So. I have a lot to say about this idea of “banning porn”. I speak at universities and confs about this idea - specifically porn literacy as media literacy as an alternative to banning porn (which is impossible and dangerous). So here’s a thread.
1- banning porn is essentially impossible, and people that purport to want it banned for “performer safety” don’t realize that prohibition of a thing always makes it LESS SAFE. There’s still a market for it, but the market goes underground, in secret, away from resources and help
2- being afraid of sexuality does nothing to encourage healthy sexuality. Young people use porn as a resource because we are failing them in sex Ed. They use it for reference on physical, emotional, aural, social cues, because they don’t have real world experience and can’t ask.
3- young people are sexual beings. You did not have a child to be a perfect little angel. You had a human with sexual urges (maybe, some folks are asexual), and that person requires education and literacy to process the sexualized media they consume day to day.
4- sexual cues in media start from a young age, with relationship structures in books, tv, magazines, etc. the babysitters club is sexual media in a way, because it models crushes on boyz and describes what that’s like. Media sexual cues are EVERYWHERE.
5- Porn is another form of media with sexual cues. They are overt instead of covert. But while young people can ask about popular media, porn is supposed to be some sort of shameful secret. And THAT, folks, is the problem.
6- studies have shown that when a group of young adults were shown pornographic films depicting scenes of non-consent, they can come out with rape-supportive beliefs. BUT. Give an educational pre- or de-briefing? That result flips to a significant drop in rape supportive beliefs.
That is to say, a 30-0 second talk about how the content is “actors portraying a scene, and does not represent how women like to be treated during sex” means people come out with fewer rape-supportive beliefs than when they even walked in the room.
8- All that we have to do is fucking talk about it. From a young age, this can be modeled by talking about non explicit sexual media (babysitters club right?), moving on to advertisements and other more age appropriate media, finally leading on to the fact that porn exists.
9- when we ban porn, what we are banning is *certain* sexually explicit content. We ban kinks. We ban genuine female pleasure (like squirting, fisting, etc). We still get idealized sexual media from TV and movies. The rest is “deviant” and no longer gets represented.
10- I have done screenings where people approach me in tears because they finally saw their sexuality or their kink displayed in a realistic, fun way. I’m here for those people that aren’t represented by TV and movies. Queer voices are (often) sexual, and will not be silenced.
11- BUT I’m also here for straight, cis, mainstream porn if it was created with consent (most is). We have this idea that all sex workers need to be “saved”, and it is BULLSHIT. We need sex workers and their stories and realities, and we need them to be safe. Bans are not safe.
We need to talk about sexuality, not repress it further. Literally every study shows this. It shows that it reduces risks, increases pleasure, and can even reduce rape-supportive beliefs. DO WE NOT WANT THAT??
And don’t even get me started on queer POC youth using porn as their only sex ed reference because they do not at all feel represented by mainstream sexual education programs. We are failing young people. Drawing the curtains tighter will help NO ONE.
