How Algorithms Are Shaping Sexual Expectations
Show notes
This episode contains discussions of sexual violence and child sexual abuse. Listener discretion is advised.
Clare McGlynn is a professor of law at Durham University and an expert on violence against women and girls.
Clare has spent years researching the ways pornography, technology, and online platforms shape culture, influence sexual norms, and contribute to harmful attitudes and behaviors. In this conversation, we discuss how algorithms influence what people see on porn platforms, why certain themes and behaviors have become increasingly common in mainstream pornography, and what that means for how people understand sex, consent, and relationships.
Why has choking become so common among young people? Does pornography influence attitudes toward consent? What is "sleep porn," and why is it allowed on mainstream platforms? How are AI chatbots and deepfakes creating entirely new forms of abuse? Clare helps unpack these questions while exploring the broader cultural impact of pornography and emerging technologies.
We also discuss the growing popularity of "barely legal" content, the normalization of rough sex, and why technologies like AI and virtual reality may be amplifying harms that already exist online.
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