Pornography—promoting egalitarianism among men!

Whether you watch porn or not, it’s always been a topic of debate that the men who watch porn are more likely to consider themselves superior to the women. They are considered to hold belligerent, antagonistic, regressive, or sexist views of women. Yet new study suggests that watching porn brings more positive views towards gender equality. The article, “Is pornography really about making hate to women?”, published in The Journal of Sex Research, based on the study carried out by the University of Western Ontario, says that the men who watch porn are more likely to hold feminist views than the men who don’t. The study abstract says, “According to radical feminist theory, pornography serves to further the subordination of women by training it’s users, males and females alike, to view women as little more than sex objects over whom men should have complete control.” After comparing the people who watch porn with those who don’t, the researchers found that those who had seen an adult movie even for once in the past year held more egalitarian views about women. They also believed that women should hold powerful positions, they should work outside home, also they should have the right to opt for abortion if they want to. They consider women to be that part of the society which is as important as they themselves are. “Taken together, the results of this study fail to support the view that pornography is an efficient deliverer of ‘women-hating ideology,'” study authors concluded. “While unexpected from the perspective of radical feminist theory, these results are consistent with a small number of empirical studies that have also reported positive associations between pornography use and egalitarian attitudes.” The study relied on the survey conducted between 1975 and 2010, for the General Social Survey in United States, which asks its citizens about many social issues and personal views (including gender equality and personal pornography consumption). 56 percent females and 43 percent males participated in the survey. These included married, divorced people and people with religious backgrounds. It’s worth noting that the previous study published in 2013 found that, pornography does reinforce sexist thinking in some men. However, these men are exceptions, as this emerges in the men with low personality trait of agreeableness ( i.e., men who do not show much concern about what others feel). However, the authors did state that they were not making any “cause-and-effect” claims about pornography, just stating what they found from the data. Research from Oxfam revealed that the nations which had feminist movements have better policies to deal with the violence against women than the nations which didn’t have such feminist movements. There are religions that don’t allow watching porn nor do they appreciate the idea of egalitarianism.     ————–