"Vegas, Baby — “Eggs are expensive, sperm are cheap.” That’s a plain-English approximation of Bateman’s principle, which holds that in a species with two sexes, the members of the sex that invests less biologically in reproduction will end up competing, sometimes ferociously, over the members of the sex that invests more. Because healthy men can in theory reproduce almost without limit while women are constrained by the number of pregnancies that they can take to term in a lifetime, women have a very strong incentive to be more selective about their sexual partners, while men don’t: snipers vs. shotguns, basically. In a 2004 paper under the forthright title “Sexual Economics: Sex as Female Resource for Social Exchange in Heterosexual Interactions,” two scholars from the University of British Columbia and Florida State took that insight and examined mating behavior through the lens of market competition. And if you doubt for one second that the pitiless laws of supply and demand provide an excellent explanation of human sexual behavior, then by all means make a reservation at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino for the annual awards ceremony hosted by Adult Video News, a.k.a. the “Porn Oscars,” the most mercilessly Darwinian sexual marketplace you will find this side of Recife."
National Review Online via Hot Air. As they say in the blogs 'read the whole thing' here.
***
About 10 years ago, I remember reading from a reputable source, that, porn industry revenues had surpassed most major sports revenues, in America, combined. Two years ago the site Skeptics Stack Exchange concluded that indeed this was the case.
"The sex industry is HUGE - $57 Billion Worldwide, $12+ Billion in the United States. It is larger than all the sport franchises put together"
34 comments:
It's sometimes difficult to feel good about your fellow man knowing that there's some truly vile pornography out there and guys who are really into it.
Read the entire article yesterday. Good article, but it suffered from the usual all out hyperbole that is common to political essays.
Like all things, porn is a mix and good and bad stuff.
@Eric
It ain't just guys. The ladies are watching porn big time, too, sometimes on their own and sometimes with their mates.
I discovered a few weeks ago that there is a sub-genre of porn called "fart porn." I'm not going to link to it. You can find it on your own. There's something for everybody in Porn Land.
Can the sex market and the porn market really be conflated? The sex market - women withholding or not - is reality based; the porn market is fantasy based.
Men's animal sexual appetites are biological and relatively unchanged, yet we insist on living in a more gentle and civilized society where women are respected as full individuals unlike most of our history. The result is that men's appetites are suppressed from avenues of expression of the past like rape, including mass rape of entire villages and towns which was common. Even a single rape was more easily done without consequence, at least among the lower classes. Prostitution was easier to access and less well suppressed by authorities.
In more recent times, rape is no longer a perk of being in the military, and prostitution has become regularly prosecuted and made less able to be kept secret.
I think porn is taking over that outlet for many men who can't easily access women through consensual arrangements, and even those who can, but want more. It seems to be quickly reducing rates of rape and sexual assault. It may be an unattractive part of our culture, but so is garbage collection. Maybe both are a good solution to a serious problem worth the unseemliness.
And the other big development is that men just have a lot more time on their hands without having to work 12 hour days 6 days a week to survive. Idle hands... have to do something.
Folks, you're barking up the wrong tree.
Sure, it's mostly men who attend porn conventions.
In the privacy of the home, women are probably 1/3 of the porn market, and most couples are probably watching porn together.
Men have a tendency to attribute a standard of moral virtue to women that seems to me to be mostly wishful thinking.
Women aren't particularly virtuous when it comes to sex. What they are is practical about issues of safety. They want to get to know a partner and feel secure about limits. Once they get that, they are not different, and often much worse (or better, depending on your viewpoint) than men.
The Rajneeshee cult in Woodstock was started by a bunch of horny hippie guys who were attracted by the holy orgy side of the cult. Those guys were later surprised, and a bit undone, when they discovered that the ladies were the most enthusiastic and versatile participants in the orgies.
No, porn is not the "end of sex."
Porn, as it exists now, is the beginning of an era in which people expect a whole lot more out of sex.
This syndrome will only multiply exponentially when the full-immersion 3D environment becomes a common appliance.
The author touched on a paradox of modern society, porn, and sex at the end of the article when he said that outside of the religiously conservative, most men would not be able to find a partner.
There are still many women who would be open to having a relationship with these guys, but they are in a different cultural subset, and those women do not use porn and would feel violated and hurt if their partner did. The women who don't care about porn or are users themselves are the ones who reject these guys.
My adivce: give up the porn and go to Church.
The porn industry is dying, thanks to the Internet, in which people seem to enjoy sharing their sex lives.
At least until the novelty wears off.
bagoh20 said...
Men's animal sexual appetites are biological and relatively unchanged, yet we insist on living in a more gentle and civilized society where women are respected as full individuals unlike most of our history.
For which we can thank Christ more than Marx.
Just about everybody I know over the age of 25 managed to find a partner, and I live in one of the most liberal areas of the country.
You guys seem to be hallucinating,
How could the porn industry be so successful with so much of it free on line? Who is dumping all these bucks into it beyond that?
"Just about everybody I know over the age of 25 managed to find a partner..."
That doesn't mean they are getting the sex they desire by any stretch. Porn is a substitute for sex, not for a partner.
I know women access porn too, but I think you overstate that. I don't see women's sexual response, especially the visual as being very similar to men's. I mean just look at what style of porn really sells. It's clearly not designed for women's sensibilities. It's mostly not designed for mine either, but I'm 2% female, so...
Porn has evolved.
At one time it only existed in the printed form or in sleazy filthy movie houses that even Leisure Suit Larry would be ashamed to be seen in.
Then the video cassette market revolutionized porn. You could watch it in the privacy of your own home. It might be a little embarrassing getting it and returning it at the video store but it wasn't as bad as sitting next to Shouting Thomas in a raincoat yelling at the screen "You're not doing it right!"
Finally the internet has exploded porn. Much like what is happening with on-line gambling. You can just turn on your computer and get anything you wanted to turn yourself on. Men and women can both indulge and no one would be the wiser. Well unless somebody viewed your browser history and you can sort of delete that so it would take a determined snoop to find it.
As someone said porn serves as a sexual safety value. There are probably thousands of rapes that were prevented by some loser whacking it off before he put on his ski mask and went off to the college campus. I guess we can call it a net positive.
I know it beats the hell out of sitting next to Shouting Thomas at "Nasty Nures of Manila in 3D"
(Plus Femmes)
That's Nasty Nurses. Sorry.
It's hard to type with one hand.
You've never sat beside me in the old raincoat of yours, Troop. Not that I know of, anyway.
I'm booked for a while but I might be able to free up a little time in a month or so.
Have your people get in touch with my people.
The reason I went off on that porn tangent yesterday was because of something that happened last night.
I went to the factory where we manufacture dresses. It had moved to an industrial area off 3rd Avenue in Sunset Park. There are a lot of factories, a batting cage, Costco and a giant porn store.
At one time the sex trade was a big part of the economy on Third Avenue. It was anchored by a big strip club called "The Foxy Den." It was were you could meet every knucklehead in Brooklyn on both sides of the law. They searched you weapons so most just checked their gats at the door. It was like Dodge City or something.
Well Giuliani passed a law that closed down the Den but a couple of the porno shops that were still there combined and opened a giant sort of porn Costco. As you drive by you can see in the doorway and display windows filled with their wares. Underwear. Blow up dolls. Masks. Videos. As we were in the cab at the light I wondered to myself who the hell would go in there when there is all that porn on the internet.
I got my answer.
This enormously fat white guy wheeled his friend in his wheelchair across the avenue and into the porn store. This is the type who still go old school. But we shouldn't judge.
Maybe they needed a "service" blow up doll or something. He can get an id card off the internet and he will be able to take it with him anywhere.
Only in America.
It is larger than all the sport franchises put together
I have no idea if that's true or not, but it certainly makes sense to me. I'd much rather watch naked women than watch multimillionaires chase a ball around a field.
In any event, like bagoh20 already pointed out porn seems to work well as an outlet. Speaking as a single guy with no interest in marriage, I have to say I'm thankful for it. :)
Now, now Mr. Thomas I am sure you were sitting next to me at the Vanessa Del Rio Retrospective at the "Greasy Palm Porno Palace" in Soho.
I knew it was you because you kept shouting at the screen "MORE FILIPINA'S!"
Just sayn'
Vanessa was great, wasn't she?
Big old girl with a big appetite.
Lucy Thai is the big Asian porn queen. She is the World's Most Outrageous Whore, a title she earned through diligence and hard work.
I have actually met Vanessa Del Rio several times. She used to hang out at Cousn's on Court St. Or at least I met her and her boyfriend at the time their. She had ended her porno career and was working a personal trainer.
Come to think of it she didn't specify what kind of training. I never asked.
I was too busy pestering her for Kay Parkers phone number.
How could the porn industry be so successful with so much of it free on line? Who is dumping all these bucks into it beyond that?
Free sites ostensibly offer something for everyone, an illusion from what I've seen in my limited travels. Widespread demand still keeps a few genres behind pay walls.
For example, homemade videos are vanishing from these sites. These are by true amateurs (not chat/webcam sessions) who recorded themselves, without any pretense towards acting for an audience or breaking into the industry.
Also, Revenge porn legislation may now be accelerating the disappearance, as free hosts or aggregators without subscriber money to protect themselves avoid the potential hassle altogether.
If you want to get ST and Trooper on a thread just title it "porn."
You folks do know Trooper did porn back in the 60's. He was the first switch hitter, doing hetero and gay porn for chubby chasers.
"I think porn is taking over that outlet for many men who can't easily access women through consensual arrangements, and even those who can, but want more."
Well, if women were available for retail sale as they should be in a truly free market we would be free from the curse of pornography.
I would then be able to purchase an Amazon from the Amazon on Amazon.
Using Lem's portal, of course.
That was in another life ND.
I never reference you time as a fluffer during the 80's.
If you don't have one already, I think you should add an "ick" label for posts like this.
Yes, I'm old, and a prude. :)
How could the porn industry be so successful with so much of it free on line?
"Free online" isn't the same thing as "unprofitable". Free sites either make money from ad revenue, are advertisement sites themselves (driving traffic to pay sites with better content), or are criminal operations pushing malware.
Anecdotally, though, the American porn industry has taken a big revenue hit from content theft by free sites.
That's a great idea Lydia.
Any posts about Obama should have an "icky" tag. Thanks.
"Using Lem's portal, of course."
Now that's icky!
"Now that's icky!"
I thought I would arouse the ladies with my Neanderthalish misogyny, but failed.
Story of my life, but I'll keep trying.
"Like all things, porn is a mix and good and bad stuff."
Yeah that is a load of cuntshit.
If we can think in terms of doors of perception, then there is infinite goodness and infinite badness.
They don't have to be combined and assuming so assumes too much.
So to be clear: There is no good in infinte badness nor bad in infinite goodness.
"So what if part of the infinite goodness was a bad act" is bullshit.
Sloppy-gross diseased smelling feet are more appealing than the idea "goodness" has as a part of it inherent a "bad" speckle or iota.
I SAY NOT.
"Sloppy-gross diseased smelling feet"
There's porn for that too, but don't over-do it. It grows hair on your soles.
Post a Comment