Proliferation of pornography the concern – not art, Deakin academic

A Deakin University academic believes that the furore over Bill Henson's photographs is misguided and overblown, and that if we really want to protect our young then we should be concerned not with art, but with 'real' pornography and its ever-burgeoning proliferation on the internet.

Dr Gaylene Perry, a lecturer with Deakin's Faculty of Arts and Education, says: "Gone are the days when you could only access pornography by going into a dodgy shop and coming out with a magazine hidden in a brown paper bags – and that's not a bad thing. But it also means that mega-hard-core pornography is now available to anyone with a couple of clicks of a mouse.

"I'm not against pornography and public access to it. But I have noticed that as a society we seem to have an easy-going acceptance of internet porn's infiltration into our everyday lives.'

"Breakfast radio comedians snigger about their mates' internet porn habits; daily newspaper columnists have a light-hearted dig at themselves and their late-night browsing of porn. People laugh over the issue at dinner parties. Young people walk down the street wearing 'Porn Star' t-shirts. Porn has never been more main-stream. That's all fine in itself, and I'm not suggesting censorship is an answer."

However Dr Perry says that the fact that many in the general public and the media appear blasé about pornography means that those who may feel troubled by the influence of porn on their lives could become afraid to speak up.

"I'm hearing about some men and women whose porn habits have moved out of control as quickly and quietly as a credit card being maxed out. Say, some harmless fun has turned into an addiction: something's that affecting the person's relationships and everyday enjoyment of life. It may affect the health and wellbeing of the one looking at the porn, or perhaps of their partner or other people close to them. And they keep quiet about it because they think they'll be seen as wowsers – as overly conservative and not worldly: or perhaps not cool, in the case of younger people."

Dr Perry says that as a society we need to remain watchful and continue to explore possible effects that the exponential increase in the scope and access of pornography, through the internet, may have on individuals and relationships, and particularly on young people of the so-called internet generation.