By Ben Johnson
Monday, Aug 18, 2014
LifeSiteNews
Note: This article contains mature content. Reader discretion is advised.
Due in part to what they see in pornography, teenage boys have no qualms coercing young women into having anal sex, according to a new study, with some of these encounters possibly crossing the line into rape.
Researchers interviewed 130 men and women aged 16–18 from diverse social backgrounds in three different locations in England. The report, published last month, states that young people “ frequently cited pornography as the ‘explanation’ for [engaging in] anal sex,” although masculine competition between boys to see who could engage in the activity the most often also played a role.
They found a “key element” in this risky new behavior is the “normalization of coercion and ‘accidental’ penetration. It seemed that men were expected to persuade or coerce reluctant partners.”
“Some events, particularly the ‘accidental’ penetration reported by some interviewees, were ambiguous in terms of whether or not they would be classed as rape (i.e., non-consensual penetration), but we know from [one] interview that ‘accidents’ may happen on purpose,” wrote Dr. Cicely Marston and Ruth Lewis of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in a report published in BMJ Open.
Experts say the new research adds to a growing body of evidence that young people, influenced by pornography, are eager to try out the techniques they see online, often with little empathy or regard for the other person’s well-being.
“This study plainly illustrates the pornification of our society,” Hysen Sisco, communications director for Morality in Media told LifeSiteNews.com. “Porn is the new form of sex education for children and teens; it has informed their sexual template. We are beginning to see the effects of the first generation brought up with unlimited access to hardcore porn and the miseducation it provides.
“With the ubiquity of rape culture on college campuses, such as at Yale in 2010, the future leaders of tomorrow are worrisome.
Sisco said that porn is teaching youth not to seek meaningful relationships, but rather to engage in risky sexual practices under the belief that they are “entitled to the use of another person’s body.”
“Porn teaches that a successful sexual encounter is based on degradation and coercion, without regard to how the other person feels about it,” Sisco added. “The women in this study have been affected by porn culture as they think this kind of coercive sex is normal.”
Anal sex presents unique challenges to young people, who are known to have an especially high incidence of sexually transmitted disease. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), someone is 500 percent more likely to contract HIV/AIDS from anal sex than from vaginal intercourse. Repeated engagement in anal sex can lead to anal fissures and eventual loss of bowel control.
Previous studies have found a link between porn consumption, coercion, and risky sexual behavior. A 2011 study from the Boston University’s School of Public Health found that more than half of all girls who had group sex had been coerced, and another third had used drugs or alcohol before the encounter. That study also found a pornographic link: Girls were five times more likely to have sex with multiple partners if they or their boyfriends watched porn.
According to Psychology Today, a 2010 study of 73 Swedish teenagers aged 14-20 revealed that teenage boys who viewed pornography accepted the notion that “women are there solely to satisfy the men’s needs…more or less uncritically.”
