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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 14, 1985)
Is obsenity harmless ? Pornography linked with sex crimes On August 25 of last year, NBC aired a documen tary showing strong evidence that child por nography encourages child molestation. Studies from various universities point to the connection between hard-core pornography and sex crimes perpetrated mainly against women and children. In the March ’84 issue of Conservative Digest it was reported that one of ten women will be raped in her lifetime. Obviously, it’s time to stop labeling Commentary pornography as a victimless crime in light of the cor relations between rape and pornography. Often the cry of “freedom of speech” is heard when measures are taken to curb pornography; for instance, Reagan’s signing into law harsher crackdown on “kiddie porn”. But the founders of this nation did not believe everything meant to com municate was to be protected by the first amendment. Many defenders of pornography are quick to cite the Nixon administration’s commission on por nography which reported that little or no harm came from pornographic materials. They even supported the notion of the “Cathartic theory” — the psychological theory that one can derive benefit from viewing a behavior and therefore not have the desire to act out a fantasy one might have. This theory has major flaws however. Under the logic of catharsis one could suppose that to elleviate hunger pains one should show starv ing people films of people gorging themselves with food. That’s about as logical as claiming if someone can view deviant behaviors this will satisfy their urge to commit that behavior and, therefore, por nography isn’t all that bad. It is important to note that Nixon’s commission set out with the goal of proving that obscenity was harmless. No such study can be considered scientific in the least. Most data which showed evidence con trary to their goal was not included in the report. Also, the study concentrated mostly on soft-core materials consisting of simple nudity. Today, hard-core pornography featuring depic tions of rape, incest, and torture can be found in mosts U.S. cities. The consumer of pornography has, over the years, developed a “taste” for more violent and bizarre literature. Some people might have heard that Denmark has experienced less rape sine their government decriminalized most pornography. One must take into account, however, that Denmark experienced no such decline and, in reality, saw an increase in sex crimes. The alleged drop in sex crimes came about as a result of alterations in the laws as to what was categorized as a sex crime. Recent studies by law enforcement officials and psychologists in America and Europe have shown a definite correlation exists between pornography and sex crimes. According to Dr. Richard Lindsay of the Michigan State Police Department, classified over 35,000 sex crimes and found that “in 43 of the crimes, pornography was rated as a major antece dent cause.” In the February 6, 1984 issue of “Sexuality To day” Dr. Edward Donnerstein of the University of Wisconsin has found that men exposed to por nography consistantly become desensitized to sex ual violence and view victims of rape with less com passion than the control groups who viewed non pornographic films. A great deal of today’s pornography depicts women being raped — and enjoying it Even violent scenes of sado — masochism are accompanied with descriptions of pleasure (allegedly from the par ticipants) being derived from whipping, chaining, cutting, hitting, and other acts of perverted violence. If average individuals can become desesitized to rape through viewing relatively mild examples of pornography and violence then what kind of effect can we expect the extreme films and literature to have on those who enjoy indulging in this sort of recreation? British scientists R.J. McGuire, J.M. Carlisle, and D.G. Young found pornography prompts and rein forces a variety of sexual deviation. Even non violent pornography was linked to negative actions according to the research of Dr. Dolf Zillman of the University of Indiana. In the April, 1984 issue of “Ensign,” psychologist Victor B. Cline described viewers of pornography as going through several stages. First, “They become addicted Second, their desire for it escalates. . .Third, they become desensitized to the abnormality of the behavior portrayed. In time, they accept and embrace what at first shocked and offend ed them. Fourth, eventually there is a tendency and temptation to act out what they have witnessed.” Pornography a victimless crime? Evidence is mounting that sex crimes and pornography are strongly related and this poshes some major ques tions we, as a society, must face — expecially in light of the growing availability of pornography not only in bookstores, but on cable channels as well. Michael Cross Representative of Students Against Rape, Pornography and the Exploitation of Children. letters Neanderthal I thought the Neanderthal period ended centuries ago, but evidently some people take longer to evolve. Rob Young’s letter (ODE 12/3) equating wear ing pornographic t-shirts to enter a party with his having to wear a suit for a job interview is proof enough. It’s sad, Rob, that you fail to understand the significance of the event, or that you simply don't care how such an incident is detrimental to women. Whatever the case may be, your ignorance is boldly underlined. You see. Rob, the t-shirt episode is but a small piece of a much larger pie — no matter how unimportant you consider it. Place it in context with sexist language, sexist remarks and in nuendos, the pornography in dustry and machismo etc., and the subjugation and degrada tion of women becomes startl ingly clear. While you trivialize the matter, there are a great many of us who say it is a BIG DEAL. As to your assertion that em barrassment from sexual games — t-shirt gags, panty raids and what have you — is supposed to abate as we mature. I propose that many men never reach sex ual maturation mentally. They continue — a large part through pornography — to objectify women. Empathy for women and men in their struggle against sexism is a tremendous first step in understanding the repercus sions of a sexist society. Please try a heavy dose, Rob. While I don’t discount your free will to decide what’s con sidered sexist and a form of sex ual abuse, I do question your intelligence. Glenn Kilb Eugene Disgusted I was disgusted to see that the Political Science Department here at the University was forc ed to purchase an advertisement in order to correct an error made by the Emerald. At the going Emerald advertising rate, the Political Science Department would have to have paid $153 for the advertisement correcting the Emerald error. Even if the department was only charged the campus rate (for recognized student organizations), they still would have paid out $115.20. After recently paying $480.50 to register for my winter classes. I’m appalled to think that my tuition is going in this manner to pay for Emerald errors, because the newspaper and its staff are unable or unwilling to use appropriate sources for their stories. Furthermore, my forced payment of Emerald subscrip tion fees (through incidental fees paid with tuition) should be more than enough payment for the Emerald to print a retrac tion when it is brought to their attention that a mistake has been made. Since the Emerald hasn’t done so, somebody should see that the Political Science Department is refunded their money for the ad placed in the Jan. 9 issue of the newspaper. Eric Stillwell Political Science emerald read the emerald read the emerald read the emerald this has been a subliminal suggestion, brou European Tanning Bed now available for Mini-Tans 5/$15 Now you don't have to spend a lot if you want only a few tanning sessions. I shortcuts'1 \____/ Walk-ins 966 Oak Appointments 342-7664 990 Sandwich Anytime! (with the purchase of one of equal or greater value) 13th & Hilvard • 484-6955 Open 7 Days a Week til 1:00 am! Offer expires 1/21/85
