Unapologetically polemical but grounded in evidence: Baroness Bertin reviews 'Pornocracy'
4 min read
This critique of pornography is a polemic but one grounded in compelling evidence. It is an essential read for anyone interested in where our society is headed
When I first agreed to conduct a review for the government on how to regulate online pornography, I promised myself I would keep some distance on it and not get too obsessed with the outcomes once it was published. I have failed spectacularly on that front.
Many people now politely cross the street when they see me, and my husband has gently told me to temper my dinner party chat. But having seen the shocking evidence and statistics about how damaging and extreme online adult content has become, I can’t let it go. So, Pornocracy couldn’t be more timely for the campaign.
It is a bold and uncompromising critique of the modern pornography industry and its pervasive influence on society. Far from being a private indulgence, pornography is presented as a public health crisis with profound social consequences.
Jo Bartosch and Robert Jessel dismantle the myth that online porn is harmless entertainment, exposing its endemic violence, coercion and commodification of women. They trace the industry’s evolution from the days of top-shelf magazines to the algorithm-driven extremities of user-generated and other video platforms. This transformation, they argue, has normalised acts that would otherwise be considered criminal – rape, incest, pseudo-child abuse – under the guise of fantasy. All of which would be illegal to watch and distribute if it were viewed in the ‘prehistoric’ world of DVD or Blu-ray.
One of the most compelling sections explores the neurological impact of online pornography. Drawing on addiction science, the authors explain how porn hijacks the brain’s reward circuitry, creating a cycle of desensitisation and escalation. Users are driven toward increasingly extreme content – a phenomenon amplified by algorithms designed to maximise engagement. This “limbic capitalism”, as the book terms it, ensures that pornography does not merely reflect sexual tastes but actively shapes them, fostering compulsive behaviours and distorting intimacy.
Pornocracy by Jo Bartosch and Robert Jessel
The cultural critique is equally incisive. Bartosch and Jessel examine how porn corrodes relationships, erodes empathy, and fuels a sex recession among younger generations. Women are pressured to accept partners’ porn use as normal, while men suffer sexual dysfunction and emotional detachment. The authors juxtapose this with the misogynistic backlash of the manosphere, illustrating how ‘pornocratic’ values polarise gender politics and deepen mistrust between the sexes.
While its tone is unapologetically polemical, the book’s arguments are grounded in evidence and animated by a clear ethical vision: the restoration of love, intimacy and human dignity in a world increasingly shaped by pornographic values. Particularly chilling is the discussion of sex robots and child sex dolls, which the authors frame as the ultimate expression of dehumanisation.
Pornocracy is a provocative and essential read for anyone concerned about the future of sexuality, relationships and society. It forces readers to confront uncomfortable truths and challenges the complacency that has allowed pornography to become one of the most powerful – and least scrutinised – forces of our time.
It has certainly given me determination to keep going. Pornography depicting strangulation is now set to become a criminal offence, as recommended in my review, but this is the tip of the iceberg. As the Crime and Policing Bill continues its passage through Parliament, I am fighting for depictions of both incest and child sex abuse to be made illegal, as well as nudification apps, and for a duty on platforms to be able to prove the age and consent of performers.
I want to bring the same standards already in place in the offline world to the online world of pornography. Far greater scrutiny of it is long overdue. I sincerely hope the government feels that same determination.
Baroness Bertin is a Conservative peer
Pornocracy
By: Jo Bartosch and Robert Jessel
Publisher: Polity
