There is an easy explanation: the women in Idaho are hot, while the women in Utah are ugly and fat.

So why the on-line porn issue? I think it does have to do with availability. My teenagers tell me that all their high school friends use porn – her in new Jersey. It is so ubiquitous in the culture that it’s like posters on the wall – no big deal. Utah just has more restrictions on the sale of pornography. The question is why do outsiders care if the LDS have a higher use rate, if the outsiders think porn is not problematic – even healthy.

Why look at this only in a negative way? Maybe Utah males are the most virile, most passionate, and the horninest. Is this a problem for outsiders?

Have you heard of Covenant Eyes accountability software? – http://www.CovenantEyes.com

Software programs currently exist that block porn.. In my experience they block so many websites they are impossible for adults to use. It would probably block this page simply because it references porn.

I have found accountability software to work quite well. The accountability software only sends questionable websites to the people you choose. If you fiddle with the program (like uninstall it, install another browser, etc.) it will also notify your accountabiilty partner(s). It might not be the solution for everyone, but I find it to be the best option.

i think personally that the accountability software sparks far too much of 1984

that is of course just my own opinion

It’s not just the difference between Utah and Idaho.

Why the difference between Tennessee and the surrounding states?

Why the difference between New York and New Jersey?

Something is explaining this besides religion.

Oh… and I think is extremely lame to proscribe charges of hypocrisy based on state level data. Why not look at studies that directly measure a persons religious commitment as well as their level of pornography use? Those tend to show a very slight negative effect on the use of pornography among religious folk.

Generally speaking, women are not sexually stimulated in quite the same fashion as men, and many women do not find sexually explicit images to be enticing in quite the same way as most men do. So we find that women typically do not view the same pornography as men.

Pornographic material for women tends to run more like a romance novel with sexually explicit scenes rather than a picture book, at least classically speaking. Women looking at a magazine with scantily clad women are likely looking for fashion tips, and women looking at nearly (or completely) naked men are really quite not as common. Living near Philadelphia, it’s pretty simple to think of the radio & other ads I hear for various clubs for men, but I haven’t heard of a single club catering to women to see male dancers. It’s just not quite the same thing at all.

Concerned about pornography among LDS women? Look at the books they are reading–I’d bet money that they get more sexual stimulation out of that than most of the pornography made for men.

But AJ, you are right about one thing–pornography is NOT just limited to men. But the form of pornography is exceptionally different by gender. This is hardly shocking.

Of course my major concern is what to do about it. Shame and guilt are clearly not effecting the deep and abiding change desired by the church.

What worked for me? Clarity and honest with spouse, lack of judgment for slip-ups, but most of all, greater self-discovery to uncover the underlying causes of my propensity for pr0n. For me, it was stress triggered, particularly as I felt that my life was spinning out of control. Not out of control in the making terrible life choices, neglecting family and friends, spending money profligately, using other forms of drugs, escalating sexual interests to sexual encounters, or anything of the sort. The spinning out of control was more because I sensed my life being programmed for me, and I was walking in lock-step with every “best”, “ideal”, or “expected” decision. Pr0n was a secret means of escape from that feeling of entrapment, and a way of taking control over one aspect of my own life without. Of course, continuing to outwardly make the “right” choices while harboring the secret within caused a lot of dissonance, angst, dread, guilt, and sometimes despair.

Now I make sure I feel in control to pursue my own interests in life and express myself in ways that satisfy _me_, not necessarily others. After the withdrawal symptoms associated with regular pr0n subside after a couple weeks, the urge to seek out pr0n again stays low as long as I’m focused on things that bring me personal satisfaction in other realms (scholarship, reading for pleasure, exercise and sports, spending time with children, etc.)

1. Urban Utah men are more committed to refraining from physical intimacy outside of marriage so they are more likely to satisfy the craving for excitement with pornography and therefore more likely to develop addiction to online pornography? Men with less commitment to sex outside of marriage are less likely to fret about affairs or relationships with regular non-marital partners.

2. Bisexual Urban Utah men may tend to be in more traditional heterosexual type relationships, but may use electronic entertainment to indulge the other aspect of their sexuality rather than have extramarital relationships.

We’ve heard warnings about how involvment in pornography can lead someone to go down a path to actual physical intimacy against the law of chastity, but is it also possible that people who use porn stay strictly with porn??

Always the nitpicker, I have three pretty serious issues with the study that produced this report – or, more accurately, some of the conclusions. I am NOT saying this isn’t a problem in the Church, because it is, but . . .

1) The percent differences are absolutely tiny – so tiny that they could disappear easily with the addition of even one other provider in the study.

2) The study states pretty clearly that an increase in 15-24 year old citizens is the biggest indicator of an increased rate. That increase alone more than makes up the difference between Utah and most of the other states, including Idaho.

3) Utah’s religious population is divided denominationally by rural/urban factors more than any other state. Iow, Utah is over 90% LDS in most rural areas, while the state is 58% Mormon. That means that Salt Lake County is less than 50% Mormon now – probably quite a bit less than 50%. That simply means that the 58% LDS figure isn’t reflective of the group being measured, based on the criteria that were used.

Again, I’m not downplaying the impact of porn in the Church – and I thought, overall, it was a very well constructed study. I just had to get my nitpicking out of the way.

Joe P: Accountability software may work for you, and if it does, by all means, keep using it. I think the problem of pr0n is too big to be solved by something that constantly watches over your shoulder and reports your activities to stakeholders. That might reduce the availability of pr0n to a person, but will not stop the person from desiring pr0n. It may encourage ever more sneaky ways of accessing it without tripping the system. Attraction to the content is then coupled with the thrill of the chase.

For a great discussion on this topic, please see three posts over at BCC here, here, and here. It’s a long one, but extremely insightful.

For me, the pr0n problem in the LDS context is based on a few factors: 1) a culture of condemnation toward sexual expression (except in bonds of marriage, now to only _one_ wife, and historically for procreative purposes only, oh and, no self-pleasuring) fed by expectations about what a priesthood holder “should” be; 2) an implicit devaluation of women in cultural discourse and doctrinal practice that sadly favors their objectification, so that pr0n use doesn’t feel like much of an ethical violation; 3) a reflection about how poorly the Church confronts the interactions of power, gender, and sexuality (attempts to define appropriate masculine/feminine roles, responsibilities, and attitudes when reality is much messier than black and white idealism); and 4) an inability to discuss, much less promote, healthier attitudes about gender and sexuality because of deeply-ingrained cultural sensitivity (think letters to the editor at BYU about women and their one-strap backpacks, banishiment of Rodin’s Kiss from the BYU campus, or protests outside the Provo Victoria’s Secret).

Not all of these are the fault of the church, but are endemic to Judeo-Christian attitudes about sexuality, bodies, temptations, sin, etc. Some of it is definitely our own doing, however. What’s clear is that no one seems to know what to do about it.

I think the LDS church should suggest that all men that have a problem install accountability software on their computers. Preferably write their own software and make it available for free. Accountability software is very effective. It is installed on your computer and once a month it emails questionable websites (that were previously visited) to an accountability partner. This partner could easily be the bishop, other brothers, etc. In my experience men can’t beat this addiction on their own. They must have the help of other men. There is free accountability software available here for those that are interested: http://x3watch.com/