A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Bad education? Childhood recollections of pornography, sexual exploration, learning and agency in Finland
Authors: Spisak Sanna, Paasonen Susanna
Publication year: 2017
Journal: Childhood
Volume: 24
Issue: 1
First page : 99
Last page: 112
Number of pages: 14
ISSN: 0907-5682
eISSN: 1461-7013
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0907568216646436(external)
This article draws on a memory-work project on the childhood experiences and memories of pornography in Finland to argue that the autobiographical younger self used in these reminiscences is a creature distinct from the cultural figure of a child at risk, and that the forms of learning connected to pornography are more diverse and complex than those limited to sexual acts alone. The notion of an asexual child susceptible to media effects remains detached from people’s accounts of their childhood activities, experiences and competences. By analyzing these, it is possible to critically reexamine the hyperbolic concerns over the pornification and sexualization of culture.