Pornography
(An Open Conversation)
Young people are exposed to an unprecedented range of media content, through an ever-growing number of channels and websites. Furthermore, the proportion of that content which is sexual or pornographic has increased considerably in recent years.
The presentation is prefaced with a discussion to gauge the different opinions already in the room about pornography and the flavour of the session is structured to feel more like an open discussion rather than a lecture.
After hearing the initial responses from pupils, Isla’s talk will discuss the following areas:
- How pornography has developed
- How pornography affects the mind and can lead to addiction
- How pornography increases our objectification of others
- How pornography can affect our self esteem
- How pornography can harm relationships
- How pornography can harm our expectations of sex
- How pornography can lead to a less satisfying sex life
The conversation then proceeds to explore ideas about consent, communication and intimacy which are predominantly absent in porn and aims to encourage safe, consensual and communicative sex.
At the beginning and end of the talk Isla asks young people to reflect on the following:
“We have a choice in life, we can either use people and love things or use things and love people”.
Isla has now been delivering this talk in schools for over 5 years to thousands of pupils nationwide. The talk focuses on encouraging pupils to think critically about pornography, issues surrounding it and the differences between porn’s portrayal of sex and relationships, and reality.
Isla van Tricht was educated at York University and RADA. She is a playwright and theatre producer for Shrapnel Theatre Company.