Researcher: 'Playboy' causes rape

Although baring it all for Playboy magazine may seem like a harmless endeavor, a University researcher said taking it all off may actually encourage rape. The number of reported rapes per state correlates with the circulation of pornography magazines in that state, according to Mary Anne Layden, director of education at the University's Center for Cognitive Therapy. "The number of sex magazines sold in a state is the best single predictor of how many rapes there will be in a state," she said. "Along with a few demographic variables, sex magazine circulation can explain 83 percent of the state-by-state variability in the number of rapes." Pornography magazines increase a man's likelihood to rape by altering his view of sexuality so as to increase permissiveness in sexual perpetration, she explained. "These men rate marriage and monogamy more negatively, rate their own partner's physical attractiveness more negatively, and even rate her as a person more negatively," Layden said. This is further evidenced by a study in which 65 percent of college males said they would rape if they would not get caught, she said. Layden said more support for the connection between the regular use of pornography and rape is evident in teenage boys' view of rape. She cited a study that found that of high school males ages 12 to 17, one in three said it is alright to rape a date if she is drunk, two in five said it is alright to rape her if they have been dating for six months and three in five said rape is alright if they plan to marry. According to Layden, common pornography consumption effects the viewer's sexual perspective by its dehumanization of sex. "Sexuality is supposed to be the most intimate physical expression of psychological and emotional intimacy," she said. "It should be the highest, most sacred, the quintessential act of the species. Instead the message of Playboy is that it is the most base act of the species. "Playboy says sex is about body parts, not human beings. It is about breasts and buttocks," Laden added. "It is about rape and strangers and children and groups and violence."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.