Pornography researcher Kate Dawson deletes sexually explicit tweet amid sex education backlash
1200 words / 9 min read
“Porn literacy” expert Kate Dawson of NUI Galway has deleted a sexually explicit tweet which revealed her plans for the new sex education curriculum proposed by the Irish Government. The move comes amid increasing backlash from parents and teachers concerned about the nature of the “porn research” taking place at NUI Galway.
Dawson researches pornography at NUI Galway’s School of Psychology with fellow NUI Galway academics Pádraig MacNeela and Saoirse Nic Gabhainn. The goal of their research in this area is the promotion of a new concept called “porn literacy” or “critical engagement with pornographic content” among school students via mandatory sex education. Dawson, MacNeela and Nic Gabhainn believe that the societal “stigma” around the use of pornography must be removed and are working closely with media and government figures in this regard.
Kids “should analyse porn videos at school”
Kate Dawson believes that primary school sex education must include pornography and thinks that kids “should analyse porn videos at school”. She currently gives sex education talks in Irish primary and secondary schools as a paid employee of the HSE funded sex education programme WISER (West of Ireland Sex Education Resource). Recently, Dawson publicly opposed the UK Government’s plan to ban online pornography. Dawson is a central figure in the movement to introduce mandatory sex education in Irish schools.
Kate Dawson posted the offending tweet (warning: sexually explicit language) over six months ago, at 1:05pm on 11 April 2019. The tweet states:
“Interesting morning exploring #porn in our #PornLiteracy workshop. The porn alphabet is a great way to gain insight into the level of knowledge/engagement a group has. #sexeducation #SexEdBill”.
Tweet by Kate Dawson of NUI Galway, 11 April 2019
Attached to the tweet is an image of a flipchart with dozens of explicit pornographic terms and sexual practices marked in. A further tweet on Dawson’s twitter account confirms that the flipchart was part of a workshop Dawson conducted with 16-year-old school children. It is understood that the workshop took place in a Galway secondary school as part of the WISER sex education programme. Dawson’s tweet, which also referenced the Government’s new sex education proposals, has now been deleted.
Parents and teachers deeply concerned
Over the past few days, many parents and teachers have expressed grave concerns at these revelations. Responding to Dawson’s tweet, Independent Councillor from Meath Sharon Keogan posted on Wednesday last week: “To say this upset me greatly would be an understatement. In my books inappropriate for primary education”. In an interview on Midwest Radio, Castlebar parent and educator Martina Burke described the pornography research at NUI Galway as “anti-Christian”, “abuse of young people” and “an assault on childhood”:
“They want the young people of our country to be forced to study pornography. I think that’s very sad, I’m a teacher myself, I’ve taught hundreds of young people. It’s abuse of young people, I believe it’s an assault on childhood and [most importantly] it’s anti-Christian … they want us to keep talking about it so that our young people will be obsessed with sex, and destroyed, and lose any Christian belief”.
Midwest Radio, 18 October 2019
Others took to social media to express their anger.
“Real Your Brain On Porn”
Recently, Dawson was listed as an expert with a new organisation called “Real Your Brain On Porn” which was set up in April 2019. The organisation uses the tagline “science not shame”, focusses on “the benefits of porn” and seeks to eradicate the notion of “porn addiction”, which it sees a “fraudulent” idea “pushed on the public”. Concerns have been raised that “Real Your Brain On Porn” is associated with the porn industry. Dawson has recommended “Real Your Brain On Porn” as “a brilliant resource” and since April has promoted the organisation over a dozen times on her own Twitter account. As an organisation, “Real Your Brain On Porn” vociferously opposes researchers and practitioners who believe that pornography is highly addictive and ruins lives.
On 07 February 2019 Dawson gave a TEDx talk “Talking dirty: De-stigmatising conversations on sex” in Galway’s Town Hall Theatre. In her talk Dawson made the statement “porn can be a very positive thing” as she argued for more sex education in schools. Dawson’s TEDx talk was shared several times on the official NUI Galway School of Psychology Twitter account and promoted online by Dawson’s co-workers Dr Padraig MacNeela and Professor Saoirse Nic Gabhainn.
Watching porn is a “liberating experience”
Dawson, MacNeela and Nic Gabhainn recently published a research paper “Toward a Model of Porn Literacy” which calls for “porn literacy education to be incorporated into sex education programs” in schools. In the paper’s introduction, Dawson, MacNeela and Nic Gabhainn make the claim “research shows that few people experience adverse effects from watching pornography”. The opening paragraphs of the paper focus almost exclusively on listing the “positive uses” of pornography, including that it [supposedly] helps to “relieve boredom”, it reduces “everyday stress” and that watching it is a “liberating experience”. A further research contribution by Dawson is entitled “Porn as Sex Education”. It makes reference to “the educational value of pornography” and speaks of the enhancement of sexuality education by pornography. The full quote from the opening lines is as follows:
“Current research literature and advocates for porn literacy education, have recently begun to highlight the educational value of pornography, and describe ways in which it could enhance sexuality education, yet these hypotheses have yet to be put into practice”.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsxm.2017.04.402
Cited by media and government
The research of Dawson, MacNeela and Nic Gabhainn has been cited and promoted by media and government figures alike. Over the past year or so, Dawson has been granted interviews with RTÉ Radio 1, the Irish Independent, the Irish Examiner, the Galway City Tribune, TheJournal.ie, Hot Press Magazine, HerFamily.ie, Ireland AM TV and RTÉ Brainstorm amongst others. This is in spite of the fact that Dawson was a PhD student until several weeks ago. Dawson has particularly used these interviews to promote the new concept of “porn literacy”.
In August 2018, Minister of State for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor TD specifically promoted Dawson, MacNeela and Nic Gabhainn’s research, stating that “[the Government has] a lot of work to do” in relation to sex education and that young people need to be “guided through” pornography in schools. In January 2019, Mary Mitchell O’Connor travelled to NUI Galway and further congratulated “Dr Pádraig MacNeela and his team of researchers”.
Concerns not addressed
Minister for Education and Skills Joe McHugh TD is ultimately responsible for the review of sex education in Ireland. Despite saying in May 2019 that he wanted to see “young people, parents and teachers engaging on the issue” of sex education, Mr McHugh has recently moved to dismiss concerns about the new Government proposals.
In a statement issued to Ocean FM last Thursday, Mr McHugh’s office stated that claims were being made “about what young children will be taught” and that these claims were “untrue, malicious and scaremongering”. However, Mr McHugh’s statement did not specify which claims in particular he was referring to.
The Minister did not address the concerns of parents and teachers in relation to the promotion of pornography to school children.
