Worse Than Objects: The Depiction of Black Women and Men and Their Sexual Relationship in Pornography
AUTHOR(S)
PUBLISHED
2021 in Gender Issues
KEY FINDINGS
- Analyzing videos from two of the most popular porn sites, this study found that porn tends to perpetuate harmful, racist stereotypes against Black people. Black men were significantly more often portrayed as aggressors, while Black women were significantly more often portrayed as the targets of violence or aggression.
ABSTRACT
Previous content analyses of pornography suggest black women are more often the target of aggression compared to white women. Furthermore, research suggested that the most aggressive depictions occurred between interracial couples. The last content analysis on this topic was published in the 1990s, however. The current study examined 1741 pornographic scenes featuring heterosexual couples (including 118 scenes with black women) from two of the largest online pornographic streaming tube sites in the world (Xvideos.com and... READ FULL ABSTRACT
EXCERPTS
- "Overall, the results from our analysis suggest there are damaging stereotypical portrayals of Black women and men in pornography. Black women are more often depicted as the target of aggression, while Black men were portrayed more often as the perpetrators of aggression. Additionally, Black couples are more likely to be portrayed as aggressive and lacking intimacy. These fndings have implications for Black men and women’s sexual behaviors, relationships, and health as well as for interracial interactions and the reinforcement of harmful stereotypes."
- "Black men (47.3%) were signifcantly more likely to be depicted as aggressive towards women when compared to white men (35.3%). In terms of specifc acts of aggression, black men were depicted spanking women in 36.7% of scenes compared to just 23.9% of scenes featuring white men. Black men were also depicted pulling women’s hair (9% of scenes) signifcantly more than white men (5% of scenes). In terms of the primary indicator of intimacy, black men were signifcantly less likely to kiss a female sexual partner (18.0% of scenes) than were white men (27.5% of scenes)."
