What ‘gooning’ reveals about intimacy in a world cordoned off by screens

Relationships with real people can involve rejection, awkwardness, time and emotional labor. But in the ‘goonverse,’ desire is predictable, endlessly available and never says no.

By: Jennifer Pollitt, Temple University, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: March 16, 2026

Words: 1,264

Last Updated: 4 months, 3 weeks ago

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By Jennifer Pollitt, Temple University

Four years ago, I started a class at Temple University titled, “Social Perspectives of Digital Pornography: The Other Sex Ed,” centered on porn literacy, or what young people learn – or don’t learn – from digital porn.

I wanted to create a space to examine these issues, not from the assumption that pornography is entirely good or entirely bad, but that avoiding the conversation altogether only does harm.

Teaching this …

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