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Abstract
In this paper we present the results of a study of the pornography consumption of German students between the ages of 20 and 30. Carried out in 2012 the study combined quantitative and qualitative data: 2082 students completed a questionnaire and further depth was provided by means of 135 semi-structured interviews. Gender differences constituted the central focus of the study. We found that there is a higher incidence of male students who consume pornography, and that those male students who do so also consume pornography considerably more frequently. Amongst female respondents we found both self-confident and ambivalent consumers, although problematizing pornography consumption is not infrequent amongst young men. Both male and female respondents showed a high degree of competence regarding pornography, and pornography consumption and masturbation were closely linked for both. The article considers gender differences in porn consumption and the way that porn is consumed both in the context of solo sex and within sexual relationships.
Notes
1. A critical discussion of the terms ‘pornographication’ and ‘pornification’ can be found, for example, in Smith (Citation2010).
2. A special distinction of this study is that it was carried out in 1966, 1981 and 1996 (Schmidt Citation2000) and thus offers a unique opportunity to chart the change in sexual and relationship behaviour in Germany over a period of 45 years within the social group of young men and women with a university education. However, extensive questions concerning the consumption of pornography were only included for the first time in the 2012 investigation.
3. The quantitative questionnaire study ‘Changing Sexuality among Students 1966–1981–1996–2012’ was funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft). See dfg.studentensexualtät.de
4. Only the interviews with 100 students (50 men and 50 women) were evaluated; a later-sampled group of female students who had been pregnant (35 women) was not taken into account.
5. The majority of interviews across Germany were conducted by telephone, for pragmatic reasons and because these could be embarrassing for participants if conducted face to face. This point was fed back to us frequently by the participants after the telephone interviews had taken place. When compared, the face-to-face interviews and telephone interviews neither differed with regard to their duration nor were any of the interviews terminated prematurely.
6. The qualitative interview study ‘Sexual and Social Relationships among Female and Male Students’ was funded by the Federal Centre for Health Education (Bundeszentrale für gesundheitliche Aufklärung). See: bzga.studentensexualität.de
7. For a definition of solo sex, see Böhm (Citation2013, 301).
8. We are aware that in asking participants questions about ‘too frequent’ pornography use we are assuming a perspective based on risk and danger. However, because of our extensive qualitative material, we are able at a later point in this contribution to offer an insight into how students negotiate between their own sexual pleasures and preferences and anti-pornography discourse.
9. Earlier exposure studies, where in an experimental setting students were confronted with sexually explicit images, films, or texts, showed only minor gender differences in terms of emotional and sexual reactions to stimuli. The women's reactions and evaluations, however, were more ambivalent and conflicting than those of the men (Schmidt and Sigusch Citation1970; Sigusch and Schmidt Citation1970; Schmidt Citation1975).
10. Daneback, Træen, and Mansson questioned 22-year-old to 67-year-old heterosexual Norwegian couples about their pornography consumption. 15% of the couples had watched porn films together in the previous 12 months, but for the majority joint pornography consumption did not feature in their common sex life. The authors arrived at similar conclusions to our study of German students: ‘… pornography is […] primarily a solitary activity for most Norwegians’ (Daneback, Træen, and Mansson Citation2009, 752).
11. Olmstead et al. (Citation2013, 629) also found that when arranging a porn movie evening as a couple the exact conditions were highly relevant, more so for the women than for the men:
Perhaps the largest differences between men and women in this group emerged when identifying the conditions for pornography use. Women more frequently discussed necessary conditions to make viewing acceptable.
12. An ongoing US study of college students also confirmed a largely liberal attitude to pornography consumption in couple relationships: more than 70% of male and 45% of female respondents reported accepting use of pornography (alone or in a partner setting) and not finding it unfaithful. Only one-quarter of the students reported having a problem with pornography consumption within a relationship (Olmstead et al. Citation2013, 628).