The University of Western Australia’s Public Policy Institute will host a groundbreaking panel addressing one of society's most controversial yet pervasive topics – pornography in the digital age.
Leading international and Australian experts will explore the intersection of porn, policy and public health at Policy Taboos: Let's Talk About...Pornology, Pornucation & Pornocracy at Fremantle’s Hybrid Warehouse on December 2.
Director of UWA Public Policy Institute and panel moderator Associate Professor Paul Maginn said while pornography had long been seen as outside mainstream culture, this was no longer the case.
“Pornography is a key facet of contemporary mainstream culture, evidenced by political concerns and rhetoric that pornography is a public health crisis,” Professor Maginn said.
“Simultaneously, as evidenced in my own research of Australian’s online porn habits, interest and curiosity in pornography has grown over the last decade, as reflected by the billions of visits to online adult entertainment websites each year.
“In recent years there’s also been an explosion in the number of ‘content creators’ on various online adult cam platforms.
“We can no longer pretend pornography exists on the fringes of society – our panel will move beyond moral panic and have an evidence-based discussion about its place in contemporary culture.”
The discussion will bring together experts in clinical psychology, media and entertainment, sextech and sexology to examine how society should approach, understand, and regulate pornography.
The panel includes US clinical psychologist and author Dr David J. Ley; one of Australia’s leading porn scholars, Professor Alan McKee from the University of Sydney; rising star sextech scholar Dr Zahra Stardust from Queensland University of Technology; and Giselle Woodley, a sexologist and PhD candidate from Edith Cowan University.
Three key areas will be explored including pornology, or contemporary approaches to studying pornography; pornucation, the role of pornography in age-appropriate sex education; and pornocracy, policy frameworks for regulating adult content in the digital age.
Professor Maginn said the UWA Public Policy Institute-led event, in partnership with colleagues from Edith Cowan University’s School of Arts and the Humanities, demonstrated Western Australia’s leadership in tackling challenging public policy issues.
“This isn’t just about pornography but about how we as a society address complex policy challenges that impact public health, education and digital regulation,” he said.
The event is being held on Monday 2 December from 6pm to 7.30pm at Hybrid Warehouse, 5b Quarry St, in Fremantle. For tickets and further details, see here.
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