Pornography?tells us women can be used?and discarded

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

First we were the Chardonnay Capital, then the Chlamydia Capital, the Family Violence Capital and now the Porn Capital.

Gisborne people ranged from humoured to bemused to angry to learn from national media at the weekend that we spent the most time on a popular porn website — 10 minutes and 4 seconds per visit, 27 seconds longer than the average visit by a New Zealander.

At a meeting on Wednesday of a group trying to help men in our community who hit, abuse and control women to stop doing so, the sole female asked why no one in Gisborne was saying anything publicly about this. Watching pornography taught people to disrespect women, she said.

The first to respond said he was sick of Gisborne being portrayed by the highlighting of negative statistics — it’s not the place he knows. This was one porn website among many on the internet.

Another pointed out that Gisborne provides a relatively small sample size so is more likely to produce an outlying result that can have us in the news, and that this was about viewing time not the percentage of viewers.

One guy said it was a clever way to get free publicity.

Another who has written a few hard-hitting letters to the editor on family violence issues agreed with a comment about the silence that had always followed.

“There is a reaction, that’s good,” she said.

It made us all wonder, though, if this is part of the awful picture of family violence in our community.

The fact New Zealand had one of the highest ratios of women visiting the site, at 35 percent, could contribute to cycles and acceptance of violence. The age profile highlights how many young people “learn” about sex and relationships; 35 percent of Kiwi viewers were 18-24 years old (that will include younger people claiming to be 18 or older) and 25 percent were 25-34.

Perhaps confirming that our recent “capital” statuses are linked, the site’s marketers said this about our place: “This is a popular wine-making part of the country as well, where they clearly have a leisurely appreciation for the finer things in life.”