I have been reading this non stop for 3 days. This book is the first comprehensive examination of the production and consumption of pornography in Australia. The authors are: Alan Mckee; Katherine Albury and Catherine Lumby - Melbourne University Press, 2008.
Here are some excerpts that might interest you. But I do urge you to get a copy of this report that debunks so many of the myths surrounding pornography in Australia.
" and even though it seems an odd thing to say. You cant tell if something is pornographic just by looking at the thing itself. It might fit into another category - it could be regarded as art, or as an illustration in a medical science textbook, or it could be material used for sex education purposes.
" The term pornography was first used in its modern sense by 19th century art historians to describe the erotic paintings and statues found by the archaeologists who uneartherd Pompeii....."
"According to a Roy Morgan survey, and similar surveys in other Western countries, about 33 per cent of adult Australians use some kind of sexually explicit materials - videos, DVDs, magazines or on the internet. Thats about 5 million people..... While millions of Australians quietly live thier lives and use pornography, the only people we hear from in public debates are church leaders, social scientists, politicians and commentators - people whose claim to expertise on the issue is the very fact that they themselves dont watch porn, arent friendly with anybody who watches porn, and don't know anything about the everyday use of porn."
" The results are interesting, mostly because they showed that consumers of pornography are like you and me: ordinary Australians from every age ,level of education, voting preference, almost every religion, and walk of life. The only thing that makes them significantly different population wise is that they're overwhelmingly male. Would you like to see some numbers? We've got numbers."
Great quotes I reckon. Please get a copy and have a read. It is available in the SHineSA library. Or even better buy yourself a copy.
Lud
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Wow - sounds like a fascinating read! I will definitely read it - thanks! What an amazing number of people who use! Does it go into the reasons why people use??? It would be very interesting to hear their reasons and further understand the kind of effect it has on their sexual encounters / intimacy etc.
ReplyDeleteThere is a chapter on ' Does pornography cause masturbation - The effects of exposure to porn'
ReplyDeleteFrom thier survey of more than 1000australian consumers of pornography; after the question 'What effect has pornography had on your attutudes towards sexuality:
59 percent said it had a positive effect; 7 per cent said it had a negative effect and the rest said no effect.
Lud