Originally Posted by Sands

There are several studies that hypothesize and preliminarily support the idea that access to pornography removes the "female mystique" in the mind's of men who watch pornography, and as such, it fosters a more accepting and healthy attitude toward sex, even to the point of reducing the rate of sexual assaults in areas that have easy access to said content.

If negative attitudes toward women are on the rise, then I have grave doubts that it's because of the prevalence and availability of hardcore content. This is tantamount to assuming that there is a rise in violent crime because of an increase in the production and release of violent video games (in the face of evidence to the contrary).