After interviewing over 300 regular pornography viewers in a study published in Archives of Sexual Behaviour, Professor Eran Shor found that while most viewers were not interested in watching sexual aggression in pornography, women were more likely than men to say that they enjoyed aggression in the pornography they watch, including harder forms, such as choking. Female viewers were also more likely to report enjoying when female performers expressed pain in response to aggression and were more likely to actively search for aggressive pornography.
Prof. Shor, who is a William Dawson Scholar at McGill University’s Department of Sociology, says these results stand in contrast to much of the previous research about pornography.
Although study participants were from 28 different countries, including in Europe, South Asia, and East Asia, about half were Canadian. Porn viewers from higher socioeconomic backgrounds and students with higher education were overrepresented in this sample, although none of these factors significantly affected their preference for aggression in the pornography they viewed.
What did you find in your research?
The main question that I set out to answer was how regular viewers of pornography in different countries think about aggression in pornography. I found that most viewers did not want to watch harder forms of aggression, such as forced gagging, face-hitting, or choking, especially if it was perceived as non-consensual. However, a significant minority among these viewers did say that they enjoyed watching aggression in pornography and many of them also actively searched for these materials.
Were there any big surprises?
The most surprising finding of the study has to do with the role that gender plays in viewers' preferences regarding aggression in pornography. Female viewers were more likely than male viewers to say that they enjoyed aggression in the pornography that they watch. Radical feminist theorists have suggested that representations of aggression in pornography are entirely driven by the desires and preferences of male viewers, while the preferences of women regarding such representations of aggression have not been systematically explored.
What are the implications for men and women’s real sex lives?
The findings may serve to alleviate some of the blame and feelings of guilt expressed by many women who prefer or are attracted to representations of aggression in pornography. That said, it is important to emphasize that the large majority of women and men who expressed attraction to aggressive representations clearly separated between these representations, which they saw as fantasies, and their real sex lives. The majority of these individuals reported they did not want to practice the aggressive acts that they watched online in real life, and they were content with the fantasy offered by the pornographic videos.
About McGill University
Founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1821, McGill University is Canada’s top ranked medical doctoral university. McGill is consistently ranked as one of the top universities, both nationally and internationally. It is a world-renowned institution of higher learning with research activities spanning three campuses, 11 faculties, 13 professional schools, 300 programs of study and over 40,000 students, including more than 10,200 graduate students. McGill attracts students from over 150 countries around the world, its 12,800 international students making up 31% of the student body. Over half of McGill students claim a first language other than English, including approximately 19% of our students who say French is their mother tongue.
