Pornography falls under what is referred to in the literature as SEM (
sexually explicit material
) and SEIM (
sexually explicit internet material). These are images, videos, gifs and clips created either professionally or amateurishly, depicting sexual activities in a clear and uncensored manner, with the purpose of arousing those who use them.
SEM and SEIM are divided into:
- affection-themed: this category refers to material that represents an intimate context, where sexual partners show affection for each other and sexual intercourse is a physical transposition of feelings of love and affection.
- Dominance-themed: this group instead depicts couples with one dominant partner (regardless of gender) imposing his or her desires on the other, often degrading him or her.
The second group instead depicts couples with one dominant partner (regardless of gender) imposing his or her desires on the other, often degrading him or her. - Violence-themed:
this third category finally shows a context of aggression and violence against one or more sexual partners, portraying punishment and physical pain, both mild and major.
For many years already, the literature has been questioning the possible negative consequences that pornography, SEMs, and SEIMs can cause to people who use them voluntarily, especially if they are adolescents and minors. Interesting, however, are the research insights that focus on unintentional and accidental exposure.
It is important to note that this content includes pornography, but it is not solely pornographic: it can be traced within song lyrics, social media, advertisements, and television programs. When they are not exclusively explicit content, they are instead referred to as Sexual Media.
The meta-analysis by Coyne and colleagues describes how unwanted exposure to SEM in the media positively correlates with more permissive sexual attitudes, greater acceptance of the rape myth, and more risky sexual activities, especially for young adults and adolescents.
Just about this age, Vandenbosch(2015), in a study conducted with 13- to 17-year-old boys, attests that 72.6 percent of the sample claims to have been exposed to SEIM in the past 6 months; boys are more likely to be exposed to this content than girls; finally, older adolescents are more likely to be exposed to violent and dominant content (dominance-themed, and violence-themed) than younger people.
