pornography and Sexual Objectification

                                                    Part 4 of series

     Anti-pornography feminists Catharine MacKinnon and Andrea Dworkin take inequality to be tightly linked to objectification. In the eyes of both these feminists and Kant, there is the powerful objectifier on the one hand, and on the other hand there exists his powerless victim. Due to their unequal power, the former objectifies the latter.

     In our society, MacKinnon holds, pornography defines women's role as sexual objects available for men's consumption: “Pornography defines women by how we look according to how we can be sexually used. …

     Pornography participates in its audience's eroticism through creating an accessible sexual object, the possession and consumption of which is male sexuality, as socially constructed; to be consumed and possessed as which, is female sexuality, as socially constructed” (MacKinnon 1987, 173).

     According to MacKinnon, pornography is responsible for both men's and women's conception of women as objects available for men's consumption.

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     Covenanteyes (www.covenanteyes.com/pornstats/) is one of the websites that tracks porn statistics. They also offer a program to help families monitor the visitation of porn sites on their family computer. There are other websites that also track statistics and they pain a similar picture. I will share data from a few of these sites.

     By 2017, a quarter of a billion people are expected to be accessing mobile adult content from their phones or tablets, an increase of more than 30% from 2013. Mobile adult video-chat alone will have a compound annual growth rate of 25%.

     9 out of 10 Internet porn users only access free material, whether it be samples of pay material, illegally copied versions of pay material, or amateur material.

     1 in 5 mobile searches are for pornography.

     24% of smartphone owners admit to having pornographic material on their mobile handset.

The Porn Industry:

     In 2006, estimated revenues for sex-related entertainment businesses were just under $13 billion in the US. These estimates included video sales and rentals, Internet sales, cable, pay-per-view, phone sex, exotic dance clubs magazines, and novelty stores.

     69% of pay-per-view Internet content market is pornography.

     Global porn revenues have declined 50% since 2007 due to the amount of free porn online.

     The porn industry generates $13 billion each year in the US.

     88% of scenes in porn films contain acts of physical aggression, and 49% of scenes contain verbal aggression.

     32% of adult membership websites and 58% of free adult websites come from outside the U.S.

Subscriptions:

There are higher percentages of subscriptions to porn sites in zip codes that...

Are more urban than rural.

Have experienced an increase in higher than average household income.

Have a great density of young people (age 15-24).

Have a higher proportion of people with undergraduate degrees.

Have higher measures of social capital (i.e. more people who donate blood, engage in volunteer activities, or participate in community projects).

Porn in the Church:

     Pornography is prevalent everywhere today. In fact, one in eight online searches is for pornography. Because porn use thrives in secrecy, many church members are trapped in a cycle of sin and shame, thinking that they're the only ones facing this temptation.

     64% of Christian men and 15% of Christian women say they watch porn at least once a month.

     Regular church attendees are 26% less likely to look at porn, however, self-identified "fundamentalists" are 91% more likely to look at porn.

Porn and Your Teens:

     "Never before in the history of telecommunications media in the United States has so much indecent (and obscene) material been so easily accessible by so many minors in so many American homes with so few restrictions."

- U.S. Department of Justice:

Research reveals many systemic effects of Internet pornography that are undermining an already vulnerable culture of marriage and family. Even more disturbing is the fact that the first Internet generations have not reached full maturity, so the upper limits of this impact have yet to be realized"

- Jill Manning, Sociologist

     9 out of 10 boys are exposed to pornography before the age of 18.

     The first exposure to pornography among men is 12 years old, on average.

     71% of teens hide online behavior from their parents.

     28% of 16-17 year olds have been unintentionally exposed to porn online.

     20% of 16-year-olds and 30% of 17-year-olds have received a sext.

     6 out of 10 girls are exposed to pornography before the age of 18.

     15% of boys and 9% of girls have seen child pornography.

     32% of boys and 18% of girls have seen bestiality online.

     39% of boys and 23% of girls have seen sexual bondage online.

     83% of boys and 57% of girls have seen group sex online.

     69% of boys and 55% of girls have seen same-sex intercourse online.

Porn and Young Adults:

Among young adults today, porn use is not the exception. It is the norm.

'The young women who talk to me on campuses about the effect of pornography on their intimate lives speak of feeling that they can never measure up, that they can never ask for what they want; and that if they do not offer what porn offers, they cannot expect to hold a guy. The young men talk about what it is like to grow up learning about sex from porn, and how it is not helpful to them in trying to figure out how to be with a real woman...For the first time in human history, the images’ power and allure have supplanted that of real naked women. Today, real naked women are just bad porn.'

- Naomi Wolf

     It is also becoming more common for young adults to make their own pornography. Nearly 1 in 5 of 18-24-year-olds have sent a sext (sexually explicit text message). This has become a predictor of sexual behavior. Students who have had sexual intercourse are five times more likely than virgins to be involved in sexting.

     51% of male and 32% of female students first viewed porn before their teenage years (12 and younger).

     64% of college men and 18% of college women spend time online for Internet sex every week.

     67% of young men and 49% of young women say viewing porn is an acceptable way to express one's sexuality.

     68% of young adult men and 18% of women use porn at least once every week.

     19% of 18-24 year-olds have sent a sext.

Porn and Your Marriage:

"I have also seen in my clinical experience that pornography damages the sexual performance of the viewers. Pornography viewers tend to have problems with premature ejaculation and erectile dysfunction. Having spent so much time in unnatural sexual experiences with paper, celluloid and cyberspace, they seem to find it difficult to have sex with a real human being. Pornography is raising their expectation and demand for types and amounts of sexual experiences; at the same time it is reducing their ability to experience sex."

- Dr. MaryAnne Layden

     Happily married men are 61% less likely to look at porn.

     Those with teen children are 45% less likely to look at porn.

     68% of divorce cases involved one party meeting a new lover over the Internet.

     56% of divorce cases involved one party having an obsessive interest in pornographic websites.

     Men are more than 543% more likely to look at porn than women.

    70% of wives of sex addicts could be diagnosed with PTSD.

     Those who have ever engaged in paid sex are 270% more likely to look at porn.

     Those who have ever committed adultery are 218% more likely to look at porn.

Who is Covenant Eyes?

Pornography use thrives in secrecy. But when others know the place you go online, the temptation loses its power. This works for adults, teens, and kids alike.

Covenant Eyes Internet Accountability makes this easy. Just sign up for an account, install the software on every device you use, and choose people you trust to receive regular Internet reports in their inbox.

Parents use this to monitor where their kids go online so they can have proactive discussions about how to use the Internet wisely.

Adults use this to help them to think twice about where they go online and to equip others to be effective accountability partners.

           

More Pornography Statistics from another site. These seem to be a few years old circa 2008

Internet Pornography statistics become outdated very quickly, especially in the Internet environment where numbers change daily. These statistics have been derived from a number of different reputable sources including the sources sited at the bottom of the page. 

            Pornography Time Statistics

Every second - $3,075.64 is being spent on pornography

Every second - 28,258 Internet users are viewing pornography

Every second - 372 Internet users are typing adult search terms into search engines

Every 39 minutes: a new pornographic video is being created in the United States

Top Worldwide Search Requests       Top US Cities Search Requests

      1. South Africa         1.  Elmhurst, IL

      2. Ireland                   2.  Stockton, CA

      3. New Zealand        3.  Meriden, CT

      4. United Kingdom   4   Chandler, AZ

      5. Australia                5.  Louisville, KY

      6. Estonia                  6.  Irvine, CA

      7. Norway                 7.  Kansas City, KS

      8. Canada                  8.  Norfolk, VA

      9. Croatia                  9.  Tampa, FL

     10. Lithuania             10. Oklahoma City, OK

     

Internet Pornography Statistics

Pornographic websites            4.2 million (12% of total websites)

Pornographic pages     420 million

Daily pornographic search engine requests     68 million (25% of total search engine requests)

Daily pornographic emails      2.5 billion (8% of total emails)

Internet users who view porn 42.7%

Received unwanted exposure to sexual material        34%

Average daily pornographic emails/user         4.5 per Internet user

Monthly Pornographic downloads (Peer-to-peer)      1.5 billion (35% of all downloads)

Daily Gnutella "child pornography" requests 116,000

Websites offering illegal child pornography   100,000

Sexual solicitations of youth made in chat rooms      89%

Youths who received sexual solicitation        1 in 7 (down from 2003 stat of 1 in 3)

Worldwide visitors to pornographic web sites           72 million visitors to pornography: Monthly

Internet Pornography Sales     $4.9 billion

Children Internet Pornography Statistics

Average age of first Internet exposure to pornography          11 years old

Largest consumer of Internet pornography    35 - 49 age group

15-17 year olds having multiple hard-core exposures 80%

8-16 year olds having viewed porn online      90% (most while doing homework)

7-17 year olds who would freely give out home address       29%

7-17 year olds who would freely give out email address       14%

Children's character names linked to thousands of porn links            26 (Including Pokemon and Action Man)

Adult Internet Pornography Statistics

Men admitting to accessing pornography at work      20%

US adults who regularly visit Internet pornography websites            40 million

Promise Keeper men who viewed pornography in last week 53%

Christians who said pornography is a major problem in the home     47%

Adults admitting to Internet sexual addiction           10%

Breakdown of male/female visitors to pornography sites       72% male - 28% female

Women and Pornography

Women keeping their cyber activities secret   70%

Women struggling with pornography addiction         17%

Ratio of women to men favoring chat rooms 2X

Percentage of visitors to adult websites who are women       1 in 3 visitors

Women accessing adult websites each month            9.4 million

Women admitting to accessing pornography at work            13%

Women, far more than men, are likely to act out their behaviors in real life, such as having multiple partners, casual sex, or affairs.

            Country           Porn Pages

United States            244,661,900

Germany                     10,030,200

United Kingdom         8,506,800

Australia                      5,655,800

Japan                           2,700,800

The Netherlands          1,883,800

Russia                          1,080,600

Poland                         1,049,600

Spain                              852,800

ABC, Associated Press, AsiaMedia, AVN, BBC, CATW, U.S. Census, Central Intelligence Agency, China Daily, Chosen.com, Comscore Media Metrix, Crimes Against Children, Eros, Forbes, Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Free Speech Coalition, Google, Harris Interactive, Hitwise, Hoover's, Japan Inc., Japan Review, Juniper Research, Kagan Research, ICMEC, Jan LaRue, The Miami Herald, MSN, Nielsen/NetRatings, The New York Times, Nordic Institute, PhysOrg.com, PornStudies, Pravda, Sarmatian Review, SEC filings, Secure Computing Corp., SMH, TopTenREVIEWS, Trellian, WICAT, Yahoo!, XBIZ

©2003 – 2007 TopTenREVIEWS, Inc.

As you can probably see from reading the above statistics, it is important to have a complete Internet safety program in place consisting of an Internet filter and parental controls.

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