September 2016, Volume 20, Issue 3, pp 657–683 | Cite as
David A. Makin, Amber L. Morczek, Andrea Walker
Abstract
The way we access pornography has certainly changed over time, as has the depth and breadth of pornographic content. Yet, despite decades of research on the effects of pornography, far less is known about specific genres, consumption patterns, and the characteristics of those consuming varying types of content. Utilizing Google search trends and image searches, this research explores the interest and relationships at the macro level within the niche of youth-oriented pornography. Results indicate that interest varies based on gender, age, geographic origin, and income. Future research and policy implications based upon the findings are discussed.
Keywords – Youth-oriented pornography Lolita Hentai Amateur pornography Regional variation Market society Google trends
As our current research here can only speak to the trends illuminated from our analysis, future studies must be conducted in order to ascertain information regarding actual attitudes and behaviors associated with consuming youth-oriented pornography. Overall, the results indicate all three hypotheses were supported. We found that there has been a significant increase in the rate of interest within teenage pornography, amateur pornography, and Hentai inspired pornography, which is unsurprising given the popularity of the niches among and widespread availability content via pornographic hubs (Ogas and Gaddam 2011). Clearly the interest in youth-oriented pornography has increased over the past decade, and that increase appears to coincide with what Gill (2008, 2012) and others argue is the continued ‘‘sexualization of culture’’. Only the search interest in Lolita pornography has decreased, most likely a result of the antiquated terminology and decrease in popularity, as more specific queries have arisen. Moreover, the evidence supports our hypothesis that those seeking out these subgenres within the niche of teenage pornography are a heterogeneous population rather than a homogenous group. Not only does the interest in types of youth-oriented pornography vary, but so too do the characteristics of the consumers seeking out the varying niches examined here.
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