As "porn culture" has gone mainstream—from adult film actress Jenna Jameson’s runaway bestseller "How to Make Love Like a Porn Star," to the popular television show "The Girls Next Door," to the increasing amount of skin seen just about everywhere—attitudes toward pornography and adult entertainment have shifted on Albion’s campus.

With the "pornification" of America, pornography is no longer the lighting rod for controversy it was a generation ago. Instead, for many Albion students and staff, pornography is simply another word for titillation.

When Anne Hunter, 1981 graduate, college trustee and president of Marketing Source U.S.A., was a student at Albion College, it was "racy" to have an R-rated movie on campus, because "that would’ve created a buzz."

"I cannot remember a person—male or female—who possessed or consumed pornography," Hunter said. "[Back then] if you wanted pornography, you had to seek it—now you can’t avoid it.

"It’s amazing how much things have changed in the last 25 years."

Today while topics of sex and pornography still maintain taboo status in some circles, in a recent survey of 100 male and female Albion students, half of the 29 respondents admitted to watching pornography.

One student, who requested anonymity, was typical of the respondents who said they view pornography on DVDs and the Internet.

"They all have their own benefits," the student said regarding DVDs and Internet porn. "DVDs offer a high definition, bigger screen, plus other features like zoom, slow motion, fast forward and you can watch DVDs with your friends.

"Internet [porn] is usually free and the computer porn collection is usually very personal."

Students like Kathy Thompson, Madison Heights senior, also said that partaking in the culture of pornography is common among students.

"I view porn three to four times a week, because my boyfriend is at home, so my sex supply isn’t here [at Albion]," Thompson said. "And I think that’s completely normal."

Several people interviewed for this story pointed to the recent opening of the new Lion’s Den adult DVD and toy store six miles from Albion’s campus as an example of pornography encroaching on Albion.

"Sex is everywhere on Albion’s campus," Thompson said. "You can see it anywhere from people’s dress to campus events like Anchorsplash, where women in bikinis and men in Speedos dance provocatively for an audience of students, faculty and families."

Students’ accepting attitudes toward pornography, as shown in the survey, do not end with the Internet or DVDs. More than 50 percent of respondents said they have been to a strip club, and 24 percent of the respondents stated that they have dated or could foresee themselves dating a stripper.

"If I wasn’t in a serious long term relationship, dating a stripper wouldn’t be a big deal," said an anonymous male student, typical of those who dismissed any stigma about visiting strip clubs or dating strippers.

An anonymous female student stated that she has previously dated a stripper.

"I was pretty open about dating a stripper with my friends, but not with my family," she said. "I didn’t date him expecting to be with him forever—it was just something to do."

One staff member who requested anonymity stated that he knows of other staff and faculty who "have been caught up in the web of Internet pornography."

The same staff member also stated that when he was in college, he and his friends did not know anything about strip clubs.

"When I was a student, I didn’t even know where to find a strip club," he said. "Then later in life I met, and even dated, a stripper."

Some students believe pornography can be harmful to the people that view and participate in sexual acts.

"[Viewing] pornography can desensitize us from having emotional connections with our partners," said Austin Gee, Ann Arbor senior. "If sex becomes nothing but physical, about random people hooking up, it’s not only degrading to the people in it, but it also degrades the people watching it.

"Emotional connection [during sexual acts] is the point, and if that connection is not there, then the sexual acts are not meaningful."

Trisha Franzen, professor of women’s studies, believes that one of the biggest problems society faces is the need for more educational discussion on the representation of sexuality and pornography.

"Sex sells; sex has always sold and it is the commercial popular culture that is framing the discussions," Franzen said. "We need to balance and critique popular culture through education and public discussions.

"We don’t have a full public discourse on sexuality. We should be teaching our children about respecting themselves both physically and emotionally."

For however long the commercial popular culture continues to frame the discussions, most people interviewed believe that pornography is here to stay.

"With prevalence and easy availability of porn on the internet, and with the ‘pornification’ of society in terms of what is now acceptable in print, T.V., music, radio, movies, advertisements—all stuff that wasn’t acceptable 10 years or a generation ago—people under 25 are much more accepting of what older generations would call ‘pornographic’ or ‘obscene,’" said an anonymous staff member. "Porn has always been there.