Abstract:
Aggression in Pornography focusses on the issue of violence in mainstream por nography and examines what we know, what we think we know, and what
are some surprising research findings and insights about the place of violence
within pornography today.
The authors first review the modern pornography industry, theoretical
claims about pornography as violence, and the ways in which aggression has
been defined and measured in previous research. Next, they review the find ings of empirical research on violent content in pornographic materials and
the potential effects of such content on audiences. The main part of the book
relies on systematically collected empirical data, as the authors analyze the
content of hundreds of pornographic videos as well as more than a hundred
interviews with men and women who regularly watch pornography. These
analyses provide surprising insights regarding the prevalence of and trends in
violent content within mainstream pornography, the popularity of violent
and non-violent content among viewers, and variations in aggression by race
and sexual orientation.
As such, Aggression in Pornography will be of interest to students and re searchers in sociology, gender and sexuality studies, and media and film stud ies, as well as to wider audiences who are interested in today’s pornography industry and to policymakers looking to devise empirically driven policies regarding this industry and its potential effects.
