...In which Sex Siopa takes on Trinity's Historical Society in a porn debate

A couple days ago, I was invited at the last minute to participate in a debate last night at the Hist. As a college drop-out, it was an honour to be invited and marked the first time I've ever been involved in a university debate. I decided that the best way to prepare, apart from actual research, was to pray to my public speaking goddesses - Hilary Clinton, Emma Watson, and Robin Wright as Claire Underwood.

 

The proposition for the evening was "This House believes porn damages society." Of course, I was the guest speaker of the opposition. And I have to say, it was great craic! I got to speak with a few of the students on both sides of the debate before and after. Some of them presented some wonderful speeches, and they were all very kind and, not to mention, generous with the cheap wine. 

A few of the speakers brought up 50 Shades of Grey, and at one point, the kid sitting next to me leaned in and whispered to me "Jamie Dornan went to my school, and now it's really weird." I tried desperately not to laugh, but cracked. I hope he forever uses that as a pick-up line. 

There were 2 female students whose speeches I was most impressed by - one for the opposition, and one for the proposition. And to my surprise they were both first time speakers in the society. They gave clear and concise arguments, didn't speak too fast, and injected much needed humour into the debate. If I could give an oratory prize, it'd go to them. 

I noticed a lot of the same arguments we've heard since the 1980's still being flung around on the proposition side about the vast majority of porn stars being victims coerced and trafficked into the industry while men, unable to control their violent nature, then project those misogynist desires onto their partners. While there are always going to be exceptions and outliers, those claims just do not hold true and I discuss why in my argument below. If you are hard of hearing or have audio trouble with your computer, you can read my argument over on Medium