Legal Commentary

That Explains It

By David Bernstein

Washington Times:

Pornography normalizes sexual harm, Dr. Cooper said. It shows children a lack of any kind of emotional commitment or relationship between two consensual partners, shows unprotected sexual contact and visual examples often of violent rape.

?When a child sees this image of adult pornography, the mirror neurons that are in their brain will convince them that they are actually experiencing what they are seeing,? she said.

Children are very vulnerable as compared to adults because of the presence of mirror neurons in the brain, Dr. Cooper said. Mirror neurons are part of the brain that convince us that when we see something we are actually experiencing it.

I?ve wondered for years why, when I eight, I thought I lived on a lush island with a giant puppet with a huge head, an Australian boy with a talking flute, and a witch with a very strange nose. So now I know.

Full post as published by The Volokh Conspiracy on June 17, 2010 (boomark / email).