YNOT – Young, male Canadians who have never watched porn may need to be added to the endangered species list, according to researchers at Montreal University. The scientists had to abandon a planned study of the effect of porn on men when they couldn’t find subjects who had never viewed adult material.
Researchers intended to compare the behaviors of two groups of men: those who consume porn on a regular basis and porn virgins. Although they experienced no trouble enlisting the aid of porn consumers — in fact, the pool overflowed — but Montreal University professor Simon Louis Lajeunesse told the UK’s Daily Mail his team couldn’t round up a single young man for the second group.
“The objective of my work is to observe the impact of pornography on the sexuality of men, and how it shapes their perception of men and women,” Lajeunesse said. “We started our research by seeking men in their 20s who had never consumed pornography. But we couldn’t find any at all!”
In order to keep the research grant provided by the Interdisciplinary Research Center on Family Violence and Violence Against Women, Lajeunesse and his cohorts must drastically redesign their study or expand their subject net, he noted.
The study wasn’t a complete bust, though, Lajeunesse said. Researchers formed some interesting generalizations during their epic struggle to populate the subject pool:
- Single Canadian men watch porn for roughly 40 minutes three times a week, but their relationship partners watch only about 20 minutes 1.7 times weekly.
- The average heterosexual Canadian male starts viewing porn at age 10. At that age, boys are curious, but they quickly discard material they find offensive, frightening or otherwise don’t enjoy.
- As adults, Canadian men primarily seek content that falls in line with their concept of appropriate sexuality, which may be set as early as age 10.
Lajeunesse said all test subjects claimed to support gender equality and felt somewhat victimized by pornography.
“Pornography hasn’t changed their perception of women or their relationships, which they all want as harmonious and fulfilling as possible,” he told the Daily Mail. “Those who could not live out their fantasy in real life with their partner simply set aside the fantasy. The fantasy is broken in the real world, and men don’t want their partner to look like a porn star.”
