Megan Barton-Hanson | We Should Welcome The New Era Of Porn (5/6) | Oxford Union Debate — Transcript

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1. 0:06[Music]
2. 0:09I now look to Megan Barton Hansen to
3. 0:11continue the case for the
4. 0:23proposition good evening thank you
5. 0:25Oxford Union organizers and staff for
6. 0:28making tonight happen as a former
7. 0:30stripper it's refreshing to be invited
8. 0:32by uni students to be here tonight and
9. 0:35not have to take my clothes off
10. 0:37but if this speech doesn't go well I
11. 0:40haven't ruled it
12. 0:42out if you don't know me from love
13. 0:44iseland or only fans amongst other
14. 0:47things previously I was a
15. 0:49stripper I've used my platform now to
16. 0:51talk about issues close to my heart the
17. 0:54destigmatization of sex and sex workers
18. 0:56rights with many friends in the industry
19. 0:59tonight going to propose the notion of
20. 1:01welcoming the new era of
21. 1:04Porn first off I want to question what
22. 1:06we mean by the modern era of porn as I
23. 1:09definitely have some issues as it stands
24. 1:12most of my speech will be looking at why
25. 1:14we should embrace a new era of porn as
26. 1:16it promotes a more regulated Industry
27. 1:19Safety per safety for performers and a
28. 1:23more balanced view for sex workers I'm
29. 1:26so nervous and I don't know why
30. 1:35can I just say I am PR porn I love porn
31. 1:39but it's important to talk about how
32. 1:41porn has changed originally porn was
33. 1:44always focused on Mal pleasure rarely
34. 1:46focusing on women's pleasure or women in
35. 1:48control this is a dying genre now thank
36. 1:52God producers like Erica lust are now
37. 1:54making content inclusive of all bodies
38. 1:57age sexuality and race horn is being
39. 2:00made for women by women focusing on our
40. 2:03pleasure sites like only fans and
41. 2:05verified amateur accounts are taken over
42. 2:09these sites aren't new though so what do
43. 2:10we mean by the new era of
44. 2:13porn people and Society are becoming
45. 2:15more open-minded about sites like Pony
46. 2:19fans since when has porn ever been
47. 2:22discussed so openly in headline news
48. 2:25both media and consumers have become
49. 2:27more open-minded allowing sex workers to
50. 2:29feel more liberated and not having to
51. 2:31hide how they earn their
52. 2:32money that's not to say everything about
53. 2:35porn is hunky dory and bad things don't
54. 2:38happen in the industry there's still a
55. 2:40lot of degrading porn belittling women
56. 2:43young men think that this is a normal
57. 2:45representation of sex and it couldn't be
58. 2:47further from the truth it's really
59. 2:49not whether good or bad in my teens I
60. 2:52did learn a lot from porn and until we
61. 2:55open up as a society and become more sex
62. 2:57positive this will continue to be the
63. 2:59go-to place for young people to learn
64. 3:01about
65. 3:02sex yes teach about STI and pregnancy
66. 3:05but also about pleasure and consent
67. 3:08consent education would solve a lot of
68. 3:10problems porn is seem to
69. 3:12create we can't blame porn and use it as
70. 3:14a scapegoat when it's due to our social
71. 3:16and educational failings why so many
72. 3:19young people go to porn for advice and
73. 3:21it's outdated porn they're watching a
74. 3:25criticism a lot of people have with only
75. 3:27fans is the privacy people are leaking
76. 3:30and sharing content and it's damaging to
77. 3:32performers not only their incomes but
78. 3:34their privacy this isn't just Paul no
79. 3:38sadly revenge porn is on the rise but
80. 3:40luckily there's politicians like Maria
81. 3:42Miller that are looking at ways to end
82. 3:45this but again it shows individuals
83. 3:48trying to pin the blame on porn when the
84. 3:50real cause is we're unable to create
85. 3:52laws in a fast moving internet-based
86. 3:55World constraining sex workers and porn
87. 3:58actors doesn't seem fair or
88. 4:00sensible by no means we should praise
89. 4:03poor not only fans without being
90. 4:04critical and looking for ways to make it
91. 4:06safer for the sex workers but I do
92. 4:09believe a lot of positivity has happened
93. 4:11in porn
94. 4:12recently there's a healthier array of
95. 4:15porn amateurs and verified couples where
96. 4:18we can see real couples enjoying real
97. 4:20healthy consensual sex sex workers feel
98. 4:23more in control and respected we have
99. 4:26all become a bit more open healthy
100. 4:29modern po has become more accessible
101. 4:31from sites like any
102. 4:35fans the biggest problem is how porn is
103. 4:38viewed with such disgust and
104. 4:41shame it was a taboo in an underground
105. 4:43world meaning sex workers wouldn't or
106. 4:46would be less likely to come forward if
107. 4:48terrible things did happen to
108. 4:50them and like I haven't written this
109. 4:52down but I just think as a sex worker
110. 4:54myself I just carried so much shame and
111. 4:57I always had to like explain why I did
112. 4:59it and that I wasn't thick I could have
113. 5:01done other things I am academic as well
114. 5:03but I chose to do it because I felt
115. 5:05empowered as a woman and I think that's
116. 5:07something sex workers are constantly
117. 5:10facing but the underground nature of
118. 5:12this industry made it impossible to be
119. 5:14heard it's hard enough for actors and
120. 5:17models to call people out like Harvey
121. 5:19Weinstein when they have agencies and
122. 5:22representatives and anyone can sign up
123. 5:24to be a porn performer from the age of
124. 5:2618 so it's difficult especially when
125. 5:29you're already feeling
126. 5:31shame on a practical level only fans and
127. 5:34porn is now safer because performance
128. 5:37are more in control than ever before
129. 5:39there's no creepy producer or
130. 5:41photographer trying to take advantage
131. 5:42and push you to your limits or tell
132. 5:44you're only going to get work if you do
133. 5:46more explicit
134. 5:47stuff people argue that it's dangerous
135. 5:50only fans models have been stalked but
136. 5:52again this isn't just in the adult
137. 5:54industry and why is other people's
138. 5:56behavior mainly men curbing women from
139. 5:59be being able to profit from their
140. 6:02bodies there are so many positives to
141. 6:04the new era of porn and all these
142. 6:06websites like on
143. 6:08fans humanization of the performers
144. 6:11we're able to articulate our values and
145. 6:14sexuality in a way we feel comfortable
146. 6:17women enjoy my content not because
147. 6:19they're b or gay but because they've
148. 6:22never seen a woman so sexually liberated
149. 6:24before if growing up I saw a woman who
150. 6:27was sexually in control and enjoyed sex
151. 6:30it would be a much healthier
152. 6:31representation than the porn I was
153. 6:33watching growing
154. 6:34up there's a personal bond between
155. 6:36performer and consumer and with this I
156. 6:39think less people want to see hardcore
157. 6:41graphic porn and more amateur atome shot
158. 6:45content with their favorite
159. 6:47creators too often people are commenting
160. 6:49on a world they know very little about I
161. 6:51have lived it firsthand and it's not as
162. 6:54seedy and Extreme as people want to
163. 6:56believe by not welcoming the new era of
164. 6:59porn what are our options we can go
165. 7:02backwards and maintain the old
166. 7:03stereotype Mal dominated Mal focused
167. 7:06pleasure or do away with porn Al
168. 7:09together one is harmful and backwards
169. 7:11and the latter is just
170. 7:13unrealistic within porn yes there is
171. 7:16issues but these predate only
172. 7:19fans they represent where laws and
173. 7:21policies are failing to respond to an
174. 7:23interet
175. 7:24age we need to put in we need to put
176. 7:27laws in place to protect adult
177. 7:28performers and content rather than
178. 7:31pretend we don't exist and speak about
179. 7:33and educate young adults on sexual
180. 7:35pleasure a healthy consensual sex
181. 7:39treating women with respect ultimately
182. 7:42my goal is to be an empowered confident
183. 7:45safe sex worker and I feel I can be this
184. 7:47within the new era of porn
185. 8:01you
186. 8:07[Music]