SEXUAL VIOLENCE
SEXUAL VIOLENCE
Although neither sex nor violence in the media is new, the integral combination of the two has become more prevalent in recent decades. Cable, video, and Internet technology have greatly expanded the capability of privately and conveniently viewing sexually explicit material. Although many people are not willing to seek out and visit theaters that show such films, the chance to view such material safely and privately in one’s own home makes it much more accessible. Another old familiar genre, the horror film, has recently evolved into showing frequent and extensive scenes of violence against women in a sexual context (see readings in Weaver & Tamborini, 1996). These films are widely viewed by teens and preteens, in spite of their R ratings. With all of these media, the major concern is not with the sex or violence in and of itself, but with the way the two appear together. The world constructed in the mind of the viewer of such materials can have some very serious consequences. Let us turn now to examining some of the effects of viewing sexual violence.
Erotica as Stimulator of Aggression
Links between sex and aggression have long been speculated upon, particularly in the sense of sexual arousal facilitating violent behavior. The research has been inconsistent, however, with some studies showing that erotic materials facilitate aggression (Baron, 1979; Donnerstein & Hallam, 1978) and others showing that they inhibit it (Donnerstein, Donnerstein, & Evans, 1975; White, 1979). The resolution of this issue apparently concerns the nature of the material. Sexual violence and unpleasant themes typically facilitate aggression, whereas nonviolent, more loving and pleasant soft-core explicit materials may inhibit it (Sapolsky, 1984; Zillmann, Bryant, Comisky, & Medoff, 1981).
Effects Depend on How the Woman Is Portrayed
Men who see films with scenes of sexual violence later showed a more callous attitude toward rape and women in general, especially if the women victims in the film were portrayed as being aroused by the assault. In terms of sexual arousal, men were aroused by the sexual violence only if the victim was shown to be aroused but not if she was not so portrayed (Malamuth, 1984).
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Individual Differences in Male Viewers
Other studies examined convicted rapists and found them to be aroused by both rape and consenting sex, whereas normal men were aroused only by the consenting sex (Abel, Barlow, Blanchard, & Guild, 1977; Quinsey, Chapman, & Upfold, 1984). An important exception to this occurred if the victim was portrayed as enjoying the rape and coming to orgasm; in this case normal U.S. and Japanese male college students, though not women, were equally or more aroused by the rape than by the consenting sex (Malamuth, Heim, & Feshbach, 1980; Ohbuchi, Ikeda, & Takeuchi, 1994). Malamuth and Check (1983) had men listen to a tape of a sexual encounter with either (a) consenting sex, (b) nonconsenting sex where the woman showed arousal, or (c) nonconsenting sex where she showed disgust. Where the woman showed disgust, both dispositionally violent and nonviolent men were more aroused, in terms of both self-report and penile tumescence, by the consenting than the nonconsenting (rape) scene. However, when the woman was portrayed as being aroused, the nonviolent men were equally aroused by both consenting and nonconsenting versions, whereas the violent men actually showed more arousal to the nonconsenting (rape) version. Similar results were obtained by Malamuth (1981) using video stimuli.
Some situational variables can affect arousal as well. For example, normal men were more than normally aroused by a rape scene if they had been previously angered by a female confederate (Yates, Barbaree, & Marshall, 1984). Also, alcohol consumption can decrease sensitivity to victim distress and thus allow greater arousal to sexual violence (Norris, George, Davis, Martell, & Leonesio, 1999).
Can such effects transfer to new situations? Donnerstein and Berkowitz (1981; see also Donnerstein, 1980) showed men a sexually violent film where a woman is attacked, stripped, tied up, and raped. In one version of the film, the woman was portrayed as enjoying the rape. Afterward, participants were given a chance to administer electric shocks to a confederate of the experimenter, one who had earlier angered them. Men who had seen the film where the woman enjoyed being raped administered more shocks to a female confederate, but not to a male. This suggests that the association of sex and violence in the film allows violent behavior to be transferred to the target confederate in a new situation.
Most of this research has been conducted on men. However, a few studies examining women have shown behavioral effects of increased aggression toward other women (Baron, 1979) and desensitization effects of trivialization of rape and acceptance of rape myths and more traditional gender-role attitudes (Malamuth, Check, & Briere, 1986; Mayerson & Taylor, 1987; Schwarz & Brand, 1983; Zillmann & Bryant, 1982).
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Conclusions. In a meta-analysis of studies examining the relationship of exposure to pornography and the acceptance of rape myths, Allen, Emmers, Gebhardt, and Giery (1995) conclude that experimental studies show a consistent positive effect between pornography exposure and rape myth acceptance, while nonexperimental studies show only a very small positive or nonexistent effect. The relationship was consistently stronger when the pornography was violent rather than nonviolent, although some experimental studies obtained effects in both cases.
Several conclusions emerge from the sexual violence research (see Pollard, 1995, for a review). One is that a critical aspect of the perceived reality of sexual violence is whether the woman is seen as enjoying and being aroused by the assault. Far more undesirable effects occur in normal men if the woman is shown as aroused than if she is seen to be terrorized. This media portrayal of women as being turned on by rape is not only a distasteful deviation from reality, but also a potentially dangerous one. A second important conclusion is that sexually violent media often affect men very differently, depending on their propensity to use force in their own lives. Convicted rapists and other men prone to use violence in their own lives are more likely to become aroused or even incited to violence by sexually violent media, especially if the woman is portrayed as being aroused by the assault.
Slasher Movies Sex+Violence in Mainstream Movies. Because the studies discussed so
far in this section used very sexually explicit materials that would be considered hard-core pornography, many might consider them beyond the limits of what they themselves would be exposed to. However, sexual violence is by no means confined to pornographic materials restricted from minors. Hundreds of mainstream R-rated films are readily available to teenagers anywhere, in theaters and especially on video and DVD. There are the highly successful series like Halloween, Child’s Play, Friday the Thirteenth, Scream, Nightmare on Elm Street, Scary Movie, and I Know What You Did Last Summer, as well as many single films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974 or 2003 versions) and The Blair Witch Project. Many are extremely violent with strong sexual overtones. Even the 1995 James Bond movie Goldeneye featured a villainess who seduces men to have sex with her and then crushes them to death. It also contains scenes of seduction with very violent mutual battering as a sort of foreplay. In some countries, rape and other acts of violence against women are even more standard entertainment fare (see Box 10.4).
Although most of these films have R ratings in the United States, others are released unrated to avoid the accompanied-by-parent restriction of R-
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rated movies. Because few restrictions apply in video stores, the rating is not
a major issue. The viewing of such films is widespread among youth. Oliver (1993) found that punitive attitudes toward sexuality and traditional attitudes toward women’s sexuality were associated with high school students’ greater enjoyment of previews of slasher films. Some have noted a trend toward stronger, less victimized female characters in recent films like Urban Legend, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and The Bride of Chucky.