Sexual Assault: A Pornography Analysis

One in five college students experiences sexual assault – defined as any forced or unwanted sexual activity, including but not limited to kissing, groping, and rape – during their college career. Around 38% rape incidents are committed by a friend or acquaintance. Furthermore, college men in fraternities are three times more likely to commit sexual assault than other college men (Foubert, Brosi, & Bannon 2011: 217). While there are many factors that could explain a college fraternity member 's increased likelihood to commit sexual assault, Dr. John D. Foubert and his team led a study that addressed the relationship between pornography use and college fraternity men 's attitudes on sexual assault. The results of the study, Pornography Viewing …show more content…
College fraternity men are often used in studies on issues related to sexual violence due to their increased likelihood of committing sexual assault. Furthermore, compared to their peers, fraternity men are more likely to believe that women secretly desire to be raped (Foubert, Brosi, Bannon 2011: 217). Although erotic romances written by and for women sometimes include the hero sexually assaulting the heroine, females readers are quick to point out that they do not want their heroes to be rapists or murderers (Ogas & Gaddam 2011: 98). After receiving a briefing about the nature of the study, participants completed surveys anonymously and returned their survey in a common return envelope with no identifying information (Foubert, Brosi, & Bannon 2011: 220). A weakness of this study was that all the participants were in college, which, as Ogas and Gaddam state, poorly represents the diversity of the world 's human population (Ogas & Gaddam 2011: xvi). Another weakness, which Foubert and his team fully recognize, is the method of self-reporting; therefore, it is difficult to determine whether or not the participants answered truthfully (Foubert, Brosi, & Bannon 2011: …show more content…
Pornography may not influence the sexual behavior of humans, but it evidently reflects their sexual desires. The female brain is wired to manage the primary challenge of long-term investment planning; women want to find mates who will stay and help her rear offspring. Thus female desire is activated by cues that indicate a man 's stability, commitment, social status, competence, and kindness (Ogas & Gaddam 2011: 85). The male brain, in order to attract potential female mates, is wired to manage the challenge of attaining status (Ogas & Gaddam 2011: 240). Furthermore, male desire software responds to cues that maximize their chances of producing offspring. Male desire is shaped by the need to evaluate potential female partners, the need to be instantly ready for sex, and the need to physiologically and socially compete with other males for access to women (Ogas & Gaddam 2011: