Violence
Feminism Has Saved Me: Agency and Consent in the Face of Mainstream Pornography’s Influence on Spanish Young Adults.
Open Access: No.
Abstract
Mainstream pornography has played a prominent role in shaping sexualities and gender dynamics among young adults, influencing self-perception and perception of others in terms of sex, gender, and body. This phenomenon can reinforce unequal power relations, generating tensions between sexual empowerment and patriarchal norms. Although there is extensive research on the general impact of mainstream pornography on youth, little attention has been paid to how young adults negotiate these influences in their sexual-affective relationships. This research sought to fill that gap by exploring how they interpret, integrate, or even resist the representations and practices derived from mainstream pornography in their sexual relationships. A qualitative approach based on in-depth interviews (N = 29) with young adults aged 18 to 30 from Spain was employed. The findings shed light on patterns of coercion, inequality, and gender normativity in sexual practices that stem from mainstream pornography and eroticize nonconsent. Attention is given to gender challenges and associated ethical dilemmas, as well as to strategies of resistance and empowerment that emerge in response. The importance of gender analysis and the role of feminism is highlighted in adopting a critical perspective on mainstream pornographic images and the gender ideals promoted in contemporary society.
Relevance
“The results of this research point to violent sexual practices replicated from mainstream pornography, often carried out without consent by cisgender men toward women and members of the LGBTIQ+ community…mainstream pornography contributes to the shaping of a sexuality that revolves around hegemonic masculinity and normalizes the eroticization of violence through nonconsent.”
“These experiences create scenarios that perpetuate unequal power dynamics, norms, and patriarchal gender expectations influenced by the standard construction of desire and pleasure modeled through pornographic representations. Among the violent and nonconsensual sexual practices mentioned by participants were choking and strangulation during sex, spitting, hitting, hair-pulling, slapping during sex and fellatio, degrading or offensive language, roughness in specific sexual positions or violent fellatio (deep-throating: gagging), pressure and insistence on oral and anal sex, male ejaculation in certain parts of the body, among others.”
“Additionally, the data presented here suggest that these ideas about violent sexual practices not only come from mainstream pornography but are also promoted and normalized through social media, influencing the imagination of what is considered “good sex” and impacting gender normative mandates.”
“On the one hand, there are accounts from young women who do not desire violent sexual practices but lack the strategies to refuse them, either due to social pressure or pressure from the young men demanding them…On the other hand, youth also face other notable challenges and questions in the sexual realm and under the influence of mainstream pornography. These include tensions between reality and fiction, internal and personal conflicts that arise from difficulty expressing “no,” as well as ethical and emotional dilemmas associated with mainstream pornography consumption.”
“One of the most relevant issues emphasized by this research concerns how some young adults, particularly women and LGBTIQ+ youth, who have experienced unwanted sexual experiences and practices, have undergone processes of questioning and critical awareness in search of sexual empowerment. This process faces the challenge of discerning between their authentic preferences and what they have internalized under the influence of pornography. In this context, it is notable that some individuals have opted for feminism as a fundamental tool in their journey toward self-awareness and self-exploration in sexual and emotional relationships. This feminist approach tackles the gender challenges that arise when trying to discern between authentic preferences and pressures imposed by mainstream pornographic representations, especially those linked to unwanted violent practices. The critical feminist perspective acts as a catalyst for identifying unequal power relations, roles, expectations, and gender mandates present in these representations, which are replicated in sexual practices and encounters. Ultimately, this approach reveals feminism not only as a tool to change pornography consumption patterns but also as a necessary critical lens to question and reformulate the perception of these representations in contemporary society.”
Citation
Pavón-Benítez, L., & Ruiz-Repullo, C. (2026). ‘Feminism Has Saved Me’: Agency and Consent in the Face of Mainstream Pornography’s Influence on Spanish Young Adults. Journal of Sex Research. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2025.2610412
