Overview

They say everybody uses porn. They’re wrong. People don’t use pornography: it uses us. And you don’t have to watch it to be one of its victims. In this thought-provoking and timely book, Jo Bartosch and Robert Jessel expose how the multi-billion-dollar pornography industry has humanity gripped in a chokehold. From rewiring our brains and normalising sexual violence, to shaping new protest movements, the pornographic revolution has achieved a stunning and near-total victory. The triumph of the pornocrats is made more sinister by society’s widespread acceptance that ‘all men watch porn’, the denial of its devastating harms, and a lack of political will to curb the power of the global pornography business. The authors answer the questions that politicians and policymakers are too scared to ask. Why, despite over half a century of feminist gains and lessons in schools on ‘consent’, do today’s school children display more sexist attitudes than their parents and grandparents? Do women really want to be choked and humiliated in bed? How can we fight back and reclaim sex, love and relationships? Drawing on the latest research, Pornocracy charts how the neurological shifts caused by porn use reverberate through society. The book also warns of a dystopian future where AI-powered porn and sextech threaten to reduce us all to masturbating meat puppets on an algorithmic production line. Provocative and powerful, Pornocracy tells the story of how pornography fundamentally changed—perhaps forever—what it is to be human.

Full Product Details

9781509565139

Table of Contents

Reviews

“A terrifying, urgent and necessary book that reveals the cost to all of us of living in the world that porn built. You won’t read anything more important this year.” Helen Joyce, author of Trans: Gender Identity and the New Battle for Women's Rights “Pornocracy is a searing indictment of pornography’s pervasive influence on how we have sex, see each other, and live our daily lives. With clarity, evidence, and passion, it documents how pornography teaches sexism, harms relationships, and feeds sexual violence."" Professor Michael Flood, author of Engaging Men and Boys in Violence Prevention “Pornocracy is a howl of resistance against the machinery of mass degradation. In this compelling and urgent work, Bartosch and Jessel lay bare how porn is reshaping our brains, our relationships, and our culture. We’re at a crossroads: one path leads to deeper dehumanisation; the other demands we reclaim sex, love and dignity. Read this book. Then choose your side.” Derrick Jensen, ecophilosopher and author of Language Older Than Words and Endgame “Every parent and every lawmaker should read this book. Pornocracy is enlightening and terrifying—vividly showing how the pornification of our culture is hardwiring our brains into a dystopian view of sex, women and children that threatens our whole society. If you think it's prudish to worry about Pornhub or Only Fans, this book will tell you why you're wrong and why we need to act now-before it's too late.” Julia Hartley-Brewer, broadcaster and journalist

Author Information

Jo Bartosch is a journalist, women’s rights advocate and assistant editor at The Critic. Robert Jessel is a writer and campaigner with a particular focus on child exploitation, competing rights claims, freedom of speech, and the impact of new technology on humanity.

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