A quick, easy and anonymous sexual charge: New film shows how porn has become the default sexuality educator for young people
An interview with Porn Factor director Maree Crabbe Maree, there’s lots of things you could make films about. What led you to choose to make films about pornography? Through my work coordinating sexual violence prevention, sexual diversity and STI prevention programs with young people, I learnt that pornography was becoming a significant source of sexuality […]
Exposing kids to porn makes healthy respect based relationships impossible Collective Shout tells Senate inquiry
‘The proliferation and globalisation of hypersexualised imagery and pornographic themes has led to destructive ideas about sex and makes healthy sexual exploration almost impossible…the weight of evidence about the trends in online consumption of pornography by children and young people, and the harms associated with online consumption of pornography, point to the urgent need to […]
Porn before first kiss: MTR on ABC 7:30 Report
Porn’s distortions need addressing in schools say educators The ABC filmed me addressing students at Healthdale Christian College in Melbourne last Wednesday. Some of the students were interviewed – hear how well they articulate the issues! (click on image below for link to video) MELINDA TANKARD REIST, AUTHOR, ADVOCATE FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS: Our boys […]
13 year old girls as ‘Boner Garage’ click bait: the latest trend in the pornified worlds of teen girls
How sexualised behaviour has become the new normal While the content was disturbing, it was encouraging to wake up to the front page of The Australian on the weekend and see the issues myself and my colleagues write and speak about most days, reflected on the front page. A news piece titled ‘Click bait: kids […]
As long as he gets off….young women’s experiences of sex
I’m quoted in this article by Kasey Edwards in Daily Life today: …This is symptomatic of a broader attitude where sex is regarded as solely about male pleasure and male desires. The man decides and the woman provides. Women having sex for their own pleasure is rarely portrayed in popular culture, porn or even sex […]
What no one wants to talk about: how girl’s bodies are injured by porn using boys
How online porn is warping the behaviour of boys with girls When Big Porn Inc: Exposing the harms of the global pornography industry first came out, people would tell me they would read a chapter, then take a break, then read another chapter. Others would say they were too shocked to finish it. It was too […]
Sexual pressure and degradation: This is what porn has done to every woman I know
‘The pornographic vocabulary of sex as the violent debasement of the female body had seeped out from screens and into the lives of women’ There’s a shift happening. Perhaps not quite enough yet to call it a tipping point. But something is going on. When my colleagues and I were working on ‘Big Porn Inc: […]
Emma Watson’s speech isn’t the problem; the problem is liberal feminism
‘At least Emma isn’t advocating for sex predators. At least Emma isn’t advocating for pedophiles. At least Emma isn’t advocating for men who produce violent pornography. At least Emma isn’t advocating for human traffickers. At least Emma is advocating for women’ By Laura McNally Emma Watson’s speech at the UN has made headlines worldwide. […]
Pornography is a public health hazard
This year I’ve had the privilege of addressing a few thousand medical professionals at one-day seminars run by Health Ed around the country, most recently in Brisbane. My subject: ‘Is pornography becoming a public health issue?’ I’m finding it interesting that where it seemed only a few of us were once saying this, now there […]
Wolfwhistling is not a compliment. Stop pressuring us for nude pics. Don’t joke about our bodies. What girls want boys to know: personal appeals from the heart
Profound experiences with W.A students on my last roadtrip. Last month I spoke 27 times in three and a half weeks in the ACT, Queensland, Western Australia and New South Wales. I spoke on the objectification of women and sexualisation of girls in media and popular culture, the sexual world of the 21st century adolescent, […]
‘We are expected to be living, breathing sex dolls’: 17 year old on porn, boys and sex
Violence, Teenagers, and Gonzo Porn By Clara Bennathan Reprinted with permission. Posted originally on Bad Housekeeping I have seen a sixteen-year-old boy weeping in distress after getting a girl’s pube stuck in his teeth, I hear he was unshaven. I have seen boys showing each other porn on their iPhones on the train home from […]
I felt I was there to fulfil his needs: girls speak out about sexual pressure
MTR column Sunday Molly, 16, (at their request, only first names are used) was asleep in the home of a friend after a party a year ago when a boy snuck into the room. The schoolgirl from regional NSW says she felt powerless. ”I felt threatened. I guess I knew he wasn’t going to take […]