I think free porn has declined since the pandemic and also due to the feminization of porn and the increased regulations that porn sites have to make. I look back at old porn from the early 2010s and couldn't help but notice how pleasantly vanilla and innocent it all once was.
It's also kind of weird that when you search for porn nowadays, you get gay porn search results too. If that isn't a conduit for Trump winning the young middle class male vote in the 2024 election, then I don't know what is.
I like to see people talk honestly about this, but I have a couple points of disagreement.
1. I'm not alone in this, pretty sure, and far from the most extreme example, but people do revisit porn. They learn the names of performers or hentai / fetish artists to check them again. They save stuff to their hard drives in case it becomes hard to find online again. Then there's the simps, people who sub to pay sites, onlyfans, and nsfw patreons; people who tip cammers and make the industry go round with their money. The virtual girlfriend experience is a real and potent thing.
2. Some people do resist their dependence on porn, often for religious or self-improvement reasons. Of course it's a drop in the bucket compared to the people who keep using, but I had a nofap / pornfree phase myself, and I'm currently attempting "No Nut November," an annually trendy challenge.
How does one "disagree" with someone's personal, subjective opinion? It's not like we're studying statistics here; and I doubt most men have the intelligence to do that anyway. "Religious or self-improvement reasons"-- is that meant to be a JOKE?
It's not a disagreement with the whole post. Maybe I shouldn't have used that word if it's taken as such. I'm just adding points that I think are worth considering which weren't considered in the post.
I have absolutely no idea of what I meant by my reply. But my opinion, boiled down to essence, is that porn APPEARS to reflect some sort of male fantasy. IF it does, then an entirely new conversation is necessary. WHICH men does porn serve? What is erotica? When does "erotica" descend into "porn"? And here's the question, the elephant in the room, in two parts: why does porn appeal mainly to blue collar men? And why do so many women hate it? In an effort (far too generous, in my opinion) to understand porn, author Margaret Atwood has suggested that porn is erotica without "context." (Say, Debbie Does Dallas" versus "Last Tango in Paris.") The late feminist militant Andrea Dworkin was reviled for her political opinions--but please note that in 2023 there is STILL no corollary between what a woman thinks about sex as opposed to what a man thinks about sex. And men continue in power. And the male-dominated Mafia still controls the "context" of what sells off the shelves of the neighborhood dirty book store. Pandemic be damned.
Hi, thanks for the thoughtful comment. Totally agree that "men" is a more precise fit than "people" here -- I am a man, and I have little real insight into female habits or preferences in this respect.
Re (1) I wonder what the correlation with age here is. For example, I had my first experiences watching porn before I began masturbating. So that sets a habit. Given the advent of broadband internet in the early 2000s, I think I was *just* on the cusp -- folks who are 35+ years old might look statistically different.
(2) 100%. It's less apparent to men, but clear-cut to women.
On the final note, I've seen countless porn studios by women, for women get started over the years. (Ersties comes to mind.) I don't know if any of these have been successful.
A strange thing to bear in mind in this respect is that porn is a very aggressive free market -- the industry produces what the viewers want to see (will pay for), no matter how crass or tasteless. I've always been surprised that not more material specifically targeted at women has been produced. Maybe the demand just isn't there? But I really struggle to believe that.
I think free porn has declined since the pandemic and also due to the feminization of porn and the increased regulations that porn sites have to make. I look back at old porn from the early 2010s and couldn't help but notice how pleasantly vanilla and innocent it all once was.
It's also kind of weird that when you search for porn nowadays, you get gay porn search results too. If that isn't a conduit for Trump winning the young middle class male vote in the 2024 election, then I don't know what is.
I like to see people talk honestly about this, but I have a couple points of disagreement.
1. I'm not alone in this, pretty sure, and far from the most extreme example, but people do revisit porn. They learn the names of performers or hentai / fetish artists to check them again. They save stuff to their hard drives in case it becomes hard to find online again. Then there's the simps, people who sub to pay sites, onlyfans, and nsfw patreons; people who tip cammers and make the industry go round with their money. The virtual girlfriend experience is a real and potent thing.
2. Some people do resist their dependence on porn, often for religious or self-improvement reasons. Of course it's a drop in the bucket compared to the people who keep using, but I had a nofap / pornfree phase myself, and I'm currently attempting "No Nut November," an annually trendy challenge.
How does one "disagree" with someone's personal, subjective opinion? It's not like we're studying statistics here; and I doubt most men have the intelligence to do that anyway. "Religious or self-improvement reasons"-- is that meant to be a JOKE?
It's not a disagreement with the whole post. Maybe I shouldn't have used that word if it's taken as such. I'm just adding points that I think are worth considering which weren't considered in the post.
No it's not a joke.
I have absolutely no idea of what I meant by my reply. But my opinion, boiled down to essence, is that porn APPEARS to reflect some sort of male fantasy. IF it does, then an entirely new conversation is necessary. WHICH men does porn serve? What is erotica? When does "erotica" descend into "porn"? And here's the question, the elephant in the room, in two parts: why does porn appeal mainly to blue collar men? And why do so many women hate it? In an effort (far too generous, in my opinion) to understand porn, author Margaret Atwood has suggested that porn is erotica without "context." (Say, Debbie Does Dallas" versus "Last Tango in Paris.") The late feminist militant Andrea Dworkin was reviled for her political opinions--but please note that in 2023 there is STILL no corollary between what a woman thinks about sex as opposed to what a man thinks about sex. And men continue in power. And the male-dominated Mafia still controls the "context" of what sells off the shelves of the neighborhood dirty book store. Pandemic be damned.
Hi, thanks for the thoughtful comment. Totally agree that "men" is a more precise fit than "people" here -- I am a man, and I have little real insight into female habits or preferences in this respect.
Re (1) I wonder what the correlation with age here is. For example, I had my first experiences watching porn before I began masturbating. So that sets a habit. Given the advent of broadband internet in the early 2000s, I think I was *just* on the cusp -- folks who are 35+ years old might look statistically different.
(2) 100%. It's less apparent to men, but clear-cut to women.
On the final note, I've seen countless porn studios by women, for women get started over the years. (Ersties comes to mind.) I don't know if any of these have been successful.
A strange thing to bear in mind in this respect is that porn is a very aggressive free market -- the industry produces what the viewers want to see (will pay for), no matter how crass or tasteless. I've always been surprised that not more material specifically targeted at women has been produced. Maybe the demand just isn't there? But I really struggle to believe that.