Interview with Béatrice Copper-Royer
Béatrice Copper-Royer is a psychologist, clinician specialising in childhood and adolescence, and president of the Association. e-childhood. She warns about the risks of pornography among young people.
What happens when you watch videos at too young an age?
According to one study, 62% young people saw their first pornographic images before starting secondary school, but not all teenagers will be affected in the same way: it depends on each individual's personality. The most vulnerable will be imbued with these images, which may cause them to become trapped in a caricatured view of sexuality. They will tend to take for granted an extremely standardised and violent system, where the notion of consent does not exist and where women are constantly despised. More concretely, this can also create a form of imbalance in access to pleasure from an early age: some boys will absolutely need their partners to behave like actresses, while others will impose practices or objectives on themselves in terms of performance.
Do reactions to this content differ depending on whether it is a boy or a girl?
Most often, it is boys who identify with these reductive images, due to a lack of perspective or explanation. As the role of men is sacrosanct in these videos, they will tend to consider the behaviour imposed on women as normal. In their intimate relationships, they will therefore be led to impose these situations on their partners in turn. For girls, the behaviour is more ambivalent: although they are now imbued with the idea of consent, they may be tempted to align themselves with pornographic dictates, due to a lack of concrete reference points or self-confidence. This can lead them to accept certain practices that they do not really want to experience or, more concretely, to bow to their partner's demands. This is the case, for example, with complete pubic hair removal, a practice that originated in pornography.
What advice would you give?
First, I want to reiterate several times that these images are not innocent at all. It is imperative that they detach themselves from them and learn to trust each other: sexuality is a journey that is established between two people, over the years, in a respectful and consensual manner. But the responsibility also lies with parents, who must stop playing naive: today, they know very well that pornography is easily accessible. They must take parental control seriously, but above all, they must take communication and discussion seriously. In 2022, we must no longer be afraid of embarrassing discussions on this subject with our children. Should schools also play a more important role? Sex education is very effective when it comes to contraception and STD prevention. However, it is not sufficient when it comes to pornography. In short, whether it's parents, teachers or children, the secret lies in dialogue.
(Interview with Figaro.fr, October 2022)
