Are people who watch pornography more likely to become rapists/woman abusers?

December 24, 2009 - 9:26 am 14 Comments

Is pornography part of the reason for the amount of rapists and woman abusers there are?

Rape has existed a lot longer than pornography has. I’ve been enjoying porn since I was a small child, and I’ve never raped or abused a woman.

14 Responses to “Are people who watch pornography more likely to become rapists/woman abusers?”

  1. Ash Says:

    Not necessarily.

    Depends on the person watching and the type of porn….
    In theory combined with other factors yes it could.

    But there are plenty of non-violent people who watch porn–like me :)
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  2. Timmy Says:

    No. They might see something like that on porn but if they start believing its okay to do that just because it happens in porn, they had problems to begin with and were probably going to do something crazy anyway.
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  3. Schadenfreudian Says:

    I believe the #1 contributing factor to rape and physical abuse is not porn but, in the case of rape, mental illness; in the sense of physical abuse, generations following the lessons of the previous generation.

    Does reading a book make me an author?

    @Wild Sage, here’s what the abstract said: "Explored the consequences of continued exposure to pornography on beliefs about sexuality in general and on dispositions toward women in particular. Found that massive exposure to pornography resulted in a loss of compassion toward women as rape victims and toward women in general."

    Notice that the study’s conclusion "it turned men into rapists" is conspicuously obvious by its absence. How could you conclude what you did just from reading the abstract?

    Busted on disingenuousness.
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  4. Trevor Says:

    rapists or abusers may watch porn but watching porn is not causal in that porn does not turn ordinary people into abusers or rapists
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  5. Roger Says:

    No there are studies to show that most rapists come from single mother homes, in fact most criminals even female ones do nowadayz.

    Porn only sexualizes children it doesn’t make him a rapist. Porn is becoming more and more accepted in society but I don’t see the levels of rape rising at that rate to match the acceptance of porn.
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    I’d say most woman-haters are abused by women and visa versa.

  6. Faith Machine Says:

    Rape has existed a lot longer than pornography has. I’ve been enjoying porn since I was a small child, and I’ve never raped or abused a woman.
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  7. David Says:

    Ted Bundy got his start because of an addiction to porn.
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  8. defek8 Says:

    there is no evidence of this. find some scientific evidence, then we’ll talk.

    EDIT: Wild Sage, a "loss of compassion toward women as rape victims and toward women in general" does not equal "more likely to become rapists/woman abusers".
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  9. Maxi R Says:

    Though normal people know the difference between fantasy and reality I think there may be an element in society where that is not the case. Personal opinion.
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  10. Wild Sage Says:

    According to this study, yes

    http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ270965&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ270965

    Schaudenfreudan, OK, you’re right. You got me there. Yes, there still would be rapists if there were no porn; but the study shows that porn desentisizes men to the victims of rape. So it’s still a bad thing.
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  11. Xian Says:

    i doubt it although alot of it does obscure the worth of a woman. I bet it’s more probable that rapists and women abusers are drawn to a certain type of pornography, as opposed to the men who don’t treat women this way. There has be attention to horror movies and this behavior. What i’m referring to is a study examining the placement of sex and violence together in films like these. sex and violence generally occur close together in the movie and the slutty girl usually gets killed early…sometimes naked. I think the study was looking to see whether the increase and placement of sex and violence in these movies has a negative effect on those who watch the genre predominately. However as far as i know that study is still going on.
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  12. Kool Person Says:

    If this were the case, then almost every single teenage boy would become a rapist and murderer. Just like everything, if it ends up consuming their lives and daily activities, invilves incest or children, or is violent, then I would start to worry.
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  13. I dunno b/c haha LOL! Says:

    Are you in a women’s studied program or something?

    The people who will become rapists/abusers are the people who were raped/abused when they were young. Guaranteed.
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  14. Bob N Says:

    No. Pretty much all guys enjoy porn unless they avoid it for religious reasons.

    There aren’t more rapists now — we just admit the problem now. Before, society would look the other way when a husband hit his wife. Now, we deal with it. It might seem like levels of abuse are higher, but they’re actually lower.
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