Degrading Content and Character Sex: Accounting for Men and Women’s Differential Reactions to Pornography

Abstract

This study examines sex differences in arousal to non‐violent sexually explicit videos and viewers’ perceptions of the character traits that distinguish degrading from non‐degrading content. Men and women were exposed to either neutral, erotic or nonviolent pornographic video clips then administered a questionnaire assessing subjective arousal and perceptions of male and female characters. Nonviolent pornographic videos were characterized by perceptions of female degradation and male aggression. Comparably assertive male and female characters and male affection distinguished erotic videos. Whereas men reported more arousal to the degrading videos than did women, responses to the erotic videos were comparable. These findings support the feminist perspective that nonviolent pornography cultivates arousal to depictions of male aggression and female degradation among male viewers.