Exploring the social and sexual “reality” of contemporary pornography

What are the social roles assumed by men and women in contemporary sexually explicit movies, and in what contexts are their actions portrayed? Perhaps more important, have the predominant themes of pornography shifted in response to the public scrutiny and criticism popular in the mid‐1980s? In this investigation we addressed these questions using a random sample of 50 pornographic videotapes drawn from an archive of essentially all such materials targeted for heterosexual consumers available in the international marketplace from 1979 to 1988. The findings revealed that some thematic aspects of modern pornographic movies have shifted over time. Significant increases were evident in the frequency of portrayals of sex between casual acquaintances, males engaging in sex with female superordinates, female characters persuading males into sexual activities, and the performance of fellatio as the initial sexual behavior among heterosexual partners. Over time, a significant decrease in the number of depictions involving sex between colleagues in a workplace or a prostitute‐client relationship was also apparent. Taken together, however, the data show that contemporary pornographic movies continue to spotlight the sexual desires and prowess of men while consistently and persistently portraying women as sexually willing and available.