Monday 14 May saw a full gathering of members to hear guest speaker Kate McCarthy, talk about her Master’s Thesis in Women’s Studies (UCD). Kate’s research focused on the lives of women and their journey ‘from repression to oppression,’  in light of the contemporary oppressive climate in our world where women and girls are being exploited through pornography, trafficking and prostitution.

It was a most informative and enlightening presentation, with an analysis of the pornography industry which objectifies the female; the potential impact of unsupervised technology on minors who can be exposed to pornography; text-based pornography on mobile ‘phones and the influence of pornography on adolescent males, in their formative years.

Using the catch-phrase ”Link ‘P’ for profit and ‘P’ for pornography,” Kate informed us about the unexpected connections with pornography, in particular, mobile-phone networks; hedge-funds;  with the staggering news that in 2018, it is anticipated that $4.9 billion will be generated by the video/film/text-based pornography industry via mobile technology.

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