We need a better answer to porn than ethical porn

Driven by the so-called Triple A engine of the internet, access, affordability and anonymity, people encounter pornography at younger and younger ages.

How to respond to that reality is less clear. Even within feminism, there are different camps. One group declares that porn reflects and intensifies dangerous and sexist attitudes toward women because it objectifies and commodifies women. This group sees it as an intersectional issue because it also reflects and intensifies racist attitudes.

Another group of feminists see adult use of pornography as unproblematic, provided that it is produced under ethical conditions. Ethical porn, allegedly, is pornography produced legally (no underage or trafficked people), with fair pay, good working conditions, testing for sexually transmitted infections, and ongoing emphasis on consent for all the parties. Consumption of ethical porn is then an unproblematic leisure time activity.

You could argue that consent makes a reasonable foundation but a terrible ceiling when it comes to sexual activity but you could not argue that consent is not essential

Both groups agree that young people receiving education about sex from pornography is a problem because the vast majority of free porn is not only violent, misogynistic, racist and but also associated with trafficking and exploitation.

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There is a consultation under way about relationship and sexuality education at Junior Cycle level (for students aged 12-15). Which view of porn will prevail?

Much of the media attention has focused on consent and education about pornography. You could argue that consent makes a reasonable foundation but a terrible ceiling when it comes to sexual activity but you could not argue that consent is not essential.

The only reference to pornography in the 27-page consultation document is that students should be able to ‘investigate the influence of digital media (in particular, the influence of pornography) on young people’s understanding, expectations and social norms in relation to sexual expression.’

NUI Galway has been to the fore when it comes to consent education at third level and their programme, Active Consent, is cited as a resource in the toolkit for educators who will be designing the new Junior Cycle RSE.

Dr Kate Dawson, the pornography expert on Active Consent, who has been involved in primary and secondary RSE in the West of Ireland, has argued that what is needed is porn literacy — the ability to distinguish between good and bad porn

According to Journal.ie she said at the start of NUI Galway SMART Consent research, that “it is not good enough to just say that ‘porn is bad’ because it is not, people really enjoy watching it, there are a lot of positive uses, but people need to have the skills to make their own mind up about the content they see because porn is so varied”. Like others, this places Dawson in the “ethical porn is okay” category.

Let’s engage in a thought experiment involving any woman in the public eye. Her appearance, intelligence, professional competence and if she has children, parenting skills, are already probably a subject for commentary on social media.

If ethical porn is inherently unproblematic, if this woman also receives a query as to whether she has an (ethical) OnlyFans account, that is simply a pleasant potential transaction between consenting adults.

The problem with consent as the highest value — instead of simply the foundation — is that once it is present, it means that there are no further ethical questions

After all, she could simply answer yes or no and get on with her day. She certainly should not shame anyone making such a request or make them feel in any way odd for having asked.

(If you have no idea what OnlyFans is, you have no idea how much I envy you. You might think about not looking it up while at work, though.)

Except this is not how the world works. Most women would be repelled and offended by this request and see it as demeaning because it means that the person is being perceived as a source of sexual gratification rather than a human being.

The problem with consent as the highest value — instead of simply the foundation — is that once it is present, it means that there are no further ethical questions.

For example, Dr Dawson was involved in a work presented by Bedfellows at the Tate Modern in 2017, called “Porn as Pedagogy”. It featured short extracts from seven films that portrayed sexual activity ranging from felatio to BDSM — described as “consensual power exchange that included physical sensations like spanking, electricity and being blindfolded”.

It was produced under ethical conditions and Dawson and her fellow authors say, “if any porn exemplified what really good porn could be, this was it”.

Which view of pornography will prevail in the new relationships and sexuality education (RSE)? As parents we have to step up. We cannot conveniently subcontract sex education to schools. When opportunities occur, such as Billie Eilish saying late last year that porn destroyed her brain, use it as a way of asking casual questions like “do you think your friends would be comfortable discussing something like this with parents?” Be prepared for it to be awkward — lots of parenting is.

As adults we cannot abdicate, nor hide behind ideas like ethical porn, which is like suggesting a ten-euro inflatable mattress as an adequate response to a 30-metre high tsunami.

Make your views known on this consultation: ncca.ie/en/junior-cycle