At the tender age of 13, Billie Eilish garnered international attention with the release of her first single. And this week, we learned that the American singer/songwriter was just 11-years old when she was first introduced to pornography; a habit, she says, that has “destroyed (her) brain”.
Eilish, who turns 20 this weekend, made the bold comments on The Howard Stern Show. The irony is not lost on those familiar with the fact that Stern has long been a staunch advocate of porn and all things sexually explicit and lewd.
On the Sirius/XM show, Eilish did not hold back, saying that porn “is a disgrace” and that the “violent” and “abusive” images she saw as young child also caused her “to suffer nightmares”.
“As a woman, I think porn is a disgrace. I used to watch a lot of porn, to be honest,” admitting that she was first exposed to it at the age of 11. Bowing to peer pressure, Eilish said she felt watching the sexual imagery and violence made her feel like “one of the guys”. But now, she says pornography “really destroyed my brain and I feel incredibly devastated that I was exposed to so much porn.”
The California native, who was homeschooled by her mother (herself, a musician), has been outspoken on the issue of women’s body image since bursting on the pop scene. She now admits that porn has a detrimental effect how women view themselves and their sexual experiences.
“I didn’t understand why that was a bad thing–I thought it was how you learned how to have sex… I was an advocate and I thought I was one of the guys and would talk about it and think I was really cool for not having a problem with it and not seeing why it was bad.”
She said that the first few times she had sex, she was “not saying no to things that were not good” because “I thought that’s what I was supposed to be attracted to” based on her viewing.
Eilish warned that pornography is a “real problem” that could have devastating effects on youth regarding what is normal during sex, and before sex (consent).
Organizations like Unicef echo that view, stating that “exposure to pornography at a young age may lead to poor mental health, sexism and objectification, sexual violence, and other negative outcomes. Among other risks, when children view pornography that portrays abusive and misogynistic acts, they may come to view such behaviour as normal and acceptable.”
Said Eilish, “I’m so angry that porn is so loved, and I’m so angry at myself for thinking that it was okay.”