More porn research going on!

Hot on the heels of the research by Orlando C. in the previous post, I am made aware of another piece of research going on and asking for responses:

Pornography Research Online

The researchers are:

• Dr Clarissa Smith
• Feona Attwood
• Martin Barker

Our project is concerned with the everyday uses of pornography, and how the people who use it feel it fits into their lives. Pornography is of course a highly topical issue, subject to many opposing views and ‘strong opinions’. And we are not saying that there are no moral or political issues. But we are saying that the voices of users and enjoyers have been swamped. In fact, there is very little research that engages with the users of pornography, asking how, when and why they turn to it.

We want to gather the thoughts and responses of people who have chosen to use pornography of their own accord. We believe that there can be many different and complicated reasons for looking at pornography. We also don’t believe that all the materials that go under that label, ‘pornography’, are the same – only to be distinguished by how ‘extreme’ or ‘explicit’ they are.

It looks like a much more open attitude to porn (indeed, it appears that all three researchers have written, and given evidence in one way or another, against censorship of sexually explicit materials).