Young People, Porn, and the Value of Ambivalent Thinking

• In Event: Millennium Hotel Roundtable Session 6
  In Roundtable Session: Social Media and Online Communities

Abstract

This paper will draw on excerpts from recent focus groups with high school graduates on their thinking and experiences with online pornography to explore the value of ambivalence as a pedagogical tool for sexual health educators. Using thematic narrative analysis, I will show that the ambivalent expressions that arise when young people grapple with their own sense of self in relation to porn challenge traditional approaches to sex ed rooted in concepts of unified, rational subjects, instead making space for a more ambiguous, fluid and ultimately, more ethical approach to both the self and others.

Author

• Alanna Goldstein, York University