Cary Tennis is Salon’s advice columnist. The key harm of porn, he argues, is that it saps users of their motivation to build human connections. Cary’s critique is also relevant to “sex work” in general. Even if it’s entirely consensual, it’s still problematic to have your sexual needs met by ‘vendors’ instead of a true […]
Porn Addiction
Testimony in Los Angeles: Psychologists Underestimate the Role of Porn in Sex Offenses
Members of the Los Angeles County Commission for Women heard testimony about peoples’ encounters with porn at a hearing on April 22, 1985. This account appears in In Harm’s Way: The Pornography Civil Rights Hearings (p.357-359). Testimony of B. J. Cling I am a clinical psychologist in private practice in Los Angeles… I’m also about […]
Commerce, Addictive Products, and Harm: Lessons from The Cigarette Century
Porn is a product that addicts many, often with consequences that can be dire (loss of family, loss of job), affect innocent parties (abuse, molestation, secondary effects), and take a long time to manifest. During this time, the addict generates handsome profits for the companies that perpetuate his addiction. The industry, not surprisingly, aggressively protests […]
Time to Explore the Links Between Porn, Testosterone, Sexual Behavior and Violence
Not satisfied with the high degree of correlation between porn consumption and sexual callousness, our opponents keep pressing us to elaborate the mechanism that links porn and behavior. It looks like a clue lies in the role of testosterone. This hormone has many good qualities, but it is also linked with aggression and promiscuity. The […]
A Review of Can’t Buy My Love
NPN’s Jendi Reiter reviews Jean Kilbourne, Can’t Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel. This book was published by Touchstone/Simon & Schuster, New York City (1999). Ms. Kilbourne’s documentaries are distributed by Northampton’s own Media Education Foundation. Activist filmmaker and educator Jean Kilbourne has been internationally recognized for such documentaries […]
A Review of The Skinner Box Effect: Sexual Addiction and Online Pornography
NPN’s Jendi Reiter reviews T.M. Grundner, The Skinner Box Effect: Sexual Addiction and Online Pornography. This book was published by Writers Club Press of Lincoln, NE (2000). Dr. Grundner’s biographical note describes him as an early pioneer in the development of community-based computerized information services. A native of Clawson, Michigan (a small town north of […]
Testimony in Minneapolis: “Pornography in the home is insidious. Girls pick up the message, they act it out, they don’t know why they feel suicidal and crazy.”
Minneapolis city officials heard testimony about peoples’ encounters with porn, those who consume porn and those who produce it at a hearing of the Minneapolis Government Operations Committee on December 13, 1983. This account appears in In Harm’s Way: The Pornography Civil Rights Hearings (p.172-175). Testimony of Charlotte Kasl I am a therapist in private […]
Testimony in Minneapolis: Researcher sets out to prove angry fantasies are cathartic, finds the opposite
Minneapolis city officials heard testimony about peoples’ encounters with porn, those who consume porn and those who produce it at a hearing of the Minneapolis Government Operations Committee on December 13, 1983. This account appears in In Harm’s Way: The Pornography Civil Rights Hearings (p.168-170). Testimony of Nancy Steele For twelve years, I have worked […]
Testimony in Minneapolis: “Prevalency of pornography amongst our offenders”
Minneapolis city officials heard testimony about peoples’ encounters with porn, those who consume porn and those who produce it at a hearing of the Minneapolis Government Operations Committee on December 13, 1983. This account appears in In Harm’s Way: The Pornography Civil Rights Hearings (p.161-165). Testimony of Cheryl Champion I have worked in the field […]
Exposure to Pornography as a Cause of Child Sexual Victimization
Professor Diana Russell has kindly permitted us to make this research paper available to the public as a free download. She co-authored it with Natalie Purcell. We made another work by Professor Russell, Against Pornography, available in an earlier post. This paper shows how child pornography and/or adult pornography can factor into pedophilia and child […]