25 thoughts on “Utah is #1…”

1. Interesting…
   Ben and Lisa went to school with a guy who is now a pimp in Salt Lake City…
   and has his fingers in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Reno.. Big time operation. His Salt Lake City area is the most profitable.

   Interesting… yes suprizing no..
   The forbidden always seems to make things more appealing. Religion also
   makes some people stronger and others more rebellious.

2. I’m not at all surprised. Many child molestors end up being Christian ministers, pastors, etc.

   I don’t think it has much to do with these things being ‘forbidden.’ I think it has to do with a repressed individual taking liberties with those he sees as inferior. Certainly conservative religion promotes the idea that men are superior to women. And of course, children are easy prey to these ‘men of God.’

   Interesting that those people who aren’t affected by the backward way of thinking, in those areas not deemed Republican states have less of a need for porn.

   I think it relates to the drug war, and if drugs were legalized, taxed and dispensed at pharmacies, the usage of them would likely decrease.

   When you have authoritative, restrictive religion guiding the lives of many, this is pretty much what you can expect. IMO…

3. NOT SURPRISING AT ALL. Bishop tells 15 year old boy masterbating is evil and not to do it….righhhht. Poor Mormon boyz, at least they have their online porn. All forbidden.

4. When I read your post, my first thought was that I would have a lot to say on this topic… but now that I’ve sat down to say it, what seems to be coming out is a teenage-toned “well duh… no kidding…” Which is to say that Utah leading the nation in porn consumption comes as no surprise to me – I certainly would have expected it. Although the numbers surprised me some – 6 out of 1000 seems very, very low to me.
   I think there is a “forbidden factor,” but I don’t think that’s the primary force. I think it’s more because on-line porn can be and often is such a solitary activity. It allows for those who present a very religious or spiritual persona to the world to purse porn in a very private way – in a way they believe won’t be discovered. In Utah, I believe there is a strong sense that on-line porn is easily concealed and that it won’t be discovered or known to their friends and family, and that translates into them being more likely to participate. In my experience with church folks, particularly LDS church folks, that which can be easily swept under the rug is not nearly so grievous a sin as that which is on display for the world to see. They may privately beat themselves up over it, but the church won’t, because the church doesn’t need to know about it. And often, if the church does know about it, the church’s response will have a direct relationship to the degree to which the offense is known publically. (Here there could also be a whole lot of discussion on the church’s tendency to make some things public that shouldn’t be, but I’ll leave that discussion for another time.) Since on-line porn viewing is easily concealed, both by the participant and by his spiritual leaders if need be, I can see where it would be more in practice.
   Also, I feel compelled to mention that for years Utah has been known in the financial world as a haven for fraud. If you have a scam, (or an “opportunity”) run it in Utah because it’ll work there better than anywhere else.

5. I believe the study was for “paying” porn – which would rule out most minors, since they don’t have credit cards….

6. (I could be wrong on the paying part 🙂 – but don’t have time at the moment to go check it out… on my way out the door for a class)

7. I, for one, would like to thank all our Utah friends and family that support our porn star brothers and sisters. These are people who risk some really nasty STD’s and sometimes even death to bring us such cinematic marvels as ‘Crack Whores” and “Here comes Santa Claus”. I’m just afraid that this economy might cause this industry to shrivle.

8. No surprise whatsoever. Very interesting information.

   “Crack Whores,” huh Paul? I think I auditioned for that one a few years ago. Oh wait- nevermind. That was Hello Dolly. My bad.

9. (Oh- and I just barely noticed your cute little crab on the rock! He’s so cute!!)

10. Yes, interesting and thought provoking, and sad. I certainly don’t have the answers as to why, but it does make one wonder.

11. I would have to concur with most comments…growing up Mormon and sheltered in conservative Utah county (and gay to boot) my exposure and ablility to talk about what is the most basic of human instincts – the sex drive – was basically non-existant. So as I hit puberty and was interested – I had been conditioned and programmed to know that what I was constantly thinking about was not something you ever talked about.

    Hence my interest in the JC Penney catalog where his “junk was fighting against the fabric” was the best it was going to get and of course my interest had to be private. Until I was in my twenties and escaped Mormonism and found other people that were OK with being in the open about their lives (be it gay or straight) did I realize how cloistered I had been. The refusal to be open with sexuality in Mormonism and other religions absolutely fosters an addiction to porn because it can be in private.

    I will say that I still look through the towel and underwear section of my JC Penney catalog when it arrives, but with my handsome husband Paul by my side who needs that junk.

12. People look at porn for a number of reasons. I think in many cases, it’s an addiction that starts when young (either because of curiosity, peers, or as an escape from life), and becomes a biological habit that’s difficult to break, even into adulthood.

    No one knows the reasons why those in more conservative states have higher rates of porn purchases. These are people who are generally trying to avoid pornography, whether they’re successful at it or not. Maybe it does have to do with repressing natural tendencies. Or maybe these people are more visual, have stronger sex drives, have more money to buy porn, or aren’t as clever about getting it for free as their gay or liberal counterparts. Who knows?

13. Brandon, I’m speechless

14. Certainly there are many reasons for viewing porn – some healthy and some not so much…. but I do think there are obvious reasons why there may be more porn viewing among residents of the more conservative states 🙂

    Some of the previous comments triggered the thought that conservatism is typically (though not always) fed by more authoritarian religions…. those that use /create guilt and shame in it’s members if they have desires or thoughts (which may be perfectly normal) that the church deems inappropriate or shameful.

    When someone feels guilt and shame about sex, their sexual desires, what turns them on, they are more likely to find hidden/secret outlets for fulfilling those needs/desires because they are ashamed to include their partner – which in turn feeds the guilt/shame cycle (and is unhealthy in a relationship). Those with addictive personalities can certainly struggle with the addictive nature of porn, just as they would alcohol, food, shopping, drugs.

    Those with healthier / more self-accepting approaches to their sexuality don’t have the guilt/shame cycle because they are comfortable with their sexuality, sharing their desires with their partner, and don’t need to secretly seek out porn to meet the need/desire. Doesn’t mean they don’t LOOK at porn… it’s just not the secret/shame cycle.

    The part that is most interesting/aggrevating is when those who are most vocal about condemning certain thoughts/behaviors are actually secretly engaging in them….. and it happens far more often than people would like to believe.

15. why since I’m both gay and liberal – there must be a treasure trove of free stuff out there for me – and all of it bad for me.

16. I better update my gay liberal membership card. I didn’t know they were giving away free stuff. Up until now, everything’s been so hard to get, like equal rights, and respect.

17. Well, I’m already liberal…. if being gay will get me more free things maybe I should get one of the those membership cards too! 🙂

18. I understand the desire to defend a group one associates with, but the idea that the study found that more online porn is consumed in conservative states than liberal because conservatives are more visual, have more sex drive or money, or are less clever than liberals or gays is really reaching……..

    Also, the word “gay” (or “homosexual”) doesn’t even appear in the study….

    There ARE gay conservatives, you know 🙂

19. Liberals and gays are pretty clever, aren’t we ??? … And along with intellectuals and feminists we are down right scary at time … to some.

    Well, that statement was tied into ‘getting porn for free.’ But I think we’re pretty clever minus the porn – just for the sake of being clever. LOL..

    Allison, the idea of YOU with a membership card made me laugh…

20. In my defense, my comment was partially in jest and actually included a compliment to gays and liberals, although I can see how it might be misinterpreted.

    Porn is so easy to get for free on the Internet – just do a Google search, it’s hard to understand why anyone would pay money for it. I was just suggesting (in jest) that those who pay for porn aren’t smart enough to get it for free, or are so addicted, they don’t care. The only reason I mentioned gays and liberals was because of the following points on your post:

    “Residents of 27 states that passed laws banning gay marriages boasted 11% more porn subscribers than states that don’t explicitly restrict gay marriage.”

    “States that consume the most porn tend to be more conservative and religious than states with lower levels of porn consumption”

    I hope I didn’t offend anyone.

    I really have no idea why it’s higher, but I think many of the reasons suggested are possible. I think the idea of guilt/shame as a contributor especially has merit.

21. Your comments got me thinking about how conservative viewpoints often come from very religious people who feel that pornography isn’t something they should participate in. So, yes, if/when they do participate in it, of course it would be in secret, since it is most likely something they are ashamed of, and it therefore becomes an unhealthy way to express their sexuality. Makes sense. Thank you for helping me think through that. I don’t know why I was making it so difficult!

22. Hmmm … this thread reminded me of the ‘M’ word survey discussion on the old discussion site at “My Family” … (some of you were there)

    I remember almost a decade ago that it was stated that Utah county, the most LDS urban county in the world, I think, had the highest cable television consumption of adult movies in the country, so this survey doesn’t surprise me at all.

    I think a couple of factors may be at play here. In Utah’s predominately Mormon culture there is a pretty visible repression of many activities, that for the majority of the population are considered normal, and crossing “the line” can hurt you not only on religious lines, but on the job, etc. because consciously or subconsciously the population has prejudices based on those religious norms.

    This is one activity that can be done as a break from that repression and not have external indications, if you smoke, drink, or use drugs, you can be easily detected in public because of residual affects. It may be one of the few behaviors that can be undertaken with little chance of being discovered by lingering evidence.

    Like anything that stimulates the system, it can become addicting; just like food, gambling, skydiving, drinking, driving fast, etc. Some people would find no fault in a person addicted to food to the point of obesity that would shudder at someone who looked at an occasional picture of someone for which they found a sexual attraction.

    In most of those conservative states you will find religions that have similar social codes as the LDS, in fact I find the difference between Southern Baptists and LDS, from a cultural point of view to be almost non-existent (theological differences aside).

23. Ah yes, the legendary “M” word discussion from the ill reputed Roundtable site..

    It was a historical event that many of us shall not soon forget…

24. Being a card carrying Mormon. I know that the “church” has great concern over pornography and it’s hold on some members. It is talked about in almost every General Conference session. I think the ease of the internet has a lot to do with it. A very interesting study/report. Utah also has one of the highest bankruptcy rates in the nation.
    FYI

25. Just a side note…Mormons are not perfect. We have imperfect people in all religions claiming to be something or someone they are not or should be.