Pornography has always been a controversial and difficult topic to discuss in any public sphere, yet popular interest is gripped by its visceral transgression of social conventions.It is the ultimate voyeuristic experience, and one of the most powerful amalgamations of fantasy and reality commercially available. With a recent surge in media interest, from the Sunday Times investigation into ‘Generation XXX’ to the Cambridge Union Society’s debate yesterday evening on the merits of porn as a public service, Varsity decided to investigate pornography trends among Cambridge students.

Almost exactly equal numbers of men and women took our survey, and 90% of those had viewed pornography in some form, the overwhelming majority on the internet.

The term ‘pornography’ clearly encompasses too many different media and genres to be explicitly useful. Despite this, people raised numerous objections to the general idea of porn, with many of the comments questioning the moral legitimacy of pornography, and the uncertain safety of its actors and participants. It is interesting that whilst so many people expressed a desire to see some kind of visible assurance that all the people involved were stable and consenting, very few have paid or are willing to pay for pornography: legitimate funding is surely the first step towards a more securely regulated porn industry.

THE RESULTS

In which of the above media do you most frequently encounter pornography?

Magazines: 3.4%
Film: 1.8%
Television: 1.6%
DVDs: 0.8%
Internet: 87.3%
Literature: 1.8%
Art: 2.6%
Clubs (e.g. strip clubs): 0.8%

Do you usually encounter pornography alone or with other people?

Alone: 68.9%
With others: 9.4%
Both - sometimes alone and sometimes with others: 21.7%

 

 

 

85% have never paid for pornography

 

 

 

 

Do you feel that your experience of pornography has given you any physical expectations of what the body of someone you have sex with might look like?

No: 53.3%
Yes: 33.4%
Not sure: 13.3%

Do you prefer watching or looking at pornography that features typical commercial pornstars, or pornography that features more "normal" people?

Yes - prefer commercial-looking pornstars: 11.5%
Yes - prefer more "normal" looking people in porn: 44.5%
Don’t mind - can watch either: 29.1%
Don’t like either: 14.9%

The OED defines pornography as "The explicit description or exhibition of sexual subjects or activity in literature, painting, films, etc., in a manner intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic feelings." Do you agree, or do you believe that pornography has an inherently artistic value?

 

 

 

79% would consider replicating what they have seen in pornography in their own sex lives.

 

 

 

 

 

Do you talk to your friends about sex?

Yes: 56.7%
No: 6.0%
Sometimes: 34.8%
Never: 2.5%

Do you talk openly to your friends about pornography?

Yes: 30.1%
No: 21.8%
Sometimes: 40.6%
Never: 7.5%

Do you feel limited by your College’s bandwidth cap or content filtering system?

Yes: 13.9%
No: 76.0%
Not sure: 10.1%

The Naked Truth: What you said about pornography...

“Replication does not just entail a position or a fantasy. It can involve an attitude, an enthusiasm. Happy porn can encourage happy sex.”

“Heterosexual pornography seems to cater mostly for men and much of it is blatantly sexual rather than erotic.”

“Unless it is against the will of the participant, everything is acceptable, in my opinion.”

“Messed up. Addictive. Encourages dubious sexual practices. Objectifies women. Removes any sense of emotional involvement from sex.”

“People accept it in marble and hate it in flesh.”

“It leads to an often subconscious change in expectations regarding what sex should be like, especially for men.”

“I hate pornography and everything it stands for. And yet I succumb to watching it. Why?”

“The only sex that is unethical is sex that any of the people involved don’t want to be having.”

“Pornography in itself is far too wide a term to be used in any constructive debate.”

“The high percentage (majority) of pornography that shows 'unsafe' sex, i.e. without a condom, surely encourages negative attitudes.”

“I think that Carter's 'Sadein Woman' offers an interesting argument against pornography.”

“It's of little harm, indeed its 'staging' is perhaps what makes it intriguing, funny and separate from real life.”

“In my experience although my boyfriend and all my male friends watch porn in private, they don't transfer what they see in pornography to their actual sex lives.”

“The desensitisation of young men to gratuitously violent sexual acts is happening.”

“Girls watch porn too.”