France — The notion that sex workers, performers and adult content are not appropriate proxies for sex education is something members of the porn community are well aware of. Occasionally, perhaps when a big enough name in the business points it out, the mainstream media attempts to engage this idea as well – often with somewhat mixed results.
Case in point: On Jan. 15 2018, retired French performer Nikita Bellucci explained on Twitter that she’s tired of receiving messages from people as young as 12. She stated she believes it’s up to parents (and/or parent figures) to teach young people how to behave and to prevent them accessing age-inappropriate websites.
Bellucci wrote, “I’m getting fed up of educating your kids… Stop offloading your responsibilities onto sex workers.”
Aside for the outlandish audacity necessary to demand parents be responsible for the behavior of their offspring, there is nothing especially wild about Belluci’s decree. The Independent felt compelled to report on it anyway though – and it’s the tone of said reporting where things go off the rails.
For instance, the outlet reported that Bellucci “admits” young people find porn too easily – as if ease of access of porn online is somehow within her control, or the control of content producers. In today’s marketplace however, aside from being “guilty” of creating content in the first place, performers and producers have little to no control over access to their content on the internet. That honor goes to everyone from Google to piracy-based tube sites.
Bellucci continued her thread by stating that it’s not acceptable or appropriate for young boys to be sending porn stars messages asking for nude pictures, asking for their first sexual experience or asking to kiss them. She even included screen grabs. She concluded by calling on parents to “reflect on what your kids are doing in private, and the consequences of that.”
The issue of age-inappropriate porn access is currently being treated very seriously in France. In November of 2017, President Emmanuel Macron gave a speech about ending violence against women in which he addressed the issue, explaining that he plans to increase controls on X-rated content and improve education about pornography.
There are a lot of issues embedded in Macron’s declaration – the notion that regulating porn would not-just-impact-but-end violence against women, when a direct correlation between the two has never been shown; the call to increase controls; the call to improve education. Taken collectively, there is a significant mixing and juxtaopising of issues being showcased.
Though education about adult content – presumably informing people of all age groups about sexual fantasy (porn) versus sexual reality – sounds great, there would have to first be educators familiar with the issues. And there are not; or, there are very few.
Further, Macron was quoted in The Independent as saying: “The CSA [France’s broadcasting regulator] plays an indispensable role in regulating audiovisual content everywhere and stopping the most undignified behavior becoming a form of tacit propaganda.” This sentiment – limiting the influence of “the most undignified behavior” — points to censorship over regulation. In other words, blockading what the powers that be find unsavory or undignified in lieu of simply limiting content access to people outside age-appropriate demographics..
So though Bellucci’s efforts to call out parties truly responsible for regulating the behaviors of young people is commendable, the undercurrent of reporting on the issue points to sex negativity and porn-blaming. In other words, business as usual.
