Porn Perspectives

I'd Rather....

Many of you may have read Dan Savage's take on Joan Sewell's book I'd Rather Eat Chocolate, which extolls the pleasure of accepting with women's "naturally" lower libidos. Savage argued (mostly in jest) that now that it's understood women won't ever want to have sex with their partners, straight men everywhere are off the hook for doing the dishes:

Back when women with low libidos were regarded as abnormal—way back at the beginning of the month—it was fashionable to blame the man in a woman's life for her lack of desire. For years, whenever I printed a letter from a guy who wasn't getting any, or wasn't getting much, mail would pour in from women insisting that he had to be doing something wrong.

I called them the "if only" letters: If only she didn't have to do all the housework, she would want to have sex. If only he would talk with her about her day, she would want to have sex. If only she weren't so exhausted from taking care of the kids, she would want to have sex. If only he didn't ask for sex, she would want to have sex. Well now, thanks to Sewell, straight guys everywhere know that it doesn't matter how much housework you do, or how sincerely interested you are in her day, or how much of the child care you take on: She still won't want to fuck you. So leave the dishes in the sink, grab a beer, and go play a video game, guys. Your "if only" nightmares are over.

A different and more serious angle in this whole debate is a piece Susie Bright wrote last year about men with low libidos--Men Who Love Burgers: But Aren't So Sure About Sex:

When feminists and sex researchers started talking about women's sexuality in the 1960s, it became clear that one reason women didn't feel connected to their sexual self interest was because so many of them had never had sexual satisfaction to begin with. Finally, many liberated women spoke up, admitting that they'd never had an orgasm, and didn't know where to begin.

Sex is the one area men are supposed to excel in, by default. Their penis is so obviously "there"; their masturbation practice practically demands itself. They get an added helping of testosterone, and the same amount of encouragement to be virile that girls get to be virgins.

So when we see men today, non-plussed with sexual companionship, is it because they too, are losing their orgasmic pleasure, or because they lack desire altogether?

I don't really know what to make of it. Perhaps people have artifically high expectations about sexual desire in relationships. Maybe girls and boys need to learn to play nicer. Maybe technology enables us to have enough emotionally and sexually satisfying experiences without the involvement of "real" people? Or maybe we're all taking too much Prozac...

Appalling

This is terrifying:

Abortion opponents are sure to be pleased by some of the language in Justice Kennedy’s opinion, including his observation that “the government may use its voice and its regulatory authority to show its profound respect for the life within the woman.”

“It tolerates, indeed applauds, federal intervention to ban nationwide a procedure found necessary and proper in certain cases by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists,” Justice Ginsburg wrote, in a dissent joined by Justices John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter and Stephen G. Breyer....

"In candour, the Partial Birth Abortion Act and the court's defence of it cannot be understood as anything other than an effort to chip away at a right declared again and again by this court - and with increasing comprehension of its centrality to women's lives," she said.

Universal Law #43875439

The one time you decide to bring a suitcase full of porn to the airport is inevitably the time you get the security screener who insists on carefully combing through every single item in your suitcase. It is also inevitable that you will get a super friendly, chatty security screener with a lot of questions about his discoveries. You can hope he's the consipiratorial sort, who does you the favor of conducting his search  with the suitcase half-closed. 

You will promise him a recommendation for next time, gather your bags and get the hell out of there.

Am I going to be a Real Man today?

Good news! You can now get manliness at your local Walgreens. (Though I wonder whether Real Men are allowed to have sensitive skin?)

 

Yes, on his way to turn himself in...

Because I can't resist the Joe Francis hate, I have to report on the latest sketchiness of the Girls Gone Wild creator:

Girls Gone Wild creator Joe Francis was arrested Tuesday in Florida, PEOPLE has confirmed.

The U.S. Marshal's Office in Panama City, Fla., tells PEOPLE that Francis, 34, was arrested at 6:30 a.m. at the Panama City airport on a warrant seeking his arrest for criminal contempt of court.

He is currently being held at the Bay County jail, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshal's Office says.

Although Francis told FOX News's Geraldo Rivera on Monday that he would surrender to authorities, the arrest was carried out by airport police who recognized him before he could present himself to the Marshal's Office.

A judge ordered Francis's arrest last week after Francis reportedly changed the terms of a settlement deal stemming from a 2003 lawsuit in which seven women accused him of victimizing them by filming them in sexual situations while they were on spring break in Panama City.

Francis was ordered by U.S. District Judge Richard Smoak to surrender to authorities in Panama City by noon Thursday to begin serving jail time for contempt of court, the city's News Herald

According to the News Herald, Francis told Rivera on Monday: "I'm not trying to hide at all. I'm on my way to Florida right now to turn myself in and comply with the judge's order. I would never run from justice." 

Is streaming the answer?

DVD sales are down, and Hollywood is freaking out. Apparently the porn side of the entertainment industry is feeling the hurt as well. According to the Financial Times (3/9/2007), spending on DVDs in 2006 fell more than 15% after a decade of double-digit growth (AVN statistic).

Meanwhile, online piracy has proved a persistent headache for entertainment companies, mainstream and adult alike (see CNet article).

The solution to both problems may be in new streaming and On Demand technologies. The customization allowed by both technologies is key. In a live feed model in the online adult sector, subscribers can instant message requests to models, who then perform as instructed There is a bit of a lag between the request and the performance, but as technology improves this latency continues to shrink.

On Demand has been a centerpiece of innovation within the industry for a few years now--it allows users instant access to customized content available at the click of a remote (or mouse, as the case may be). Some brick and mortar video stores are experimenting with burning On Demand content for customers as they browse in the store. It's unclear as yet whether this will catch on.

Both models are highly adaptable for the mainstream industry, particularly the On Demand model. Maybe Hollywood will finally pipe down about YouTube and Limewire's supposed destruction of all creativity and profit-making in the universe. As porn is once again demonstrating, times are changing and an innovative shift in business models is going to be necessary to stay alive.

A little book learnin' never hurts...

I've created a book recommendation page based on my extensive library. Check it out! I'll be adding more books as well as movies over the next few weeks. You can stay up to date via the link I've added to the right side of the page ------->