What would porn look like without patriarchy? Around half of British men watch it regularly. With no payment or age verification required, and minimal content moderation, porn sites proudly showcase the most horrifying aspects of the human imagination for all to see – whether you’re searching for it or not. The consequences evidently transcend our screens. Porn addiction runs rampant. ‘Revenge porn’ is ruining women’s lives – a threat only magnified by the development of deepfakes and AI. Boys are bored by actual physical intimacy. Girls are being choked. An entire generation’s sexual education is being delivered via Pornhub; fantasies moulded and manipulated by violent, degrading, misogynistic and racist ideals. This isn’t just porn, it’s patriarchal porn. And it’s everywhere. Today Big Porn promotes the most extreme content as if it were routine. By allowing this in the mainstream, we are sustaining the conditions under which sexual violence thrives in the real world. If we care about gender equality, we have to address this now. KC Clare McGlynn has already helped criminalise ‘rape porn’ as a searchable category. In Exposed, she explores how we can realistically resist this unending exploitation of desire despite Big Tech’s greed and lack of humanity.
