Pornography: a Poll

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On one crucial point the Meese commission is fully in tune with most Americans: both consider pornography a worrisome problem. A poll taken for Time by Yankelovich Clancy Shulman found that nearly two-thirds of the respondents* are "very" or "fairly concerned" about the pervasiveness of pornography in the U.S. Not surprisingly, porn is much more troubling to women than to men; precisely half of all women said they were "very concerned," while only 27% of men were similarly bothered. Overall, the proportion of people who want the government to crack down harder on pornography has varied only slightly since Yankelovich first asked the question in 1974. It was 74% then; it is 72% now.

Despite these broad concerns, only a minority of Americans agree with the commission that pornography in general is socially harmful, although they tend to concede that specific forms can be destructive. Some of the survey's most notable findings:

The effects of pornography

Only 38% of those polled agree that sexually explicit movies, magazines or books have "harmful effects upon people" (48% of the women do so, but just 27% of the men). More surprisingly, 45% believe that such materials either do not "change what people are like" or actually have positive effects on them. A plurality (47%) agree that sexually explicit materials "can be healthy as a marital aid" (44% consider this not true, while 9% are not sure). Similarly, 44% concur that pornography can "provide a useful outlet for people who are sexually frustrated" (41% disagree and 15% are uncertain). But such apparent tolerance fades when respondents are asked about specific adverse effects.

Sexually explicit movies, magazines,

books:

True Not true Men Women

(true) (true)

Lead people to be more sexually promiscuous 65% 28%

60% 70%

Encourage people to consider women as sex objects 61% 34% 50% 71%

Lead to a breakdown of social morals 57% 38% 44% 69%

Lead people to commit rape 56% 37% 47% 63%

Lead people to commit acts of sexual violence 54% 38% 43% 64%

Defining pornography

The survey asked which of the following were pornographic and which should be illegal. The responses:

Pornographic Should be illegal

Female nudity in a movie 35% 32%

Nude men or women in a magazine 46% 35%

Topless nightclubs or bars 52% 38%

Books describing sex acts 56% 36%

X-rated movies 77% 43%

Heterosexual intercourse in magazines 84% 50%

Homosexual acts in magazines 86% 57%

) Though 52% of the women polled consider nude photos in magazines to be pornographic, only 39% of the men do so. Similarly, 59% of women rate topless nightclubs as pornographic, but only 44% of men. Women were consistently more willing than men to make all of the items

on the list illegal.

*The survey questioned 1,017 Americans by telephone July 7 to 9. The potential sampling error is plus or minus 3%.

Exposure to pornography