Louise Perry, a writer and campaigner focused on sexual culture, delves into the disturbing effects of the online porn industry. She argues that digital porn has commodified sex, normalizing extreme content that reshapes sexual culture. Perry compares the porn industry's impact to that of 'big tobacco,' highlighting its role in sexual disenchantment and the rise of harmful behaviors. She calls for regulating this multibillion-dollar industry to safeguard individuals, exposing the exploitation behind platforms like OnlyFans, which profit from sexual commodification.
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insights INSIGHT
Sexual Disenchantment And Commodification
Louise Perry argues sexual disenchantment treats sex as morally neutral and fully commodifiable.
That view risks excusing harmful practices by stripping sex of special ethical status.
insights INSIGHT
Digital Porn Is A Different Beast
Perry says digital porn is qualitatively different from past erotic media because it's ubiquitous and extreme.
She warns a generation's sexual norms are being shaped by profit-driven platforms, not culture or relationships.
insights INSIGHT
Platforms Shape Sexual Scripts
Perry highlights platform design that normalises specific sexual acts via front-page exposure.
She links learned sexual scripts to repeated stylized images rather than personal early experiences.
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Expert Louise Perry discusses the idea of sexual disenchantment, the commodification of sex, and the impact of the online porn industry on society.
Should we treat “big porn” in the same way we treat industries like “big tobacco”? Journalist Louise Perry thinks so. In her book, The Case Against the Sexual Revolution, Perry discusses the idea of sexual disenchantment, the commodification of sex, and the impact of the online porn industry on society.
She argues that the multibillion-dollar global industry is qualitatively different from past exposure to porn, as it normalizes extreme content and affects the sexual culture of an entire generation. Perry likens porn to "super stimuli" that tap into the natural drive for reproduction but exaggerate it in a maladaptive way, similar to fast food. She also critiques platforms like OnlyFans, noting that while it may appear to cut out the middleman, the platform itself still profits from sexual exploitation.
Perry expresses concern that despite many people having a robust critique of capitalism in other industries like gambling or junk food, they hesitate to apply the same scrutiny to the porn industry. But that may be changing.
0:00 Sexual disenchantment
0:29 Sex: It’s not private, it’s networked
1:06 A different beast: Digital porn
2:03 The rise of strangulation
3:07 Limbic capitalism & “super stimuli”
4:21 OnlyFans
4:52 The porn industry
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About Louise Perry:
Louise Perry is a writer and campaigner based in London, UK. She is a columnist at the New Statesman and a features writer for the Daily Mail. Her debut book, The Case Against the Sexual Revolution: A New Guide to Sex in the 21st Century, is published by Polity.
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