Aggressive and debasing: the real issues in porn debates

It's a well-worn political trick that you caricature and call your opponents names when you don't want to engage with the substance of their claims. In debates about porn, pornography advocates often seek to dismiss criticism by claiming that, for example, the critics have unresolved personal issues, are offended by sex other than that which fits an extremely narrow, conservative definition, or are engaging in a moral panic. No doubt there are some people who criticise porn for such reasons, just as there are some who are pro-porn precisely because they want to watch material in which women are objectified and humiliated. But to seek to dismiss all criticism of porn by inaccurately portraying the position of its critics is both intellectually fraudulent and an attempt to avoid the real issues at stake. Central to the 'porn debates' are two key concerns: the nature of contemporary pornography, and its impact on attitudes and behaviours. In exploring these issues, our film Love and Sex in an Age of Pornography tells two parallel stories: one of participants in the pornography industry, and the other of young people's engagement with pornography and its influence on their sexual understandings and experiences.