Why does Utah lead the United States in subscriptions to online adult entertainment?
Response
Is the Ranking Significant?
Professor Edelman mentioned in his paper that difference from the top state to the bottom state on this metric is rather small.
While Utah is also a participant in the worldwide pornography phenomenon, it is not significantly above other states in their participation. Of course the question still to be resolved is why Utah is the leader in this comparison.
Use of adult entertainment sites is very pervasive. The same report states, “As of June 2008, 36 percent of Internet users visit at least one adult website each month” (page 212).
What Makes Utah Different?
Utah has significant restrictions on the display and sales of hard core pornographic materials. The Utah Statutes [1] have the effect of making it much more difficult to get easy access to adult material. This forces those who might otherwise buy magazines or other adult materials to use the web to get access to that information. In Utah, access to most adult entertainment requires the use of the Internet. Therefore, the number of Internet users of pornography would be higher than states with different laws if all other factors were the same.
In an email with Deseret News, Edelman write, “one possibility is that Utah consumers find it difficult to obtain their desired adult entertainment through retail purchases. . . . As a result, Utah residents may be buying online (hence appearing in my dataset), whereas people elsewhere buy retail (hence not in my dataset).” [2]
Even though Utah started out as predominantly LDS, that is no longer the case. LDS population estimates for Utah suggest that they only make up 60% of the state with Salt Lake County barely over 50%. Even these figures will not give a complete pictures since many of those that are still considered members of the Church have no active involvement in the Church or feel a need to maintain Church standards.
“The forbidden is really tempting,” University of Utah sociology professor Theresa A. Martinez told Davidson. “Where you have a culture that is known for family values, morality and apple pie, you will also have curiosity and interest in the forbidden.”[4]
Do Some in Utah Have a Pornography Addiction?
Yes, of course, as do some throughout the rest of the United States. Interestingly, Utah is also more concerned about pornography addiction than any other state as shown by ranking in Google Trends. Using Utah as the baseline, the three top states for “pornography addiction” search request are 100% in Utah, 43% in Idaho and 23.5% in Tennessee, with Salt Lake City (100%), Boise, Idaho (41.5%)and Portland, Oregon (26.5%) as the three leading cities.
There are Pornography Addiction Support Group (PASG) meetings run by LDS Family Services throughout Utah most days of the week. LDS Family Services sponsors addiction recovery support meetings to assist individuals who desire freedom from addiction and a better life through gospel fellowship.
Conclusion
The difference between top and bottom state is small—it may be difficult to draw firm conclusions when relatively small numbers of people can make the difference in ranking.
Legal restrictions on other forms of pornography in Utah may make on-line sources the most attractive for those who seek this material.
The social/religious pressure against pornography in LDS culture may make the privacy of on-line access particularly appealing, as opposed to sex shops, porno theaters, magazine subscriptions or purchases, etc.
Utah has many characteristics which would tend to increase use in this type of study:
higher than average household income data
population that skews younger data
higher than average college graduates data
conservative legislation controlling pornography distribution via other channels
conservative ideas about religion, marriage, and God (perhaps at least partly due to the social stigma against pornography consumption that is not ‘hidden’ from others)
It is not clear, however, that the characteristics of Utah (e.g., less divorce, more education, younger) are necessarily bad things. Utah may represent a sort of “perfect storm” in this study in which a number of factors come together to boost its scores.
The Church, of course, abhors and repudiates both the production of pornography—which exploits the participants—and its consumption, since it is spiritually damaging and harmful to a healthy marital and sexual life.
en.fairmormon.org/Statistical_claims/Pornography_use_in_Utah
