Please login first
Pornography Through a Gender Lens: Divergent Attitudes toward Sexual Media and Its Social Consequences
* 1 , 1 , 2
1  School of Law, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Ciudad Real, Spain
2  Centre for Social Survey Transformation, National Centre for Social Research, London, United Kingdom
Academic Editor: Pan Wang

Abstract:

Pornography has become a pervasive component of contemporary sexual cultures, yet attitudes toward its social and interpersonal consequences remain highly contested. Existing research suggests that perceptions of pornography are strongly shaped by gender, reflecting broader inequalities in how sexual media represent bodies, power, and consent. From a theoretical standpoint, feminist approaches—particularly radical feminist critiques of pornography as a system of sexual objectification and male dominance—contrast with more liberal and sex-positive perspectives that emphasize agency, sexual expression, and potential benefits. Additionally, sexual script theory provides a useful framework for understanding how pornography may inform gendered expectations about sexuality, while objectification theory helps explain differential sensitivities to its potential harms. The current study examines gender differences in attitudes toward pornography and explores how men and women perceive harms and benefits. The analysis uses data from a sample of individuals aged 16 and older residing in Castilla-La Mancha, a region in central Spain (N = 1,003; 50.7% men). Attitudes toward pornography are measured using a set of 19 items adapted from the Internet Pornography Questionnaire developed by Noll et al. (2022) in the United States. These items capture beliefs about pornography’s potential harms—such as fostering sexual objectification, unrealistic sexual expectations, or aggression—as well as perceived benefits, including sexual education, sexual satisfaction, or tension release. The study compares responses between men and women using descriptive statistics to identify gender differences across the different attitudinal dimensions. From a gender studies perspective, the analysis interprets these differences in light of feminist debates on pornography and the gendered dynamics of sexual media consumption. By examining how attitudes toward pornography vary across genders, this study contributes to understanding how sexual media are interpreted within broader structures of gendered power, inequality, and sexual norms in contemporary societies.

Keywords: gender attitudes, gender inequality, pornography, public perceptions, sexual media, sexual norms.

 
 
Top