In the pre-internet era, aside from an awkward birds and bees talk from Mum or Dad, teenagers learnt about sex from older siblings, other kids at school, sex education classes and the occasional pamphlet a well-intentioned parent might bring home.
Today, there’s a never-ending supply of information about sex online. And much of the content that informs teenagers is pornography. Some of it quite hardcore. Love and Sex in an Age of Pornography examines the impact that is having. Not only are kids seeing intercourse play out in an incredibly heightened, far from normal environment, but it’s influencing the way they approach sex in their own lives.
From the guy who thinks he has to pull the kinds of moves he’s seen porn performers use in videos to the girl who was traumatised by the inescapable visuals which constituted her introduction to adult sex, the prevalence of porn is shaping attitudes towards sex and the sexual experiences of today’s youth.
Love and Sex in an Age of Pornography also goes inside the porn industry to talk to online porn actors and the businessmen who make money from them. They reveal what is involved in being in the industry – and how an increasing number of young adults are completely comfortable getting naked and having sex in front of a camera.
It’s unsettling stuff for parents, but it’s also a reminder that the days of just having that brief awkward talk are long gone, and that parents have a responsibility to put what their children are seeing online into context. If porn is now part of kids’ sexual experience, it’s crucial it’s not the only information they have access to.
Watch Love and Sex in an Age of Pornography on Thursday 1 March at 9:05pm on SBS VICELAND and afterwards on SBS On Demand:
