Impacts of porn

In October last year I was involved in the filming of a documentary highlighting the harms of pornography on the brain. It’s essential this is acknowledged as an issue. Unfortunately, I’m hearing some very dismissive advice from untrained professionals when teens express concern. For instance, recently I reviewed the chat…

One of the fabulous things about being a sexologist is that you learn lots of things about humanity. The job title in itself beckons people to share their deepest secrets over a meal or casual drink. Last year was one such occasion. I had spoken at a sexual health conference and over…

Today, on November 25th, we recognise White Ribbon Day – Australia’s campaign to prevent men’s violence against women. There is definitely a part of the conversation missing: violence against women eroticised by pornography. Violence against women deserves copious amounts of attention while ever girls and women are being murdered or…

When something is ubiquitous, it is present, appearing, or found everywhere. omnipresent, ever-present, present everywhere, everywhere, all-over, all over the place, pervasive, all-pervasive, universal, worldwide, global, rife, prevalent, predominant, very common, popular, extensive, wide-ranging, far-reaching, inescapable Trying to ascertain exactly how much porn is on the web produces a myriad of conflicting results. One article indicated that claims vary from 4-30% of the Internet being sex…

Pornography is a ‘hot button’ and controversial topic. I often refer to it as the ‘naked elephant in the room’. Everyone knows it’s there, but no one really wants to acknowledge it. Porn is controversial because it’s divisive. There’s ‘Pro-Porn’ and ‘Anti-Porn’ sides. It’s as oppositional, if not more, as any…

It is important to understood exactly what is meant by the term ‘pornography’. It seems that definitions vary and are often open to interpretation. For instance, in 2009, researcher Michael Flood defined pornography as: Sexually explicit media that are primarily intended to sexually arouse the audience. It includes images of…