The Viewing Habits of Users of Sexually Explicit Movies: a Hawke’s Bay sample Venezia Kingi Elisabeth Poppelwell Report for the Office of Film and Literature Classification December 2005 Crime and Justice Research Centre Victoria University of Wellington ISBN 0-477-10010-4 Copyright Contents Foreword 3 Acknowledgements 4 Chapter 1 Introduction 6 Chapter Methodology 8 2.1 Methods 8 2.2 Ethical issues and safety procedures 8 2.3 Research methods and number of participants 9 2.4 Interview schedule and information sheet 9 2.5 Analysis of responses 10 2.7 Interviews 11 .8 Couples who were interviewed 14 .9 Women who were interviewed 14 .10 Maori participants 15 .11 Limitations of the research 15 Chapter 3 Findings 16 3.1 Introduction 16 3.2 Sourcing sexually explicit movies 16 3.3 Viewing sexually explicit movies 17 3.4 Viewing preferences 0 3.5 Reasons for viewing sexually explicit movies 1 3.6 Trying out activities seen in sexually explicit movies 3 3.7 Views on the content of sexually explicit movies 6 3.8 Internet usage 35 3.9 Other media usage 36 3.10 Views about watching sexually explicit movies 37 3.11 The impact of viewing sexually explicit movies 43 3.12 Is the sexual behaviour shown in movies realistic? 44 3.13 Views on who watches sexually explicit movies 46 3.14 Views on censorship of sexually explicit movies in New Zealand 48 3.15 Reasons for taking part in the research 50 3.16 In summary 5 Research for the Office of Film and Literature Classification Chapter 4 Comparing the two studies 55 4.1 Introduction 55 4.2 Samples 55 4.3 Sourcing sexually explicit movies 55 4.4 Viewing sexually explicit movies 55 4.5 Viewing preferences 57 4.6 Reasons for viewing sexually explicit movies 57 4.7 Internet usage 58 4.8 Other media usage 58 4.9 Views about watching sexually explicit movies 58 4.10 The impact of viewing sexually explicit movies 59 4.11 Are sexually explicit movies realistic? 59 4.12 Views on who watches sexually explicit movies 60 4.13 Views on censorship of sexually explicit movies in New Zealand 60 4.14 Reasons for taking part in the research 60 4.15 In conclusion 61 References 6 Appendices 63 Appendix 1 64 Appendix 2 67 Appendix 3 69 Appendix 4 70 The Viewing Habits of Users of Sexually Explicit Movies 3 Foreword In the year ended 30 June 2005, the Classification Office required that 417 of the 1,467 publications it classified that year carry labels advising consumers of “explicit sex”. We felt that obtaining some insight into how frequent viewers of such publications feel they are affected, or not, by viewing these publications, would assist the Office in performing a large part of its classification work. This year’s research took last year’s survey of frequent viewers of sexually explicit videos and DVDs to Hawke’s Bay. This gave us access to a mixed urban and rural population. Sixty-five people volunteered their time to talk to researchers from the Crime and Justice Research Centre of Victoria University of Wellington about how, why and when they viewed sexually explicit movies, and what effect they thought this had on them. They also answered questions about the stigma attached to viewing these movies. All of them responded to invitations addressed to “regular customers” that were left in nine retail video stores, two sex shops and a mobile library specialising in the rental of sexually explicit movies in Hawke’s Bay. Combined with last year’s survey, we now have a better understanding of the viewing behaviour and opinions of 110 self-selected frequent viewers of sexually explicit material, 34 of whom were between the ages of 20 and 24, 25 of whom said they were Christian, 23 of whom are women, 20 non-heterosexual and 18 Maori. One of the more interesting questions asked of viewers in Hawke’s Bay (but not of Wellington viewers) was about unsafe sex practices that are regularly depicted in sexually explicit movies. Viewers were roughly evenly split on whether it was appropriate for sexually explicit movies to show people having unprotected sex (54% inappropriate, 43% not inappropriate, 3% no opinion). When asked if the portrayal of unprotected sex in these movies might encourage viewers to have unprotected sex, 71% said yes, 26% no, and 3% had no view. Whether or not people actually do have unprotected sex after watching these depictions was not specifically asked or volunteered. Seventy-five percent of participants reported that they had tried out an activity that they had watched in a sexually explicit movie. None reported unprotected sex as one of the activities they had tried out as a result of having seen it in a sexually explicit movie. Although the sample size is too small and self-selected to be broadly representative, the researchers conclude that this report provides a good indication of the direction future research in this area should take. Once again, I am grateful for the candour of those people who participated in this research, and for the assistance of the video outlets, sex shops and mobile library that publicised this project to their regular customers. I would also like to thank Venezia Kingi and Elisabeth Poppelwell of the Crime and Justice Research Centre of Victoria University of Wellington, Information Unit manager David Wilson and advisor Zuleika Chang for their efforts in ensuring this research was completed and published. WK Hastings Chief Censor of Film and Literature Research for the Office of Film and Literature Classification 4 Acknowledgements This research was undertaken by the Crime and Justice Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington. We would like to thank all those who were involved in this research. We would like to thank the staff of the Office of Film and Literature Classification for their contribution to the questionnaire design and the video stores and sex shops whose staff distributed the information leaflets. We would also like to thank our colleagues at Victoria University who reviewed the draft report: Associate Professor Jenny Neale, Head of School, Social and Cultural Studies, Pat Mayhew, Director of the Crime and Justice Research Centre and Trevor Bradley of the Institute of Criminology. Finally, we would like to express our appreciation to the viewers of sexually explicit material from the Hawke’s Bay who volunteered to take part in this research. Without their willingness to share intimate details of their lives with us, this research would not have been possible. The Viewing Habits of Users of Sexually Explicit Movies 5 were single; some had children and some did CHAPTER 1 not; they worked, they were unemployed or they studied; some lived alone, some lived with INTRODUCTION flatmates and others with their families. Participants The history of film censorship in New Zealand provided information on their viewing habits and dates back to the beginning of the 20th shared their thoughts about censorship, the effects century (www.censorship.govt.nz). The current on them of watching sexually explicit movies and Office of Film and Literature Classification whether or not they felt stigmatised by this pastime. (the Office) was established by the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993. The In late 2004, the Office commissioned Office first opened in 1994 and is the government researchers at the Crime and Justice Research body responsible for classifying publications Centre to undertake a second study into the that may need to be restricted or banned. The viewing habits of users of sexually explicit Office acknowledges the importance of gauging material. The research had the following objectives: public opinion on various topics relevant to the censorship process and, therefore, commissions 1 To describe qualitatively the demographic research on a regular basis (for example, Barwick, characteristics of a small sample of users 2001; 2002). These research findings help the of sexually explict material living in the Office to stay in touch with public opinion. The Hawkes Bay. findings provide the Office with information on 2 To describe qualitatively: how members of the public perceive the statutory (i) the viewing habits (nature and frequency) of censorship criteria applied to sexually explicit1 some users of sexually explicit material living movies. in the Hawke’s Bay, including the reasons for and context in which they view the material and There has been a dearth of research into the their preferred material for viewing; and consumers of sexually explicit material (ii) some users’ reactions to their use of sexually (Barwick, 2001; 2002; 2003). In 2004 the Office explicit material. commissioned research to address this shortfall. Researchers from the Crime and Justice Research For the purposes of this research ‘sexually Centre at Victoria University of Wellington explicit material’ is defined as that which is nterviewed forty-six self-identified regular users classified by the Office as R18, with the of sexually explicit material from the greater descriptive note ‘contains explicit sex scenes’. This Wellington area (Kingi et al, 2004)3. The results is the material that is available from adult sex shops from this research somewhat dispelled myths of the and from the ‘adult section’ of video rental outlets. stereotypical viewer and described a diverse group of people from all walks of life who This report presents the findings of this research. watched sexually explicit movies. Although the Chapter 2 explains the methodology we have majority were men, viewers were young, used. Chapter 3 presents the research results and a middle-aged and older; they had partners or they summary of findings. Chapter 4 provides a comparison of the findings from the two research 1 This report uses the term ‘sexually explicit material’ rather than the sometimes contentious term ‘pornography’.