Portions of the following post were originally published by Newsweek.
Disclaimer: Some of the institutions discussed in the following article are religiously-affiliated. Fight the New Drug is a non-religious and non-legislative awareness and education organization hoping to provide access to resources that are helpful to those who need support. Including links and discussions about these organizations does not constitute an endorsement by Fight the New Drug.
Move over Starbucks, there’s a new group in town that’s trying to block porn from their WiFi networks—college men.
Eighty male students at Notre Dame University wrote an open letter in the school newspaper last school year, asking for a porn filter on the school’s WiFi.
“This filter would send the unequivocal message that pornography is an affront to human rights and catastrophic to individuals and relationships. We are calling for this action in order to stand up for the dignity of all people, especially women,” the letter read. “The overwhelming majority of contemporary pornography is literally filmed violence against women—violence somehow rendered invisible by the context.”
“Pornography is prostitution through the lens of a camera, but more abusive. It exploits the men and women involved, advances a twisted narrative about human sexuality and harms those who consume it.”
Related: Is There A Connection Between Porn Culture And Rape Culture?
Unfortunately, reports say that the request for a porn filter was denied by the University President. Even still, the fact that college guys took a very public stand and shared the harms of porn is a big deal.
Reports also say that since the letter was released last October, lead letter-writer Jim Martinson said he’s received emails from more than 40 students at other universities who want to install a filter on their own campuses.
Students at Ivy League schools like Harvard, Princeton, and the University of Pennsylvania also said they were excited by the idea, but were still figuring out how it could work on their campuses. At Princeton and Penn, students said they were already tabling and handing out fliers about the dangers of pornography on campus.
How would it work?
The students’ proposal was simple: install a filter on the campus WiFi that bars access to all websites that exist specifically to distribute porn. A petition in support of the measure was signed by more than 1,000 men and women at Notre Dame—more than a tenth of the student body.
Martinson’s open letter in the Notre Dame Observer drove home the point that pornography teaches men to objectify women, normalizes sexual assault, and exploits the men and women involved.
He’s on point, according to the available research. The vast majority of porn—violent or not—portrays men as powerful and in charge; while women are submissive and obedient. [1] Watching scene after scene of dehumanizing submission makes it start to seem normal. [2] It sets the stage for lopsided power dynamics in couple relationships and the gradual acceptance of verbal and physical aggression against women. [3] Research has confirmed that those who consume porn (even if it’s nonviolent) are more likely to support statements that promote abuse and sexual aggression toward women and girls. [4]
“The university has been very receptive,” Martinson said. “I’m confident that we’ll be able to get it done by the end of the year.”
Female students wrote their own letter supporting the initiative promoted by the campus men, according to a Newsweek report.
“The wide consumption of pornography does irreparable harm to relationships between Notre Dame men and women. This demeaning and often violent content encourages its users to place the selfish seeking of personal pleasure over the development of committed relationships,” the women’s response note read. “It makes people believe human connection consists of fleeting sexual intensity opened and closed as easily as a web browser. Thus, it essentially takes away the ability to love.”
And the movement to block porn on campuses is spreading from its Notre Dame epicenter.
To Princeton and beyond
Jack Whelan, an anti-porn advocate at Princeton, pointed to a recent video asking men to distinguish between porn scenes and stories of sexual assault.
“It’s not hard to draw a connection between men viewing that type of pornography and men acting in similar ways towards women,” Whelan said. “I think that it’s much easier to objectify women and to not see them as people when you’re simply viewing them as objects of sexual pleasure.”
Of course, these outspoken students have drawn the expected criticism from those who haven’t studied the issue in-depth and seen that the vast majority of research points to the toxic effects of porn on consumers, relationships, and our society.
But even aside from any criticism, this college movement is a huge deal considering the national issue of sexual assault on campuses. Clearly, this is one of the most relevant and important places to spread the facts.
Click here to read about how porn and sexual assault on college campuses are connected.
Filters are great, but let’s get to the root of the issue
Even though their request was denied, they made waves on campus and started meaningful conversations about porn’s influene in young people’s lives. We applaud the courageous students who spoke out and upped the status-quo of their campus’ accessibility to content that has been publicly declared by multiple states as the root of a health crisis. While filtering is great, education and awareness are even better.
Related: Invite Fight the New Drug to Give a Live Presentation on Your College or High School Campus
We believe that if people truly understood at their core how porn rewires a consumer’s brain, drives a wedge in relationships, and is connected to sex trafficking and exploitation, they’d choose not to consume it. It’s amazing to see how the momentum is building for students across the U.S. to take a stand against the normalization of porn, and we encourage every one of these students to pair their call for campus filtering with a call for education and awareness, like we know many of them are.
At the end of the day, all we can do is look at the facts—is porn something that’s contributing to a healthier rising generation, or is it promoting and normalizing behavior that society rightfully speaks out against, like abuse, incest, misogyny, and exploitation?
Bottom line:
