I Feel Angry Eilish Remarks On Porn Resonate In Britain

When the singer Billie Eilish said this week that viewing pornography at a young age had devastated her, Jay, 19, recognised the feeling and the experience.

- Harriet Grant and Dan Milmo

I really identified with what she said. I first saw porn at about 12 or 13 on social media; it came up on Instagram and boys at school would show it around and laugh,” said Jay, who preferred not to use her real name. “Boys talked a lot about porn, especially as we got older. It was less socially acceptable for girls to say they watched it, though we all did, I think.”

Jay, who attended a state school in southwest England, said pornography had really affected how she viewed her body and sex. She added: “It's now I'm older and I'm having sex that I am aware that I have a strong feeling of how sex should be performed and this makes me really sad. I don't know how to undo that thinking. I'm starting to feel porn actually damaged me.

Advocates for age assurance, a range of measures to check someone's age before they access a website or app, say under-18s can access pornography too easily. A survey by the British Board of Film Classification last year found that 60% of 11- to 13-year-olds who reported having seen pornography said it was largely unintentional.