VCU journal explores porn, media effects

Austin Walker
Staff Writer

A new scientific journal created by two professors at VCU examines the social, political and health impacts of hypersexualized media.

Political science professor Deirdre Condit and psychology professor Jennifer Johnson founded the online academic journal “Sexualization, Media, and Society” two weeks ago in an attempt to answer some of the questions surrounding the consumption of pornography and sexual media worldwide.

“So what we begin with is the assumption that we don’t know what (hypersexualized media) means,” said Condit. “We really want to look at the science on what does the access do? What are the impacts, on individuals, on families, on communities, on societies at large, from living in an increasingly sexualized world?”

The free journal is an ongoing project and currently accepting submissions from a variety of disciplines and topics. Studies may span across years, and an understanding of the research may take a long-time accumulation of submissions.

Condit, who began at VCU in 1994, said she became interested in the subject when she attended a meeting a few years ago where scholars presented information on the effects of the consumption of hypersexualizaed media. She and Johnson conferred and began working to create the online journal, despite the difficulties of finding proper funding due to their position outside the hard sciences.

The research ranges from the effects that such consumption has on young people who use it as a means of first experiencing intimacy and how men and women process the media differently to exploring how a person’s neurochemistry is affected.

Some of the research goes into the health implications of pornography consumption, which includes evidence that increased exposure to hypersexualized media can lead to a decrease in sexual function.

Pornhub.com, the largest portal of pornography in the world, reported 18.35 billion views in 2014. A survey by DigitalJournal.com found that 64 percent of American men consume pornography on a monthly basis.

These numbers are the highest they’ve ever been, and there’s little indication that the industry is likely to experience lower rates of consumption in 2015.

The pornography industry has a large consumer base and a vast amount of resources. It’s a rapidly growing industry with many people profiting off of it. “The Journal of Porn Studies,” for example, is a scientific journal that counters many of these negative claims.

“Its funders and its editorial board come from the profit industry around pornography,”  Condit said. “When you read their introduction they very clearly have a perspective.”

Hypersexualized media is not solely limited to pornography. What’s considered pornographic differs across cultures and time periods. The founders of the journal decided to leave the definition intentionally vague to avoid limiting research while gaining scientific backing for the definition.

“It’s a question that’s social, political and economic in structure. So twenty years ago a Victoria’s Secret ad would have been considered pornographic by the sort of common American Culture standard twenty years ago,” Condit said. “Today, it’s on in the middle of kid’s cartoons, so how are we to think about that? What are the implications of that? That’s what we want scholars to ask and bring their research and showcase it so we can see what they find.”

Political influence also plays a role in the production and availability of hypersexualized media. The founders of the journal acknowledge that conservatives and liberals alike hesitate when it comes to censorship, and the notion of the government restricting a person’s ability to consume images and texts goes against some of the core American values.

“We’re not taking a position in that fight,” Condit said. “We’re saying, ‘Before you all say that, before you say it’s ruining America’s values and turning us all into Sodom, the worst possible scenario for humanity, or that everything’s great no matter what it is, how about we do some research and find out what are the real impacts on human beings?’”

The journal can be found at sagepub.com, and all submission and editor contact info can be found there. The requirements and instructions for submission are also available online.