Robert Jensen, an associate professor of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin, has found something different. In "A cruel edge: The painful truth about today's pornography—and what men can do about it," a report published earlier this year, he says things like this:

It hurts to know that no matter who you are as a woman you can be reduced to a thing to be penetrated, and that men will buy movies about that, and that in many of those movies your humiliation will be the central theme. It hurts to know that so much of the pornography that men are buying fuses sexual desire with cruelty.

And this:

People routinely assume that pornography is such a difficult and divisive issue because it's about sex. I think that's wrong. This culture struggles unsuccessfully with pornography because it is about men's cruelty to women, and the pleasure men sometimes take in that cruelty. And that is much more difficult for people—men and women—to face.

Professor Jensen's report is based on studies he did of "videos and DVDs that are widely available in the United States today, marketed as sexually explicit (what is commonly called 'hardcore'), rented and purchased primarily by men, depicting sex primarily between men and women."

The professor continues:

The sexual activity is not simulated; these videos are a record of sex between the performers. What happens on the screen happened in the world. ... I excluded what many would consider the non-representative fringe of the pornography market—bondage and sado-masochistic tapes; any tape that advertised explicit violence, urination, or defecation; and child pornography...

That left a selection of videos in which the men are physically and verbally abusive, the sex is very rough, and the women are submissive though they are humiliated and appear to be in pain.

Professor Jensen poses two questions about this evidence of pain:

Given the ease with which video can be edited, why did the producers not edit out those expressions? There are two possible answers. One, they may view these kinds of expressions of pain by the women as of no consequence to the viewers' interest, and hence of no consequence to the goal of maximizing sales; women's pain is neutral. The second possibility is that the producers have reason to believe that viewers like the expressions of pain; women's pain helps sales.

Given that the vast majority of those who will rent or buy these tapes are men, from that we can derive this question: Why do some men find the infliction of pain on women during sexual activity either (1) not an obstacle to their ability to achieve sexual pleasure or (2) a factor that can enhance their sexual pleasure? Phrased differently: Why are some men so callous and cruel sexually?

He adds that from his research "it seems clear that mainstream heterosexual pornography is getting more, not less, cruel." That's been clear for a long time, but Professor Jensen puts his finger on a likely cause.

He notes that Hollywood romance movies "draw on the emotions most commonly associated with sex, love and affection. But pornography doesn't, because films that exist to provide sexual stimulation for men in this culture wouldn't work if the sex were presented in the context of loving and affectionate relationships. Men typically consume pornography specifically to avoid love and affection.

"That means pornography has a problem. When all emotion is drained from sex it becomes repetitive and uninteresting. . . So, pornography needs an edge. Pornography has to draw on some emotion, hence the cruelty."

Professor Jensen writes of "the evidence" that pornography influences behavior, and of what should be done about it:

We live in a culture in which rape and battery continue at epidemic levels. And in this culture, men are masturbating to orgasm in front of television and computer screens that present them sex with increasing levels of callousness and cruelty toward women. ... No matter how hard it may be to face the reality of a rape culture, at least the culture still brands rape as a crime. Pornography, however, is not only widely accepted but sold to us as liberation. ...

But some will argue: How can you assume that just because men watch such things they will act in a callous and cruel manner, sexually or otherwise? It is true that the connection between mass-media exposure and human behavior is complex and not well understood. Social scientists, like most experts, argue both sides. I think the evidence clearly shows that in some cases pornography influences men's sexual behavior. But whatever one's view on that, this fact is not in question: Lots of men—including professors, bankers, and judges—pay money to watch those images and masturbate to orgasm watching those images. And they aren't simply images of sex. Often they are images of men being sexually cruel toward women. ...

I am not suggesting all men use pornography, or that all men who use pornography want material in which women are hurt and humiliated, or that all men who use pornography are bound to then want to hurt and humiliate women. I am simply saying that much of the pornography in the United States records scenes of women being hurt and humiliated; that men masturbate to orgasm to those images; and that those men are not deviants but are acting on the cultural norms that are widely taught. And I am suggesting that these facts should matter to us; they should scare us. ...

To criticize pornography is not repressive. To speak about what one knows and feels and dreams is, in fact, liberating. We are not free if we aren't free to talk about our desire for an egalitarian intimacy and sexuality that would reject pain and humiliation.

That is not prudishness or censorship. It is an attempt to claim the best parts of our common humanity—love, caring, empathy, solidarity. To do that is not to limit anyone. It is to say that people matter more than the profits of pornographers and the pleasure of pornography consumers. It is to say, simply, that women count as much as men.

In another research document, "Pornography and Sexual Violence," Professor Jensen summarizes the current research on the connection between pornography and sexual violence. He asserts that from both laboratory research and personal narratives one can argue, as Dr. Victor Cline and others have done, that pornography can: (1) be an important factor in shaping a male-dominant view of sexuality; (2) be used to initiate victims and break down their resistance to unwanted sexual activity; (3) contribute to a user's difficulty in separating sexual fantasy and reality; and (4) provide a training manual for abusers. This document also looks at how we define pornography, the consumption and effects of pornography, and the implications this has on policies and practices.

Earlier this year, Morality in Media president Robert Peters wrote a 35-page article, "The Link Between Pornography and Violent Sex Crimes," in which he argues that when common sense, anecdotal evidence, and social science research all point in the direction of a causal link between exposure to pornography and violent sexual crimes, the burden of proof should shift to those who say there is no link.