Pornography and Rape - Essay Example

? Pornography and Rape Your Full Here Here (include Intro or Intro 2) Pornography and Rape Rape is a sensitive topic. It is also one that is extremely important to women. To be raped must be one of the most horrible offenses that can be done a person. As long as there have been people, I suppose, there has been rape. Not only is society concerned with catching rapists and locking them up, they are also concerned with understand the mind of someone that would rape a person in the first place. There have been many factors presented over the years that cause someone to rape, including pornography. In our free society, pornography seems to be everywhere. You can find it on the Internet, late night television, or at the 24-hour convenience store. As such, many researchers have come to the conclusion the pornography causes rape. Others, however, contend that pornography is not a cause of rape, pointing out different factors that are much more likely to cause someone to commit this horrible crime. As part of my own research, I have read the two assigned articles: One proposing that pornography is a cause of rape, the other in opposition to the idea. Even though I am an international student, I can understand the fear that women have of one day being raped. I hope it never happens to me or to anyone I know. I also hope that we can one day understand the mind of the rapist better and help people get treated before they commit the crime. That being said, however, I do not believe pornography causes rape and I will explain why in the coming pages. Pornography Does Cause Rape In looking for a reason why people rape, pornography usually gets talked about. There are many who talk about the evils of pornography. Many in society talk about the harmful effects it has on people and what it can ‘make’ them do. It was not a surprise, then, for me to read the article by Diana Russell and discover that she claims there is a relationship between the viewing and reading of pornography and rape. Her argument seems to center around the concept of ‘multiple causation’. This means that pornography does not actually ‘cause’ rape, but is a contributing factor in many cases. This further leads to her conclusion, then, that pornography does in fact cause rape. The argument stems from multiple research accounts that she writes about, both in her own book previously published and in the works of others. She begins by making the claim that pornography often brings images to the mind of a person that actually brings out preconceived tendencies that they have to rape. That argument, then, would have to be stretched to say had these people not viewed pornography in the first place, then they would never rape. That would, then, violate the idea that these people were already inclined to rape in the first place. Russell spends several pages describing accounts of actual sexual fantasies being acted out based on pornography that the male has in his possession. The accounts are not nice to read and I certainly agree that nobody should ever be treated in this manner. Again, however, I fail to see how this connects pornography to being a cause of rape in and of itself. I have read that many adults act out their own fantasies. They do so on their own, without being forced, and many with the help of pornography. This would not be considered rape at all. It does not seem to be accurate, then, to state that pornography causes men to rape because not everyone who is into this sort of thing would ever even consider raping a person. Finally, Russell makes some valid claims about how pornography seems to portray women merely as sex objects. I would tend to agree with this. She lists out seven reasons why this is. The one that seems to make the most sense in support of her argument would be that pornography trivializes rape. . This is based on a study done in 1984 where males were exposed to pornography in large doses. After a time, they were then asked to comment on rape cases going through the courts. Many of them ended up believing that prison sentences given to rapists should be shorter. Researchers, then, came to the conclusion that pornography causes rape to be trivialized. This may be, but again I do not see how this leads us to make the jump to say that pornography ends up causing people to actually rape. Pornography Does Not Cause Rape The article by Seto, Maric, and Barbaree focuses on the idea that pornography, in and of itself, does not cause rape. Instead, these author’s begin by reminding the reader that other factors, such as conditioning, excitation transfer, feminist, and social learning should be focused on. They indicate early on that certainly men who exhibit these conditions are more likely to also have a fixation with pornography. So, this indicates that the major factors of rape, if present, are actually a potential cause of someone viewing pornography. The argument, then, that pornography causes rape simply has not been scientifically proven. These authors’ begin with some interesting facts and statistics. To make the claim that pornography causes rape would be to also make the claim that sexual crime would increase as more people consume more pornography. Studies have been conducted to this effect and found that reported cases of rape did not increase over a 20-year period. The interesting part of this study was that it was not just conducted in one country, but in several. This article continues to describe study after study where incidences of rape are not directly related to consumption of pornography. Other factors seem to always be present, and these are the causes that should be focused on, as opposed to merely pointing at pornographic images and words. The article states, “Overall, there is little support for a direct causal link between pornography use and sexual aggression”. The argument, again, is that views of pornography that commit violent sexual crimes against women are already predisposed due to other more defined factors. Integrative Analysis The mind of the rapist should be studied. The reasons behind their actions should be examined and analyzed. There are many social and environments factors that cause someone to want to victimize another person sexually. Pornography is such possibility that researchers have studied. The question becomes, then, if pornography actually causes someone to rape, or if other factors cause someone to view pornography. Those who believe that pornography causes rape would find comfort in the article by Russell. Those who prefer to look at other factors as causes of rape would identify more with the article by Seto, Maric, and Barbaree. Pornography has been blamed for many social problems. Males and females, many claim, are dehumanized. The images depicted in such ‘literature’ causes people to live out fantasies are not healthy and sometimes can be quite dangerous. Others claim that pornography creates a healthy sexual atmosphere for responsible adults. These people would argue that pornography, in itself, does not cause a person to rape. It seems to me that these same people would argue that pornography is seen as a ‘scapegoat’, when there are other factors that should truly be considered. As I read both articles, one in support and one in opposition to this argument that pornography causes rape, one argument really sticks with me. Seto, Maric, and Barbaree make the point that other factors present in an individual make them more likely to view pornography. Such factors can include childhood trauma, psychological disorders, and other environmental factors. It one of the factors are present, then a person is statistically more likely commit a violent sexual crime. Such people are also more likely to be consumers of pornography. In other words, these authors contend that some social and environmental factors cause some people to consume pornography, but pornography on its own does not cause someone to rape. As mentioned in the article summary, this thought seems to be valid based on studies that have been conducted that show as consumption of pornography has increased; incidences of violent sexual crime have not. Russell, on the other hand, does make the claim that pornography should be one of the social causes mentioned when discussing reasons that cause a person to become a rapist. She claims that pornography is a cause of rape, regardless if one of the factors mentioned in the other article are present or not. This argument does have some merit based on documented accounts and examples that she gives in the article of rapists using pornographic images and stories as they commit their crime. She appears to stop short, however, of documenting these claims with solid statistics and research, however. It would be interesting to know if the rapists documented in her article were predisposed to rape based on the other factors that were mentioned in the ‘No’ argument. Conclusion Rape is a horrible crime. The mind of the rapist should continue to be studied so we can better what would cause a human being to be so sexually brutal to another. Both of these articles aim to do just that. They are both genuine in their focus and they attempt to explain the possible causes of rape. It is clear that there are strong feelings on both sides. I can certainly understand why many would point to the pornography available everywhere in society as a huge factor in why people rape. I can equally understand, however, why others say that there are many other factors that must be considered, and pornography is not really one of them. I tend to agree with the latter. Just like watching a movie about a bank robbery does not make us go out and rob a bank, pornography does not make us go out and brutally rape another person. There are simply too many other factors to consider when studying this important issue. Read More