Author Identifier (ORCID)
Giselle Woodley: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7521-5001
Harrison W. See: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7349-0077
Lelia Green: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4587-4679
Abstract
Pornography use by teens is of growing concern to parents and communities. There is, however, often little differentiation made between the types of contents being consumed or exploration of the types of pornography teens are watching and why. This paper interrogates data collected from 49 qualitative interviews, including 19 follow-up interviews and 4× focus groups with teens. This paper explores teens’ perspectives on the types of pornography accessed by themselves and their peers, and popular categories of pornography more widely. Teens appear to view various types and genres of pornography, as do adults. Some teens prefer ‘ethical’ sources of porn, that depict female and/or mutual pleasure and offer diverse representation. Additionally, teens argue that pornography serves as a useful source of sexual information that parents and schools do not provide. This research aims to foreground the perceptions and experiences of teens, recognising that they have nuanced responses to pornography.
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
11-1-2025
Volume
197
Issue
1 Feature topic: AANZCA2024 Special Issue: ‘A moment to pause’
Publication Title
Media International Australia
Publisher
Sage
School
School of Arts and Humanities
RAS ID
88260
Funders
Australian Research Council
Grant Number
ARC Number : DP190102435
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
First Page
102
Last Page
120
Comments
Woodley, G., Zen, M., See, H. W., & Green, L. (2025). Critical young consumers: What types of porn do teens watch, and why? Media International Australia, 197(1), 102–120. https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878X251381395