Socialization & Relationship Outcomes
Pornography, Alcohol, and Male Sexual Dominance
Full Article Name: Pornography, Alcohol, and Male Sexual Dominance
Open Access: No
Abstract
This study surveyed German heterosexual men’s interest and engagement in a variety of dominant behaviors observed in recent analyses of pornography. Interest in watching popular pornographic movies or more frequent consumption of pornography was associated with men’s desire to engage in or having already engaged in behaviors such as hair pulling, spanking a partner hard enough to leave a mark, facial ejaculation, confinement, double-penetration (i.e. penetrating a partner’s anus or vagina simultaneously with another man), ass-to-mouth (i.e. anally penetrating a partner and then inserting the penis directly into her mouth), penile gagging, facial slapping, choking, and name-calling (e.g. “slut” or “whore”). Consistent with past experimental research on the effect of alcohol and pornography exposure on men’s likelihood of sexual coercion, men who had engaged in the most dominant behaviors were those who frequently consumed pornography and regularly consumed alcohol before or during sex.
Relevance
Men who watch ‘gonzo’ pornography (“highly explicit sex while deemphasizing plot and character development”) “were associated with a higher likelihood of interest of engagement” in various forms of sexual violence, including hard slapping, hair-pulling, facial ejaculation, name-calling, penile gagging, and ass-to-mouth. The more these men drink alcohol before sex, the more likely they are to engage in these activities. Men who both drank and watched pornography before sex “had tried the most [of these violent] behaviors.”
Citation
Paul, J. W., Chyng, S., Nicola, J. S., & Robert, S. T. (2015). Pornography, alcohol, and male sexual dominance. Communication Monographs, 82(2), 252–270. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2014.981558