Naughty Photos

The search for possible links between pornography and violence required long hours for the eleven members of the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography. They listened to social scientists, legal experts and victims of sex crimes; they pored over studies and reports. But their most vivid research occurred on a visit last fall to three Houston adult bookstores, where they watched a vice squad in action and bought a booklet called Young Girls in Bondage.

Last week the commission made its conclusions public: a "causal relationship" does indeed exist between sexually violent or degrading pornography and violence toward women. In a draft report, the panel stated that such materials help to foster the "rape myth," that women enjoy being overpowered. "General acceptance of the view that 'no' means 'yes' is a consequence of the most serious proportions," wrote the panel. "Sexually explicit materials featuring violence (are) on the whole harmful to society."

Peep-show porn is not the only bad influence, according to some commissioners. Several panelists are equally troubled by the sexually sadistic aesthetic that has crept into general-market films, such as Dressed to Kill and the more recent 9 1/2 Weeks. Commission Member Park Dietz, who teaches at the University of Virginia Law School, believes that film and television scenes portraying women in violent situations are "every bit as harmful as anything in the adults-only establishments."

The commission recommends restraining pornography through measures like a mandatory yearlong prison sentence for repeat obscenity offenders. But it is doubtful that the report has enough scientific authority to support a Government-wide attack on pornography. Several of the experts who provided data to the commission have claimed that their research does not justify the report's finding of a causal link between pornography and violence. The report contradicts a more extensive 1970 study that disputed that link, and the American Civil Liberties Union has condemned the latest findings as pro- censorship. Dissenting Commissioner Judith Becker contends that "social science literature does not show that exposure to porn causes a person to commit sexual crimes." She and Panel Member Ellen Levine, editor of Woman's Day magazine, plan to file a written dissent sometime this week. A national dialogue on pornography, says Levine, is important and necessary.