Journal Articles
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/7915
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Item Pornographic aura, AI and the value of authenticity(Taylor and Francis Group, 2025-06-16) Easterbrook-Smith GThe emergence of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools which can produce images and video from text inputs has prompted questions about the impacts of the technology on the pornography industry. While there has been extensive research into the implications of pornographic deepfakes, work which addresses the impacts of generative AI images and video that do not mimic a specific person is presently limited. Authenticity in pornography refers to multiple concepts, ranging from the depiction of non-simulated acts to the representation of ‘authentic’ pleasure. Multiple types of pornographic authenticity add value to a scene and can enhance the viewers’ enjoyment. This article argues that generative AI is unlikely to significantly disrupt the pornography industry, because the material it produces lacks a kind of auratic authenticity which pornography that depicts human subjects does possess, ultimately undermining the pleasure derived by the viewer.Item Young adolescent men’s perspectives on risks and harmful impacts of pornography use(SAGE Publications, 2025-05-01) Vertongen R; Van Ommen C; Chamberlain KPornography use is often considered harmful, but what constitutes such harm is frequently vague and driven by adult perspectives about risk. This study aimed to explore how adolescents themselves understood harm and risk from pornography use. Thirteen male adolescents, 14 to 15 years old, were interviewed using in-depth interviews to understand their perspectives of risk and harm. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to identify three pertinent themes: pornography is risky and harmful, especially to naïve consumers; pornography is not harmful to me, because strategies of control can be used; and generational disparity, where differences between adult claims of harm and personal experiences were questioned. We propose adolescents’ concern for others’ wellbeing over their personal risks be considered as showing compassion. We conclude that adolescent perceptions of risk and harm are nuanced and insightful, and that adolescents can engage critically with pornography content to manage potential risks and harm.Item mHealth Technologies for Managing Problematic Pornography Use: Content Analysis.(JMIR Publications, 2022-10-13) Henry N; Donkin L; Williams M; Pedersen MBackground: Several mobile apps are currently available that purportedly help with managing pornography addiction. However, the utility of these apps is unclear, given the lack of literature on the effectiveness of mobile health solutions for problematic pornography use. Little is also known about the content, structure, and features of these apps. Objective: This study aims to characterize the purpose, content, and popularity of mobile apps that claim to manage pornography addiction. Methods: The phrase “pornography addiction” was entered as a search term in the app stores of the two major mobile phone platforms (Android and iOS). App features were categorized according to a coding scheme that contained 16 categories. Apps were included in the analysis if they were described as helpful for reducing pornography use, and data were extracted from the store descriptions of the apps. Metrics such as number of user ratings, mean rating score, and number of installations were analyzed on a per-feature basis. Results: In total, 170 apps from both app stores met the inclusion criteria. The five most common and popular features, both in terms of number of apps with each feature and minimum possible number of installations, were the ability to track the time since last relapse (apps with feature=72/170, 42.4%; minimum possible number of installations=6,388,000), tutorials and coaching (apps with feature=63/170, 37.1%; minimum possible number of installations=9,286,505), access to accountability partners or communities (apps with feature=51/170, 30%; minimum possible number of installations=5,544,500), content blocking or content monitoring (apps with feature=46/170, 27.1%; minimum possible number of installations=17,883,000), and a reward system for progress (apps with feature=34/170, 20%; minimum possible number of installations=4,425,300). Of these features, content-blocking apps had the highest minimum possible number of installations. Content blocking was also the most detected feature combination in a combinatorial analysis (with 28 apps having only this feature), but it also had the lowest mean consumer satisfaction rating (4.04) and second-lowest median rating (4.00) out of 5 stars. None of the apps reviewed contained references to literature that provided direct evidence for the app’s efficacy or safety. Conclusions: There are several apps with the potential to provide low- or zero-cost real-time interventions for people struggling to manage problematic pornography use. Popular app features include blockers of pornographic content, behavior monitoring, and tutorials that instruct users how to eliminate pornography use. However, there is currently no empirical evidence to support the effectiveness and safety of these apps. Further research is required to be able to provide recommendations about which apps (and app features) are safe for public consumption.Item How do youth, parents, and educators use discursive sexual scripts to make sense of youth engagement with internet pornography?(Taylor and Francis Group, 2022-12) Healy-Cullen S; Morison T; Ross K; Taylor JEIn this article, we explore how culturally available sexual scripts are drawn on to make meaning of young people’s engagement with internet pornography (IP). We draw on a version of sexual scripting theory developed by feminist discursive scholars to perform a critical thematic analysis of 24 interviews with parents, educators, and young people. We identify three main scripts commonly drawn on by participants to make sense of youth engagement with IP, namely: a script of harm, a heterosexual script, and a developmentalist script. These scripts, often interweaving with one another, were deployed in various ways, firstly, as ‘risk talk’ and, secondly, as ‘resistant talk’. While both adults and youth engaged with dominant (‘risk’) and alternative (‘resistant’) talk, adults primarily positioned youth within ‘risk talk’. We show how alternative ‘resistant talk’ disrupts common, scripted ways of accounting for youth engagement with IP in a way that demonstrates more nuanced sexual subjectivities – particularly among youth – than the traditional media effects paradigm acknowledges. Importantly, our findings show how, within discursive restraints, essentialized gender constructions can be resisted to position youth as agentic sexual subjects.Item What does it mean to be ‘porn literate’? Perspectives of young people, parents and teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand(Taylor and Francis Group, 5/04/2023) Healy-Cullen S; Morison T; Taylor J; Taylor KPorn literacy education is a pedagogical strategy responding to youth engagement with pornography through digital media. The approach is intended to increase young people's knowledge and awareness regarding the portrayal of sexuality in Internet pornography. However, what being 'porn literate' entails, and what a porn literacy education curricula should therefore include, is not a settled matter. Recognising the importance of end-user perspectives, 24 semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents, teachers and young people in Aotearoa (New Zealand) and analysed via critical, constructionist thematic analysis. Participants drew on a developmentalist discourse and a discourse of harm to construct porn literacy education as a way to inoculate young people against harmful effects, distortions of reality, and unhealthy messages. In addition to this dominant construction of porn literacy education, we identified talk that to some extent resisted these dominant discourses. Building on these instances of resistance, and asset-based constructions of youth based on their agency and capability, we point to an ethical sexual citizenship pedagogy as an alternative approach to porn literacy education.
