ABSTRACT
Why analyze visual sexual material? In this age of TV, videocassettes, and the Internet, visual sexual materials may have a greater impact on sexual attitudes, values, and behaviors than do written material. Visual stimuli may be more memorable than the written word because they are encoded and more easily retrievable in memory. When I show students the antipornography film, “Not a Love Story,” students frequently tell me that they cannot “get certain images out of their heads.” Given the popular culture's devotion to visual media, the socialization process may be influenced strongly by exposure to visual materials. In particular, young people are exposed to visual media that contain sexual material that may ultimately affect their understanding of sexuality.
