Reading Response (6): How Porn Invades Our Personal Fantasies

1. What are the major ideas in the article? 
Gavrieli explores the major negative repercussions that arise from the act of watching pornography, and his personal reasons for not watching it anymore. He describes how porn brought anger and violence into his private fantasies that were not there to begin with. In this way, porn had invaded his mind-space and changed who he was as a person. Viewing pornography inherently creates a demand for pornography, which is, as Gavrieli defines it, essentially filmed prostitution. He creates a compelling narrative by deconstructing society's porn dependence, and challenging his audience to consider the implications of partaking in porn culture.

2. What serious questions/issues does the reading raise regarding gender and sexuality and young people? 
Gavrieli states that 90% of 12 year olds watch porn on a regular basis. This is a staggering statistic, and demonstrates how deeply rooted porn has become in our culture. Moreover, the message that this porn sends, especially to young men, is that being a good sexual partner means one thing: a large penis. This can paralyze young boys and lead to sexual violence as they attempt to act out pornographic fantasies. I think it is important to recognize that porn is a part of young peoples' life experience, and, as such, we must ensure we have a dialogue with young people about the representations they are witnessing, and how these representations are affecting them emotionally.

3. In what ways does this article reinforce, extend, challenge, or oppose your own views on gender and sexuality study/research/practice? 
This video extends my understanding of porn to include other forms of media which, as Gabrieli observes, are "porn with clothes on." It permeates our culture, along with its associated distorted  ideas of sexuality and sexual desire. In this way, even students who don't explicitly view pornography are still impacted by its far-reaching influence.

4. What do you take away from the reading in terms of your own gender inclusive practice as a future educator?
It is important to teach students a "nutrition of the mind." There is so much emphasis placed on healthy eating and lifestyle in our schools, so those ideas can be extended into healthy media consumption. Pairing discussions around physically safe sex with what it means to have emotionally safe sex would be a great classroom activity. Additionally, encouraging students to ask questions like "How will this video affect my perception of women?" or "What does this movie teach me about positive relationships?" will foster media literacy in students.