ON HOW THE ANDREW STORY AFFECTS YOUNG PEOPLE & WOMEN
“Recently I spent time with UK teens aged 13 & 14. About their slang
du jour: when one of them does something jokingly inappropriate, the others shout: ‘Epstein!’
‘Don’t Epstein me,’ said a boy whose mate tried to stuff a chocolate bar down his trousers.
‘Get off, Epsteins!’ a girl retorted when the rest tried to form a human pile-on.
Epstein as a byword for assault, lack of consent, misconduct, predatory behaviour; for the woolly, half-conscious awareness of power dynamics, youth, vulnerability and unwanted physical contact.
Epstein as a way to call it out, to say no. As a warning, a way to signpost ‘I recognise this for what it has been for others and what it could be.’ Epstein as: ‘I see you.’
It felt like a classic teenage ‘joke’ with serrated edges. Distasteful, certainly. Yet the only way kids can make sense of the horror they have heard and read about. The only way they can process what adults have done and in some cases continue to do to young people like them.
I look at the latest lurid photos of the former prince Andrew hunched on all fours over the prone, seemingly unconscious body of
a much younger woman and I want to weep. I want to scoop up my daughter and her friends, protect them from harm at the hands of men like this.
Because I’ve known men like this. Now in my 40s, I recall men who sought to hurt me and my friends, who took pictures of us a little like this.
The faces of men like this were found in the defendants winding out of court during the Gisèle Pelicot rape trial.
My first thought when I saw the image, with its stark intimacy of detail (Andrew’s bare feet, casual polo shirt, hand resting on the stomach of the young woman), is that it feels like a violation.
Perhaps what makes the photo so troubling is that we don’t know what happened afterwardss, the identity of the woman, why the photo was taken or who took it; if it was posed or casual, set up as role-play and fooling around, or downright predatory.
We don’t know if the woman gave permission for it be taken, if she’s even awake. We are left wondering if we should shout ‘Epstein’ as a ‘joke’ or whether it is all too real.
We know that the former prince has been accused of ‘hiding’ by US officials after he was invited last year to appear before the US House oversight committee. We know that prime minister Keir Starmer said Andrew should testify before Congress about his links to Epstein. We also know that Mountbatten-Windsor has always denied any wrongdoing.
We know… and we don’t know. And so we are left with the word ‘Epstein’ – with all of its darkness, its unsavoury connotations – echoing around an empty room long after any laughter has faded away”
WORDS Every woman will recognise the same awful thing from these latest Epstein photos (The Independent, 2/2/26)
ON THE PROLIFERATION OF EPSTEIN MEMES
“The Epstein files are flooding social media. Screenshots of
Jeffrey Epstein’s emails are posted on X, Bluesky & Instagram
with punchlines. His name trends next to jokes, reaction GIFs
and ironic captions.
Something chilling is happening: Epstein’s extensive sexual-abuse network is being processed by the internet as a meme.
When Epstein becomes a punchline, the crimes attached to him and his powerful friends – rape, trafficking, the systematic abuse of girls and young women – are abstracted. The bodies of his victims, abused and exploited – photographed while they were abused, discussed casually in emails by powerful men – are transformed into something laughable. Irony creates distance from horror.
AI-generated videos of Epstein dancing proliferate on TikTok.
One AI video shows Epstein walking down a red carpet, making eye contact with Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, the convicted sex abuser.
A video of an Epstein rave has 62,000 likes. A ‘looksmaxxing’ account imagines how Epstein might look if he ‘locked in’ (incel-coded language for maximising sexual appeal) – it’s a crossover between Epstein meme culture and the manosphere.
On TikTok #JeffreyEpstein is linked to over 64,000 videos, many of them memes. But in one real email, a popular object of online analysis and commentary, Epstein says: ‘I loved the torture video.’
The meme-ification of the Epstein files seems to function as a pressure-release valve: it allows public engagement without moral reckoning. You don’t have to sit with horror if you’re laughing. When the story becomes a joke, you don’t have to ask who enabled him, protected him, benefited from his silence or joined in on his abuse.
It is a classic Trumpian move in a govern-by-meme administration: overwhelm the public until an internet-culture tone replaces truth. When everything is shocking, the shock dissipates. Accountability dissolves.
The victims dissolve too. Their actual bodies had already been circulated among abusers. Now they circulate online – their faces covered in black, bodies vulnerable, sometimes in minimal clothing or naked – as internet fodder.
Emma Connolly, a social media researcher at University College London, says memes of Epstein’s abuse ‘obscure the severity and reality of the crimes… taking the focus away from his victims’ and that meme culture ‘spreads quickly and normalises harmful topics by presenting them in humorous and engaging ways’.
Some images shared tens of thousands of times are impossible to forget: a woman’s foot inscribed with a quote from Lolita; Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor pressing his hands leeringly into a young woman’s body.
Meme-ification means the difference between real and generated is fatally blurred.
The circulation and meme-ification of such images produce a visual salaciousness. The realities of Epstein’s crimes are obscured by a torrent of images.
The Epstein files document a system in which wealth insulated abuse, institutions failed children and powerful men relied on the expectation that they were untouchable. Laughing can help us process the horribly traumatic, but here it further exploits the victims of Epstein and his friends.
What is required is sustained attention and moral clarity, an insistence on seeing these crimes as systemic and unresolved. Without that, the noise does what it was designed to do: protect power, erase victims and ensure that nothing truly changes”
WORDS Epstein has become a meme, not a monster (The Observer, 4/2/26)
ON THE IDEOLOGY BEHIND CLAVICULAR, THE NEW ANDREW TATE
The term mogging, which comes from AMOG (alpha male of the group), is “a manosphere-adjacent set of laws decreeing that boys must be MEGA attractive. This means Adonis-level facial proportions, a ripped and fat-free body, tall (over 6ft, hence a new interest in bone smashing), and beautifully dressed and styled.
Gen A (alpha, born 2010-24) boys are encouraged to take things to extremes. They have similar levels to Gen A girls around eating-disorder diagnoses and mental-health disorders connected to anxiety about how they look.
A name that comes up in talks with boys about looks and vanity with the same kind of frequency and intensity as Andrew’s started to around 2021 is Clavicular – real name: Braden Peters, age 20, a ‘looksmaxxing influencer’ with a huge and growing Gen A boy following. He is evangelical in his belief that a young man’s highest priority is to be hot, hot, hot – or mog.
To achieve maximum mog, Clavicular has whacked himself in the face with a hammer and reportedly tried crystal meth to control his appetite and remain ripped. He views the world with a sort of beauty nihilism, where the beautiful matter.
In December 2025 Clavicular, commenting on US politics, called vice-president JD Vance ‘subhuman’, not because of his treatment of citizens but because of his looks. He criticised Vance for having ‘a recessed side profile’ and ‘being obese’, questioning: ‘How are you fat and expected to lead a country?’
Clavicular called Democrat Gavin Newsom a ‘6’3 handsome Chad’, saying he’d vote for him because ‘he totally mogs Vance’. This despite Clavicular believing Newsom is a ‘degenerate’ and a ‘liar’.
At this point, women around the world might just be feeling a slight inkling of justice. After all, girls and women have been subjected to similar beauty standards and cruel assessments of their looks for centuries. But the global obsession with looks and beauty, now rife in young men, is symptomatic of something dark in younger generations.
Gens A and Z believe beauty is a ticket to wealth, fame and popularity. For the beautiful or those who mog, there are followers, brand deals, CyberTrucks and sex on tap.
Teenagers have always worried about their looks; those years are a perfect storm of hormonal anxiety and a new biological impetus to attract a mate by standing out from the pack. But technological shifts and a new guard of influencers are pushing Gen A through the looking glass of normality and reality. Human beauty is no longer enough – young people are hammered with AI depictions of beauty that aren’t achievable, so they are encouraged to seek them by any means necessary.
It distorts what happiness and success are. I’ve spoken to thousands of Gen As who view what were considered elite, aspirational job roles like surgeon, architect, writer or spy as ‘failures’ – something you do if you’ve failed to become a content creator or CEO of something vague, usually funded by crypto. If a little bone crunching is required so you can commandeer a CyberTruck and tell your millions of followers to vote for the guys who mogs, so be it.
It’s time to pull young people back into the real world, where how you look still does matter, but we care about other things, people, places, ideas and the relationships you make along the way more than how much you mog”
WORDS Braden Peters is the new Andrew Tate: What every parent needs to know about teen boys and “mogging” (The Independent, 1/2/26)
🌈 Discussing LGBT+ HISTORY MONTH can be a way in to talk with your child – whether they’re LGBT+ or an ally – about LGBT+ people and issues.
It’s held in the UK every February to mark the month in which, in 2003, the damaging law Section 28 – which prevented the “promotion” of homosexuality in schools – was abolished. “It meant children and young people growing up in the 90s didn’t see or hear about same-sex relationships,” explains BBC Newsround for kids. “The lack of acceptance in everyday society meant that homosexual people felt isolated. It also meant homophobic views were made worse.”
In this time of LGBT+ political and social backlash, we still need to counter harms such as hate crime, conversion therapy and discrimination in, for example, sports.
Talking about LGBT+ people and issues “claims our past, celebrates our present and creates our future”, observes Schools OUT. The charity’s aim: to “educate out prejudice” and “usualise LGBT+ lives”.
So bring up these LGBT+ science and innovation heroes with your child…
• Mathematician, logician & computer scientist Alan Turing is considered the father of AI
• US astronaut, physicist & educator Sally Ride was the first woman in space
• US neurobiologist Ben Barres, an openly trans scientist, revolutionised brain cell study
• Medical researcher Barbara Burford established NHS equality & diversity guidelines
• Botanist Elke Mackenzie did pioneering research on lichens in Antarctica
• Locomotive engineer Charles Beyer co-founded the Institute of Mechanical Engineers
• Biotechnologist Jemma Redmond developed 3D bioprinters to create tissues & organs
• Chemist Robert Boyle modernised science by championing controlled experiments
And check out the LGBT+ History: Pride in STEM Pack posters from the ever-colourful and informative Pop’n’Olly…
With your child, look Top 5 Facts About LGBT History Month For Kids, Just Like Us resources and LGBT+ superheroes at BBC Bitesize for kids. The Proud Trust’s People Like Me highlights a few famous LGBT+ people plus allies – fill in the blanks with the many others you and your child can think of! (Also see the stars we compiled in our blog post “Discover Who Your Child Is – That’s An Adventure”.)
We love the idea behind this year’s logo, designed by ecology scientist Dr Robin Hayward, an expert on queerness in nature: “Chemical reactions occur when different materials are brought together and mix – just as our diverse identities can, acting in community, bring about sudden and creative change.”
Let’s ignite this kind of combustion by flying the flag 🏳️🌈 and talking openly at home!
🌈 “For LGBT+ History Month here are some SUPERHEROES WHO MAKE UP PART OF THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY…
PHASTOS Marvel’s Eternals (2021) tells the story of 10 powerful beings banding together to protect planet Earth, including the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)’s first openly gay superhero. A master inventor, Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) uses cosmic energy to create advanced weapons for the Eternals and help humanity progress from the shadows. The film features Phastos’ husband and son
VALKYRIE (Tessa Mae Thompson) is a queer character introduced in Thor: Ragnarok (2017). A hit with fans, Valkyrie was crowned King of Asgard by Thor. She also starred in Thor: Love And Thunder (2022). Thompson confirmed her character’s queerness at the Comic-Con convention when she said Valkyrie’s first order of business as king is to ‘find her queen’. Valkyrie was bisexual in the original comics and Thompson, who is bi, tweeted that the character’s sexuality had a big part to play in shaping how she portrayed her
DEADPOOL A very un-PG anti-hero who appeared in 2016, he is thought by fans and the comics’ writers to be pansexual because when he flirts he makes no distinction between genders. (Pansexuality is defined by LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall as ‘a person whose romantic and/or sexual attraction towards others is not limited by sex or gender’.) Miley Cyrus identifies as pansexual
BATWOMAN aka Kate Kane (created in 1956) was originally Batman’s girlfriend, but in the 2006 comic she’s a lesbian. Her sexuality is revealed when she is kicked out of the military because she broke the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell clause (a real-life US law, repealed in 2011, that allowed LGBTQ+ members of the military to serve if they keep their sexual identity a secret). The Batwoman series hit screens in 2019
ICEMAN was a ladies’ man until 2015, when his younger self time-travels and confronts his older self about his sexuality, leading the older Bobby to decide not to hide who he really is. The character’s creator, the late Stan Lee, told BBC Radio 4 he didn’t mind a bit: ‘I don’t care what happens as long as they tell good stories. And they do’”
WORDS Five LGBTQ+ superheroes you need to know about (BBCBitesize, 2/26)
ON THE APPEAL OF GAY HOCKEY SERIES HEATED RIVALRY
“The Canadian hockey romance that became a global sensation, Heated Rivalry shows a sexy love story grounded in equality, vulnerability and authenticity. It follows Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, hockey players at odds on the ice who develop a deep, intimate relationship off it. Their connection isn’t built on danger, dominance or emotional sabotage. It unfolds through mutual attraction, secret longing, cultural difference and eventually openness.
It’s rare to see super-hot and passionate depictions of sex between 2 people who share equal social power. Shane and Ilya’s sexual relationship is steamy – and that comes from emotional honesty, consent and mutual desire.
Both choose vulnerability over dominance when they’re together. That’s sexual connection rooted in mutual respect.
Teens are swimming in romantic stories and also porn. They read, watch, compare and learn what we academics call sexual scripts that dictate what should happen. Teens absorb all of this long before they’ve had enough real-life experience to contextualise what they’re consuming.
When the romantic and erotic fiction girls consume consists of a love story or porn scene where control and domination are disguised as passion, it shapes expectations: love hurts.
Stories like Heated Rivalry offer a different lesson: passion can grow from vulnerability, hot sex doesn’t have to be controlling or dangerous, love requires mutual respect.
This show signals that passionate sex doesn’t have to be predicated on power imbalances. Heated Rivalry (and young women’s obsession with it) demonstrates that there is an audience that wants to watch exciting sexual relationships that aren’t steeped in self-destruction.
I’m not suggesting that teens should watch the show. But here are healthy sexual relationship messages you can communicate to them…
• Desire thrives without ownership – Freedom and autonomy can create sexual tension
• Clear consent heightens anticipation – The sexual encounters are marked by checking in, reading cues and responding to the other person’s comfort and enthusiasm. Mutual awareness turns intimacy into collaboration, not conquest
• Emotional vulnerability is foreplay – Heated Rivalry shows emotional openness as a turn-on
• Sex doesn’t ‘fix’ people – Shane and Ilya’s relationship grows because they talk, reflect and respect each other’s boundaries
• Power is contextual, not relational – On the ice Shane and Ilya are rivals. In private, the power constantly shifts”
WORDS The Virgin-Beast Trope (Teen Talk Tuesday blog post by Dr Megan Maas, 3/2/26)
ON THE PENISGATE RUMOURS AT THE WINTER OLYMPICS
“A plastic surgeon added a new layer to the ‘penisgate’ controversy at the Winter Olympics. Alessandro Littara, who has performed over 3,000 penis-enlargement operations, said he provided the surgery – with hyaluronic acid – to a ski jumper last month.
This month German publication Bild reported that Olympic ski jumpers were using hyaluronic acid injections to artificially enlarge their genital area, which would allow them to wear bigger ski jumping suits. Bigger suits would help generate more lift on jumps & make it more aerodynamic, potentially adding a few extra metres in the air.
Littara claimed that the ski jumper he operated on said he wanted to avoid embarrassment in the dressing room: ‘I cannot say whether he told me the whole truth. But we did a good job and implanted a more than generous dose of hyaluronic acid. The result is immediate, so the athlete could wear the new suit after just a few minutes.’
The World Anti-Doping Agency said there will be an investigation, while the International Ski And Snowboard Federation communications director Bruno Sassi said there was no evidence it was happening at these Olympics, calling the allegations ‘pure hearsay’ and a ‘wild rumour’.
The 3 US ski jumpers said they did not know of anyone doing it but did not rule it out. Jason Colby explained: ‘It is difficult to say if it’s something that has been done or if people are doing. I guess that, scientifically speaking, it could work. But who knows what other teams are doing behind closed doors’”
WORDS Plastic surgeon pumps more drama into “PenisGate” at Olympics with injection claim (New York Post, 16/2/26)
AND…
• Aerodynamics expert Prof Christopher Roy: “I don’t know how to put this delicately. If it’s creating a bulge in the crotch area, that would actually have a very detrimental effect. But if it somehow increases the surface area while maintaining a smooth aerodynamic shape on the body, then that could have an (advantageous) effect”
• “Olympic ski jumper Casey Larson said: ‘It’s super addicting, flying through the air like a squirrel.’ He added that he wouldn’t have ruled out sticking ‘a needle down there’ had he known about the procedure before he retired: ‘It’ll make you a better skier. It will allow you to fly farther. Big suits help you fly and make you feel like a flying squirrel’”
FEMALE ANATOMY WILL FEATURE AT THE CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW
“The Lady Garden Foundation charity hopes its Silent No More
garden – which will be showcased on the Main Avenue at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show in May – will spark conversation around the 5 gynaecological cancers: cervical, ovarian, womb, vaginal and vulval.
‘Every person that’s had a big impact on my life has been a woman.
Why would I not want to say something about this? Men need to be part of this conversation too,’ says garden designer Darren Hawkes.
About 60 women a day in the UK get a gynaecological cancer diagnosis and 21 will die of one of these cancers, despite it being one of the most preventable. Many deaths can be prevented through earlier diagnosis, yet the UK rate lags globally partly because of stigma, low awareness, misdiagnosis, procrastination and overlooked symptoms.
In a 2025 Lady Garden Foundation survey, 46% of 1,018 women aged
25-64 didn’t attend cervical smear appointments. Barriers include lack of time, embarrassment and low perceived risk.
Cervical cancer survivor Rachel Lambert says: ‘There’s a lot of stigma around talking about that part of your body. Women need to say:“This
is my body and I need people to listen to me”’”
WORDS Chelsea Flower Show encourages survivors of women’s cancers to speak up (The Times, 23/1/26)
PLUS…
• Hawkes says: “My design features forms and planting that echo the female body to invite curiosity and encourage conversation about these cancers.I hope to be a role model for men – to encourage awareness, empathy and dialogue around women’s gynaecological health.As a husband, father and son to important women in my life, I want to expand awareness among men and women, break taboos and shatter the silence to help save lives”
• On changing the conversation around gynaecological cancers, the Lady Garden Foundation says: “A garden, like a conversation, needs space, attention and care to grow.We want people to walk away talking – about their gynae health, the symptoms they shouldn’t ignore and how we can all play a role in ending the stigma surrounding gynaecological cancers”
• The charity’s 2025 survey shows that of 15,665 students aged 18-22, 78% cannot identify the symptoms of the 5 gynaecological cancers. Only 21.4% were aware that there are 5 types
ON HOW A DAD CAN HELP THEIR GIRL WITH HER FIRST PERIOD
“As a dad, supporting your daughter through her first period can feel like a tall task. Having navigated this pivotal life event with my girls,
I sympathise. But with some preparation, you can serve your child well during a very normal, though emotionally complex, puberty milestone with education and compassion…
TALK ABOUT PUBERTY EARLY ‘At ages 7-9 many kids hear about periods from peers or media,’ says Dr Kerry Krauss. ‘Short explanations over time normalise body changes. Starting earlier supports confidence and reduces stigma’
USE RESOURCES VETTED BY PROFESSIONALS Consult sites run by, say, the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists and books like Celebrate Your Body 2, The Care and Keeping of You, It’s Perfectly Normal [and Own Your Body by Chella Quint]. Resources work best in concert with conversation: what your kid really needs to weather the changes happening in their life is support from you. You can say: ‘I’m always here to answer questions’ or ‘I’d like to be as much a part of this process as you’re comfortable with’
BE REASSURING Prepare your child for the reality of menstruation, which can be messy or painful, but don’t scare them. ‘Try not to dramatise the discomfort,’ says Dr Christine Greves
BRAINSTORM A SHORTLIST OF TRUSTED ADULTS such as family members, family friends, a school nurse or a favourite teacher. Look, even if you play all of your cards right, it’s likely your child will want to look to someone in addition to or other than good ol’ Dad for direct support and guidance. This can be especially true when it comes to insights on how to use period products, for example. Don’t feel hurt that you won’t always be your daughter’s go-to source for information and support
BE CAREFUL WITH HUMOUR It’s common to use humor to defuse discomfort. But think twice before busting out that dad joke or making light of the situation when your child starts their period. Even if humour and teasing are standard between you, this moment calls for a thoughtful response. ‘Acknowledge it with calm and positivity,’ says Dr Krauss. “‘his sends out the signal that periods are normal, healthy and nothing to hide. If you feel unsure, asking: ‘What would be most helpful for you right now?’ opens space for your daughter to guide the moment
MAKE A FIRST-PERIOD STARTER PACK OF SUPPLIES Let your child pick out a small pouch for period products, genital-safe wipes and pain relief – enough to get through a schoolday or outing with friends. Include something fun like candy and a note: ‘You’re amazing, and I love you! Call if you need anything Call if you need anything’ can be a meaningful connection point
MAKE ROOM FOR ALL KINDS OF FEELINGS The biological realities of a first period can be a lot for your kid to wrap their mind around, and a lot of kids are flooded with big and complex feelings when starting their period. ‘Parents often minimise the moment or normalise things too quickly,’ Dr Krauss says. ‘Be careful not to focus on the logistics without acknowledging the emotions. Many kids feel excited, embarrassed or anxious all at once.’ Maybe your child will need a hug or time to process it privately before talking about their experience. If parents don’t themselves feel a sense of shame or discomfort around it, then kids will feel comfortable asking questions and tend to be more emotionally prepared
TALK TO YOUR DAD FRIENDS Obviously, dads lack first-hand experience when talking to daughters about their first period. But you can lean on the experience of other dads to learn what worked well for them and what pitfalls they wish they’d avoided”
WORDS Dads, Your Daughter’s First Period Doesn’t Have to Be Awkward – Here’s How to Help (Parents, 28/1/26)
ON DIVERSITY IN TOYS
“An autistic Barbie that reflects some ways people with autism may experience and process the world is joining Mattel’s line celebrating diversity that includes a blind Barbie and dolls with Down syndrome or vitiligo. It was designed in partnership with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network.
The eyes of the latest Barbie Fashionista shift slightly to the side to represent how some people with autism sometimes avoid direct eye contact. This Barbie also has articulated elbows and wrists to acknowledge stimming – the hand flapping and other [repetitive] gestures that some autistic people use to process sensory information or to express excitement. The dolls come with a finger-clip fidget spinner, noise-cancelling headphones and a pink tablet modelled on the devices some autistic people who struggle to speak use to communicate.
The Barbie’s facial features were inspired by Mattel’s employees
in India.
In 2023 the first doll with Down syndrome was launched and last summer a Barbie with type 1 diabetes arrived. Other Fashionistas have a prosthetic leg or hearing aids, or represent tall, petite and curvy body types and numerous hair types and skin colours”
WORDS Mattel adds an autistic Barbie to doll line devoted to diversity and inclusion (ABC News, 22/1/26)
AND…
“Social science researchers have claimed that Barbie – regardless of neurotype – has historically been reductive and problematic. Barbie is unachievably thin, extremely feminine and all too often white. But Barbies have a reach beyond other brands and their range of disabled Barbies feels important to raise awareness.
Autistic people are so rarely depicted in media and entertainment, so it’s no wonder most people don’t really understand much about the neurotype.
Autistic Barbie’s existence is an overall positive. Her inclusion creates a much-needed opportunity for representation and education, and it normalises the use of disability accommodations”
ON THE AI TOOL GROK
“AI-generated images digitally alter real women and girls into sexualised scenarios. Image-based abuse is running amok on TikTok.
Half a million UK teens have encountered AI-generated nude deepfakes and about 50% of kids aged 8-15 have seen deepfake content online.
The ‘Put her in a bikini trend’ is online violence. Treating it lightly obscures its real-world harm.
[In August the AI tool] Grok was found producing sexually explicit content involving stars like Taylor Swift, whose likeness Grok – or rather human users using Grok – manipulated. North West (the daughter, age 12, of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West) also has been targeted.
The UK minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), Jess Phillips, vowed to ‘deploy the full power of the state to make this country safe for women and girls, both online and off”.
But digitally undressing women and generating images that sexualise children is not a new misuse of AI. It’s image-based sexual abuse enabled by deliberate design choices and allowed to go on unchecked thanks to an unwillingness to treat harm to women and girls as urgent
or enforceable.
Terms like ‘nudifying’ or ‘fake images’ minimise what victims experience: it’s sexual assault, says legal expert Professor Clare McGlynn. Impacts include hypervigilance, social withdrawal, distrust and fear that any notification could mean more abuse.
‘These images are created and shared to humiliate, silence and push women off public platforms,’ McGlynn says.
‘We all suffer from this mass sexual harassment of women. Because all women now know the threat of being online.’
Dr Arghavan Salles, of Stanford’s Clayman Institute for Gender Research, is vocal about what Grok’s outputs reveal about power, misogyny and control: ‘The men taking pleasure in violating women and children digitally are doing so for the sake of violation, not because they can’t find sexual images or videos – even abusive ones – online. The porn industry exists. But these men intentionally seek out non-sexual images and sexualising them without the consent of those in the photos because it is the violation of another person’s autonomy, the humiliation, the degrading that they enjoy.’
The ease with which Grok allows images to be manipulated – publicly, instantly – changes the risk profile. Unlike with earlier deepfake tools, you don’t need any technical expertise or external platforms to quickly and easily generate a deepfake. After a short prompt, the image is – moments later – live on one of the world’s largest platforms.
For Jurgita Lapienytė of Cybernews, the most troubling aspect of the Grok controversy is how long it was allowed to fester. In August, Grok was generating sexually explicit content involving public figures. Watchdog groups warned xAI exactly would happen if this wasn’t fixed: ‘We’re now seeing children as young as 10 being sexualised.’
McGlynn says: ‘This is about a failure to take the sexual harassment of women seriously’”
WORDS Grok’s AI Sexual Abuse Isn’t a “Trend”, It’s a Threat to Women (Marie Claire, 9/1/26)
IMPACT OF PORN ON KIDS
“For young people, porn can be a first sex-ed ‘teacher’ sometimes before puberty or before kids have a genuine interest in sex. But what is shaping their understanding is an endless flow of explicit, accessible, algorithmically tailored material.
In adolescence, when the brain is wiring rapidly, these images and narratives can influence how young people perceive their body, desires and identity. These expectations can persist into adulthood.
Porn can be a harsh benchmark – teens often compare their body, attractiveness and imagined sexual performance to adult actors whose role is to look flawless and always enthusiastic.
Boys may feel pressure to perform, dominate or initiate in ways that seem unnatural. Girls may feel expected to be constantly willing, pleasing or tolerant of behaviour that doesn’t align with healthy intimacy.
The Institute For Addressing Strangulation found that 35% of UK 16- to 34-year-olds were choked at least once during consensual sex.
Often disconnected from intimacy, consent, respect and emotional connection, porn can provoke embarrassment during romantic encounters, avoidance of intimacy or a paralysing fear of not ‘measuring up’.
Repeated exposure can establish a ‘sexual script’ for how sex should happen and expected roles.
When these scripts develop early, before romantic experience, they can become the default pattern.
Porn reduces sex to mechanics and acts without what makes it meaningful: consent, affection, communication, trust. The intimacy is performative.
Because of porn, many young people are unsure about what ‘normal’ intimacy looks like. They may expect encounters to be aggressive, choreographed, emotionless or violent.
This mismatch can cause disappointment, pressure and disconnection.
What can parents do?
• Start talking earlier than you think you should. Age-appropriate conversations about bodies, respect and boundaries can begin in primary school
• Normalise curiosity, don’t shame it
• Explain what porn is and isn’t
• Talk about consent, respect and communication
• Keep the door open with ongoing small talks
Parents can help children develop healthier understandings of sex, intimacy and themselves. When adults become a reliable source of guidance, even if the conversations feel uncomfortable, porn loses its power”
WORDS Porn is now the first sex educator for children (Irish Examiner, 6/1/26)