In defence of pornography

Helena Dalli has criticised a recent gang-rape verdict which described the rape of a 14-year old girl as “an act of foolishness.” While she over-emphasises the tender age of the girl, she draws attention away from that of the boys, who were also minors at the time of the rape.

The minister then states that “the problem needs to be addressed at a much deeper level, especially at that of prevention,” but continues to sabotage her own argument by condemning pornography, claiming (but without quoting any source material) that there are various “studies that make the link between pornography and rape.”

As a reformed and repentant addict of pornography, I believe the honourable minister has no idea what she’s talking about. Our culture, with its asynchronicity between theory and reality, its political inpetitude and its inability to confront the subject of sex without extremes of high-handedness or childishness, ought to be thankful that pornography exists at all. Pubescent kids are raging tornados of hormones, and without pornography providing that escape hatch for all that explosive and concussive lust, there could be so much raping going on that it would reach epidemic proportions.

If the minister really wants to improve the sexual health of our country, she should help erase that unwarranted self-entitlement and diva-syndrome that many Maltese girls grow up with and legitimise and liberalise the Maltese sex industry to create a legitimate ‘pressure valve’ or ‘heat sink’ for men in need of relief.