Sullivan's porn empire normalized exploitation and laid groundwork for today's worse online porn industry
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/joansmith. "David Sullivan is a relic – the day of the celebrity ‘porn baron’ is over. But the vileness he peddled is much worse now | Joan Smith | The Guardian." June 11, 2026. www.theguardian.com
The Gist
Joan Smith argues that David Sullivan's porn business in the 80s and 90s wasn't just harmless fun - it taught society to see women's bodies as products to consume. This created the foundation for today's online porn industry, which is much more violent and harmful to both the women in it and young people who watch it.
Conclusion
David Sullivan's pornography empire in the 1980s-90s was harmful in its own right and created the cultural foundation for today's much more dangerous online porn industry
Premises
- Sullivan's publications normalized the objectification of women's bodies as consumable products through mainstream media
- His empire exploited very young women, some legally considered children by today's standards, under the guise of 'harmless fun'
- The sexual revolution primarily benefited heterosexual men while exploiting young, inexperienced women with false promises of power and choice
- Today's online porn industry is more ubiquitous and violent than Sullivan's era, featuring routine rape, strangulation and sexual humiliation
- There is a correlation between increased exposure to violent pornography and rising rates of sexual assault against young women
- Modern platforms like OnlyFans continue the same exploitative model as 1980s 'glamour modeling' with similar harmful outcomes for participants
Assumptions
- The normalization of soft pornography in mainstream media directly contributed to acceptance of more extreme content
- Young women in both eras lack genuine agency and are systematically exploited by more powerful men
- Cultural attitudes toward women's sexuality established in one era persist and evolve in subsequent generations
- The correlation between pornography consumption and sexual violence indicates causation