Date: 14.03.2019
A new survey from BBC Three suggests that almost a quarter (23 percent) of people aged 18-25 who watch porn think they might be addicted.
The survey of over 1,000 people, carried out online by Deltapoll for the BBC Three documentary, Porn Laid Bare, showed that over three quarters of young men (77 percent) and nearly half of young women (47 percent) admitted to watching pornography within the last month.
The three-part series follows six young Brits, with very different attitudes to pornography, as they undertake a journey to explore the ethics of porn in Spain’s booming sex industry.
The group includes a 24 year-woman who experienced physical symptoms of addiction from over-consumption of porn; a porn-obsessed 28 year-old man who attends porn conventions in his spare time; a 22 year-old female student who never watches porn as it goes against the feminist principles; a 24 year-old women who is considering a career as a porn actress, and two young men in their 20s who use porn recreationally.
Spending three weeks on a variety of pornographic sets across a spectrum of genres, the group discuss how porn has shaped their own views of sex, whilst asking tough questions about porn, which many believe demeans women and minorities as well as promoting violence and unsafe behaviour.
Witnessing the industry up close, the group challenge their own perceptions of the industry and openly reveal how porn has affected them in their own sex lives, to being more openly sexually to being desensitised to sex and feeling under pressure to perform.
Like some of the contributors in the programme, the survey suggests that over seven out of ten people (71 percent) agree that porn has given them ideas for things to try out sexually, with 52 percent in agreement that porn has played at least some role in helping them understand and explore their own sexuality.
However just under a quarter (24 percent) of those surveyed agreed they have felt pressured to do things that a partner has seen in porn and just under one in five (19 percent) agree that they have tried things they have seen in porn and regretted it. Over a third (35 percent) agrees that they have had riskier sex due to porn.
Similarly, nearly three quarters (74 percent) say the depictions of sex in porn are not realistic and just over a quarter (26 percent) said porn has had a negative impact on their body confidence, with one in five claiming porn has seriously made them consider plastic surgery.
However, on performing in porn, 52 percent agreed porn is a good way to make money and just over a quarter (26 percent) said they would like to perform in porn themselves, representing 32 percent of men versus 17 percent of women.
Over half (55 percent) of men said porn was their main source of sex education compared to one third of women (34 percent). Women are also much more concerned about how porn depicts other women, with 50 percent saying it dehumanises women.
Almost a third (30 percent) of young people surveyed that they believed porn is harmful to society and at its worst can seemingly promote violence, risk taking, and is produced in terrible conditions that feed the wider sex industry.
Porn Laid Bare is available on BBC Three from Thursday 14 March
All cast are available for interviews.
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