The Landscape of Porn

“I know it when I see it.” So said Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart when he was asked to define pornography.

His oft-quoted statement demonstrates a perennial problem: It is notoriously difficult to define pornography. What counts as sexually explicit material is both highly subjective and highly contested—especially considering recent and rapid shifts both in pornography’s form (that is, the media used to create and deliver it) and its function (people’s reasons for producing or viewing it).

The word “pornography” is a combination of two Greek words: pornē, meaning “prostitutes,” and graphein, “to write about.” In ancient times, pornography was not images but words.

A modern cultural understanding of pornography started with words, too. It began to emerge when the first erotic novels were published in Victorian-era England. These books spun tales of sexual exploits intended to sexually arouse the reader and, shortly after they were published, pornography was criminalized by the British Parliament in the Obscene Publications Act of 1857. According to the law, content alone does not make pornography of words or images. An equally important element is the function of the content—that is, the purpose intended by the creator, adopted by the user, or both.

This definition created two required components of pornography: form and function. The 1857 law thus codified the first culturalized understanding of pornography. And though form has evolved significantly since the nineteenth century, the notion of function remains important for today’s understanding of what counts as pornography.

Why does this matter? Because if you’re like many leaders, your first impulse is to be concerned with content (form) rather than function. But a person’s intentions toward sexually explicit content are a more pressing matter. Certainly, blocking access to content can be helpful as a first step for a person who wants to be free from porn use. But, as we will hear from our expert contributors, the heart—the desires and longings that lie deep within—must be transformed if the person is going to experience true freedom.

Q

New Testament, sin is both an act (see rom 3:23) and an intention (see Matt 5:28) Jesus favors addressing the intention as the key to stopping the act (see Matt 15:16–19) Is this our pattern, as well? What can we do to help people deal with their intention toward porn and, as a consequence, strengthen their ability to resist the act?

. . .

BOB HARPER
Pastor of Ventura Vineyard

The ministry application questions found throughout this monograph were contributed by Bob Harper, who pastors the Ventura Vineyard, a church he planted more than 15 years ago. He earned an MA in theology from Fuller Seminary and now coaches and mentors church planters and emerging leaders in the U.S., Eastern Europe and Asia. Bob has been married for 35 years to Margie, with whom he has three grown children and one grandchild.

What is Porn?

How do Americans define pornography? While nearly everyone agrees that “an image of sexual intercourse” is definitely porn, the issue of function seems to be at the center of most people’s thinking. If you use it for masturbation or personal arousal, it’s porn. Simple as that.

Most of us have probably been to an art museum or taken an art history class in which we saw a fully nude statue or painting. You probably didn’t consider that pornography, and most Americans agree with you. Less than one-quarter of adults over age 25 (24%) consider a fully nude image to be objectively pornographic.

But if it that fully nude image is sexually arousing, that’s a different story. Half of adults over age 25 (53%) say that “a fully nude image that is sexually arousing” is definitely pornography. It is the second-highest defining factor in the younger age groups, with nearly seven in 10 young adults (68%) and eight in 10 teenagers (78%) agreeing.

When asked what is “definitely porn,” teenagers and young adults are more likely than older adults to consider any of the options to be pornography. This may come as a surprise. One might assume that, having grown up in a hypersexualized culture where nude images and sexual situations are part of everyday life, younger Americans might have become sexually desensitized. But it seems such desensitization takes time—curiosity and the “forbidden” nature of sex may play a role in teens and young adults feeling as if more content is risqué.

For these teens and young adults, the purpose behind viewing an image—its function for the user—is critical to determine whether something qualifies as porn. When these groups are asked what kind of viewing situation classifies images or words as porn, seven out of 10 say the key element is watching, listening or reading for the purpose of sexual arousal. Again, function is key.

For many people who use porn, it’s not just the user’s intent that defines something as pornographic, but also the producer’s intent. More than eight out of 10 adults 25 and older indicate an image is porn if it is comprised of “sex scenes that make up most or all of a video, with very little story” (84%); two-thirds consider a “still picture of sexual acts” to be pornography (66%); and six in 10 consider “close-up still pictures of genitals” to be porn (61%). Teens and young adults report similar views, but are again somewhat more likely to put many of the options in the porn category.

The context of a sex scene also matters a great deal to people’s perceptions. A lack of narrative seems to indicate to most teens and adults that the primary purpose of the scene is to arouse the viewer—and that the scene is therefore porn. On the other hand, “sex scenes that are a short part of a broader story” are considered pornographic by just two in five adults (22%) and three in 10 teens and young adults (31%). If a sex scene is integral to a story, most Americans do not consider it pornography.

The genesis of pornography—the written word—still counts as porn for some Americans. Three in 10 adults (30%) and four in 10 teens and young adults (41%) consider sex scenes described in a written story to definitely be porn. The massive popularity of the 50 Shades of Grey novels lends credibility to this idea.

The Evolution of Porn

Gradually through the twentieth century, courts abandoned the criminalization and censorship of pornography and, in the absence of a clear legal definition, cultural definitions grew increasingly hazy. Moreover, the invention of photography, magazines, film and video, mobile phones and the Internet created new media (form) through which pornography could be created and consumed.

As pornography has become normalized and entered the cultural mainstream, it’s also become more explicit, violent and racist. As early as the 1980s, scholars such as Andrea Dworkin condemned pornography as a tool of male dominance that eroticizes the humiliation and abuse of women. True as it was 30 years ago, pornography has hardened even since then. Porn today is more hardcore, is more explicitly degrading and dehumanizing, and places an even greater focus on aggressive sexual activity.

In her book Pornland, Gail Dines argues that the increasing prevalence of porn means men are becoming desensitized to it. In order to experience arousal, therefore, many seek out ever harsher, more violent and more degrading images. Also, the increasing amount of free online porn has led commercial pornographers to produce more extreme content to compete. So demand for hardcore content is both real (from consumers) and manufactured (by producers).

According to famous porn star and adult film director James Deen, racism is also rampant in the industry, both on camera and behind the scenes. “Interracial” is a popular subgenre of porn, and these scenes often trade on “the racist idea that white women are violating themselves by having sex with black men.”

Scholar Robert Jensen claims these realities present us with a moral paradox: What does it say about a “civilized” society that gap between intention and accepts and promotes a mass media genre that is overtly cruel to women and explicitly racist?

Q

Robert Jensen asks a question that exposes the gap between intention and act on a cultural level: “What does it say about a ‘civilized’ society that accepts and promotes a mass media genre that is overtly cruel to women and explicitly racist?” rather than addressing the wider culture with biblical injunctions against sexual immorality (a tactic that doesn’t seem to be working very well), what would it look like for the Church to speak prophetically to the culture about its own hypocrisy?

Compared to 150 years ago, porn’s twenty-first–century iteration is more complex. For one thing, ease of access has never been greater—a fact mostly attributable to the explosive growth and widespread dissemination of new communication technologies during the past two decades. The level of privacy the Internet affords—particularly when the intention is to masturbate— significantly reduces the psychological barriers to entry. Where once you had to walk into a store and show your face in order to access pornography, anyone can find porn today from the privacy of their bedroom with just a few clicks.

Use of pornography has become culturally embedded alongside the Internet. Estimates of pornographic websites range from 4 percent to 12 percent of all sites on the Web and, according to some claims, up to 40 million Americans are regular visitors to porn sites. In 2015, there were more than two billion online searches for pornography. The proliferation of high-speed Internet and Internet-enabled devices has fundamentally altered the ways people view and interact with pornography. These technological realities have “indiscriminately allowed people of all ages to encounter and consume sexually explicit content.”

The Web has by far eclipsed all other avenues for accessing pornography. Among those who report having viewed porn, seven out of 10 adults (71%) and 85 percent of teens and young adults have done so using online videos. Six in 10 adults (59%) and two-thirds of teens and young adults (65%) view porn mostly online. Magazines and video rentals are passé.

Smartphones offer new and dynamic means of accessing and distributing pornography. Apps and text are an increasingly popular option, especially among teens and young adults. While just 12 percent of adults 25 and older view porn mostly on their phone, teens and young adults are three times more likely to do so (38%). (Read more about this phenomenon in the special report “Porn 2.0” on page 28.).

The proliferation of digital tools has blurred the lines between porn producers, distributors and consumers. Barriers to entry and transaction costs—such as the affordability of video equipment, for example, or the abundance of user-friendly online platforms and services—have fallen and “enabled consumers to produce and distribute their own pornography.”16

The historically passive consumer has evolved into today’s active producer—a result not only of changing technology, but also of shifting social norms of self-expression.17 Blogging, online dating, text messaging and social media have become vehicles of “oversharing” in the Internet age, a phenomenon that muddles the boundary between public and private life and has had a profound impact on the shape of pornography today.18 In addition, smartphones, texting and apps such as Snapchat, Instagram and others have enabled what we call “Porn 2.0.”

Talking About Porn

As any parent or youth pastor can tell you, the teen and young-adult years are characterized by sexual discovery and identity formation—and much of that work is done in the company of peers. It is therefore unsurprising to find that more than one-quarter of 13-to 24-year-olds talk to their friends about porn, either often or occasionally (28%). Young adults (34%) talk about porn more often than their teenage counterparts (18%). Heading off to college and breaking away from parental supervision may create conditions for greater freedom to discuss and explore sexual topics. (The fact that half of young adults estimate that “all” or “most” of their friends regularly look at porn, compared to only one-third of teens, supports this case.) Peer evaluation, guidance and approval are a more prominent part of life in young adulthood. As such, discussions about porn may more easily become part of everyday interactions.

Predictably, young men (36%) report talking about porn with their friends more often than young women (20%). This may be because men look at porn more often than women—at least, that seems to be the general assumption among teens and young adults. (It’s also true.) Twenty-two percent say men view porn most often; 42 percent say “mostly men and a few women” consume pornography; and about one-third say porn consumption is split evenly between the sexes (33%).

Q

Women who have participated in widely viewed sex tapes are now rich celebrities, admired by teens and young women as people to emulate. And, according to this research, “The historically passive consumer is turning into an active consumer.” Along with more holistic and biblical teaching on sex, how can the Church help young people become more critical consumers of culture?

Among those who talk with friends often, occasionally or seldom about pornography, most do so in a way that is either accepting (42%) or neutral (36%). An additional 16 percent talk with their friends about porn in a positive or lighthearted way, with no one expressing shame for having viewed it. Teens and young adults generally assume that most people look at porn at least on occasion, and the morality of porn is rarely discussed or even considered. Just one in 10 teens and one in 20 young adults report talking with their friends about porn in a disapproving way.

These somewhat cavalier attitudes make sense when one considers young people’s assessment of porn’s prevalence among their friends. Half of young adults (49%) and one-third of teens (32%) say all or most of their friends regularly view porn.

In the next chapter, we’ll find out if they’re right.

Special Report: Porn 2.0

The cavalier attitude of most teens and young adults toward porn, coupled with accessibility created by technology, is pushing pornography into a new era that is more social, interactive, dynamic and personal. The majority of teens and young adults (62%) report receiving a nude image from someone else via text, email, social media or app. Among those who have received a nude image, 58 percent say it was sent by their boyfriend or girlfriend and 21 percent say it was sent by a friend. More rarely the nude image was sent through a group of friends (3%).

Compared to the two-thirds who have received a nude image, just 40 percent of teens and young adults have sent such images to someone via text, email, social media or app. Because there are fewer senders than receivers, it is likely that senders tend to send images to more than one person. Senders most often send images to their boyfriend or girlfriend (75%), which may indicate that sexting is becoming an accepted practice of dating culture. It also may explain why young adults are more likely than teens to send and receive nude images: They have greater freedom to date around when they’re not living at home.

Compared to men, women more often receive (69% vs. 57%) and send (51% vs. 33%) nude images via text, email, social media or app. The reasons for this gender disparity are unclear and more research is needed to explore the social pressures or lack of inhibition young women experience related to sexting.

Digital cameras are now ubiquitous and are connected directly to the online universe; social networking sites allow for the exchange of these images; and the genre of “amateur,” “reality,” and “voyeur” porn has enticed many to utilize these technologies to broadcast themselves in what has become a frenzied, chaotic, and impossible-to-control pornographic landscape.19

Among teens and young adults, sexting and sharing explicit images through social media apps like Snapchat and Instagram have become commonplace. However, minors who send or receive sexual images often do not recognize the serious social, legal, emotional and psychological risks of doing so—particularly in cases where images are shared without consent.20 In which case, things can go horribly wrong:

Jesse Logan, an eighteen-year-old high school senior from Ohio, sent a nude photo of herself to her boyfriend, who then made the decision to forward it to four other girls. The photo went viral, and Jesse was ostracized by her peers and quickly spun into an emotional depression. Taunted and labeled a “slut,” a “whore,” and a “porn queen,” Jesse Logan hanged herself at her home a few months later.21

Another case demonstrates the complexities involved when the students are minors:

In the winter of 2010 in Lacey, Washington, a fourteen-year-old named Margarite took out her cell phone and snapped a full-length photo of herself, naked, in her bathroom mirror. She then sent the photo to a potential new boyfriend, Isaiah, at his suggestion. A few weeks later, Isaiah forwarded the photo to another eighth-grade girl, a former friend of Margarite’s, who transmitted it (along with the text “Ho Alert!”) to dozens of others on her cell phone contact list. Margarite became instantly (in)famous in her middle school; other kids began calling her a “slut” and a “whore,” and she received sneers and ogles from peers she barely knew. Her friends were ostracized for associating with her. School officials soon discovered the situation, and the police were notified. Reaction was swift: the county prosecutor chose not to press charges against Margarite herself, but three students involved in the case, including Isaiah and two of the girls who forwarded Margarite’s photo, were charged with distributing child pornography—a Class C felony. All these students were in eighth grade.22

Attempts to curb the crisis of sexting and “self-pornification” have generally taken three forms: “prosecutorial, pedagogical, and technological.”23 Cases like the one involvingMargarite have set out to prosecute sexting as a criminal offense. Educators are attempting to create awareness of the dangers of sexting. And tech companies are writing software that allows parents to monitor the cyber-life of their children.24 But some argue these strategies rely too heavily on worst-case scenarios and will, in the end, be as effective (or ineffective) as similar campaigns against drug use. “A more sophisticated approach requires an examination of the forces that compel teenagers to share these images in the first place.”25

What motivates young people to participate in sexting when the consequences can be so severe? Obvious answers include a desire to flirt or gain popularity, to meet the requests or demands of a significant other, and to explore and express sexuality in a playful but not-yet-actualized sexual activity. But this is an incomplete picture. Teen sexting takes place within a larger system where teens replicate broader social behavior.26

Self-pornification is a result of teens and young adults coming of age in an increasingly pornified American culture that “encourages and rewards the pornographic impulse. Take the examples of self-pornographers like Kim Kardashian, Pamela Anderson and Paris Hilton, all of whom have been generously rewarded for their public displays of private moments.”27

When adolescents are taught, largely through the mass media, that sexual experience is a desired good, and these values are then perpetuated among their peers, it seems clear that portraying oneself as sexual would be a desirable strategy.28

In American popular media and advertising, women’s bodies are routinely sexualized and objectified. These images promote the message that a woman’s identity and worth depend heavily on how physically attractive and sexy she appears.29 It’s not hard to imagine that these cultural messages contribute to the sexting phenomenon. But these aren’t the only messages young people receive. “Their superiors—teachers, parents, legislators, and law enforcement agents—expect from them a degree of moral purity and ethical exactitude that is demanded from no other social group.”30

The message of purity culture is, ironically, not so different from our overly sexualized popular media culture: for both, a woman’s worth lies in her ability, or her refusal, to be overtly sexual. Both approaches teach American girls that their bodies and their sexuality are what make them valuable.31

The sexting crisis embodies the contradictions and complications teens face in a world that is pulling them in opposite directions. And dealing with the epidemic of sexting must take into account these complexities. Approaches must send a strong message of deterrence that includes not only the dangers and consequences of sexting, but casts a vision for identity and sexuality that challenges pornified popular culture.