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Poll Shows Americans Are Conflicted Over Porn

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Harris Interactive last week released the results of an in-depth poll of more than 2,500 Americans regarding pornography’s effects on society and whether the government should censor adult entertainment.

The results were mixed, with little consensus on any of the issues involved and wide variation between men and women and between young and old — apropos in a country where certain segments of the population demonize pornography while others spend $1 billion each month buying it (and some do both).

In general, women are more critical of adult entertainment than men. As a result, a small majority of women, but not of men, favors government regulation of pornography on the Internet.

Other highlights of the poll include:

  • About half of all adults believe that pornography "raises men’s expectation of how women should look" (51 percent) and that it "changes men’s expectations of how women should behave" (48 percent). However, women are much more likely than men to believe these (62 percent vs. 40 percent and 58 percent vs. 37 percent, respectively).

  • Two out of five adults (40 percent) believe that pornography "harms relationships between men and women" with this view also held by a higher percentage of women" (47 percent) than men (33 percent).

  • Almost half of all adults (48 percent) believe that "pornography is demeaning towards women" but this view is more widely held by women (57 percent) than by men (38 percent).

  • Forty-two percent believe the government should "regulate Internet pornography specifically so that children cannot access X-rated material online." This is the preferred policy of 53 percent of women and 30 percent of men.

  • Twenty-three percent believe "whether one likes it or not people should have full access to pornography under the Constitution’s First Amendment."

  • Thirteen percent believe "the government should regulate pornography in a similar way to how cigarettes are regulated — with warning labels and restrictions so that harm is minimized."

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