Pornography and Gender

Social scientists use the term pornography to refer to media that depict nudity or graphic sexual acts designed to arouse consumers. Studies of adolescents and adults from a wide variety of countries are increasingly finding that large numbers of [Page 1317]individuals consume pornography. Social-scientific research on pornography and gender has primarily addressed two questions: (1) Does pornography portray men and women in power-imbalanced and stereotypical roles? (2) Are individuals who consume pornography more likely to possess gendered behavioral scripts than individuals who do not consume pornography or who less frequently consume pornography? This entry summarizes findings from research on these questions. In addition, it presents findings and directions for future research with regard to the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and racial minority consumers ...