Pornography

1. Pornography Pornography: Myths and Facts The Aurora Center University of Minnesota http://www1.umn.edu/aurora/pornmythsandfacts.pdf

2. Pornography • Myth: Pornography images do not affect us. • Professional counselors working with men who sexually abuse and batter women report that pornography figures importantly in the abuser’s behavior. • Pornography encourages people to view women only as sex objects.

3. Pornography • Myth: Women freely choose to be in pornography. • Sex slaves are forced to participate in pornography. • Women in pornography were first recruited as vulnerable children and teenagers. • Women who escape abuse at home often end up on the street being abused in pornography and prostitution. • Childhood abuse provides conditioning for continued abuse in pornography/prostitution. • 75% of women in pornography are incest survivors.

4. Pornography • Myth: Women earn a lot of money in pornography. • Some women do earn a lot of money in pornography; most do not. • The profits in pornography are accumulated by organized crime, not by the women in it. • Many women are forced into pornography with little or no pay.

5. Pornography • Myth: Pornography promotes healthy sexuality. • Much of the text in pornography depicts women only as sex objects who enjoy being abused. • Women in pornography often say “no” when they mean “yes.” • Male power dominance often is celebrated in pornography. • Pornography can depict scenes of child exploitation, slavery, and physical abuse.