As you may know, I often write for Mic.com — but I also lend my doctor expertise to other writers and reporters over there on occasion. In that spirit, I recently spoke to Mic reporter Jenny Kutner re fauxcest, specifically “Why Do Millennials Love Faux-Incest Porn So Much?” (2/10/16).

You can read Jenny’s entire piece –> here

And my full commentary with Jenny is shared below — enjoy!

Jenny Kutner/Mic: Regarding the (alleged/apparent) increase in millennials’ interest in fauxcest and MILF content, do you think this has to do with taboos? What role might other cultural influences (i.e. mainstream movies) play in this?

DrCT: Historically, as well as culturally, part of what makes porn titillating is its “taboo” factor. And today, though talking about sex openly has become no less challenging (consider for examples, our woeful state of sex education and/or the amount of pain and difficulties an inability to discuss sex-related topics has on sexual partners), our digital access to sex via porn has perhaps made porn itself less taboo. It’s not surprising then that fantasy depictions of more taboo sorts of sex start to emerge as a focus of interest. This seems especially relevant re fauxcest content…

…which is certainly also tied into depictions of “taboo” sexual narratives on non-taboo platforms. “Game of Thrones” is heavily reliant on an incest narrative, and “American Horror Story” opened this past season with a pretty graphic pegging scene — and these are just two examples. It could be that seeing “taboo” sexual narratives depicted on non-taboo (read: mainstream) platforms gives viewers a sort of tactic permission to explore overtly erotic, hardcore content more fully.

Fauxcest is both popular and complex… What do you think?