2008 Woodie Awards
Porn: It's Not Bad
Fernando Vazquez
Issue date: 2/13/06 Section: Opinion
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Today I think I'll run the risk of sounding like a creepy perv and defend pornography against the accusations of it being a dirty, filthy…
Hey, wait a second, hold on, screw that, why the hell should I feel like a perv for watching and defending the one thing every male and a substantial chunk of females enjoy watching? I shouldn't - and neither should anyone else!
Many people (usually women) claim that guys who watch porn are weird and dirty, have unrealistic views about sex and have no contact with the opposite sex. Here's the truth about it, are you ready? Here goes…
All men look at porn.
All of them. Yeah, him too. Your dad, your brother, your best friend, your neighbor, your mailman, your professor and even your boyfriend.
"Oh no, not MY boyfriend." Yes, YOUR boyfriend too has knocked one out watching Jenna Jameson and Brittany Andrews get it on in a bathroom stall, and I think the majority of us know that sex isn't completely like it is in porn.
Girls ask why we do it. I give you an answer. As American males living in a world of instant gratification we want everything right now: burgers, coffee, information and even orgasms. The vast majority of men (and some women) just use pornography as a catalyst in the masturbatory process. We have things to do, people to see. We need to be snappy with everything we do even when we give ourselves "the low five."
People will tell you that porn causes people to rape and degrade women. I don't believe this for a second. This is exactly like saying that Marilyn Manson and Doom make kids shoot up their school. I'm sure rapists have watched adult movies, but the fact that they violate women has deeper roots than porn. It's most likely rooted in their childhood and how they were raised. Parents have more influence on their kids than videos of consenting adults having sex.
The negative image of the porn business is described as being filled with drug-addicted, psychotically disturbed degenerates who have no respect for women or themselves. In reality, the porn business is just that - a business. The actors are just that- actors. When a woman says "I'm a dirty little slut" on camera, it's not exactly a testimonial; it's part of the script that the girl agreed to recite.
The managers of these companies give the consumer what they want. If there is a market for certain a genre, then that's what they produce. If people want to see large breasts, multiple partners, or women calling themselves "dirty little sluts" the directors and producers of those companies find the appropriate actors and produce films that revolve around that.
No one is forced to do anything against their will, even in the "forced-sex fantasy" sub-genre, which, just by its name, shows just how every porno is really just meant for people to live their sexual fantasies vicariously through these movies.
Many think that the business is unfair towards women and say that they are degraded in porn because they are "paid less than men."
According to www.porncitynews.com, men make anywhere between nothing and $600 per scene, while women make $500-2,000 per scene. So apparently, some men don't even get paid for some scenes, which, by the way, are filmed like any other movie would be. The actors act, the director directs, and the crewmembers light the set and record the sound. Then at the end of the day, everyone goes home. For them it isn't anything taboo or degrading, it's just a job.
If the industry is hard on anyone, it's hard on the men. They have the most pressure put on them. The men have to stand naked in a cold studio and maintain an erection while every crewmember impatiently watches him and waits for him to be ready to perform. If you can't perform, you gain a bad reputation and you won't get anymore work. In the adult film business, women have it way easier.
Before you go out and say that these women are degraded or that they're whores, why don't you hear what they have to say? Go to an actor or actress' Web site, read their bios, look at their FAQs, and find out what they have to say about what they do. Why not start with famous porn star, Mensa member and Rutgers alumnus Asia Carrera (www.asiacarrera.com).
Fernando Vazquez is Deputy Life & Leisure Editor.
Hey, wait a second, hold on, screw that, why the hell should I feel like a perv for watching and defending the one thing every male and a substantial chunk of females enjoy watching? I shouldn't - and neither should anyone else!
Many people (usually women) claim that guys who watch porn are weird and dirty, have unrealistic views about sex and have no contact with the opposite sex. Here's the truth about it, are you ready? Here goes…
All men look at porn.
All of them. Yeah, him too. Your dad, your brother, your best friend, your neighbor, your mailman, your professor and even your boyfriend.
"Oh no, not MY boyfriend." Yes, YOUR boyfriend too has knocked one out watching Jenna Jameson and Brittany Andrews get it on in a bathroom stall, and I think the majority of us know that sex isn't completely like it is in porn.
Girls ask why we do it. I give you an answer. As American males living in a world of instant gratification we want everything right now: burgers, coffee, information and even orgasms. The vast majority of men (and some women) just use pornography as a catalyst in the masturbatory process. We have things to do, people to see. We need to be snappy with everything we do even when we give ourselves "the low five."
People will tell you that porn causes people to rape and degrade women. I don't believe this for a second. This is exactly like saying that Marilyn Manson and Doom make kids shoot up their school. I'm sure rapists have watched adult movies, but the fact that they violate women has deeper roots than porn. It's most likely rooted in their childhood and how they were raised. Parents have more influence on their kids than videos of consenting adults having sex.
The negative image of the porn business is described as being filled with drug-addicted, psychotically disturbed degenerates who have no respect for women or themselves. In reality, the porn business is just that - a business. The actors are just that- actors. When a woman says "I'm a dirty little slut" on camera, it's not exactly a testimonial; it's part of the script that the girl agreed to recite.
The managers of these companies give the consumer what they want. If there is a market for certain a genre, then that's what they produce. If people want to see large breasts, multiple partners, or women calling themselves "dirty little sluts" the directors and producers of those companies find the appropriate actors and produce films that revolve around that.
No one is forced to do anything against their will, even in the "forced-sex fantasy" sub-genre, which, just by its name, shows just how every porno is really just meant for people to live their sexual fantasies vicariously through these movies.
Many think that the business is unfair towards women and say that they are degraded in porn because they are "paid less than men."
According to www.porncitynews.com, men make anywhere between nothing and $600 per scene, while women make $500-2,000 per scene. So apparently, some men don't even get paid for some scenes, which, by the way, are filmed like any other movie would be. The actors act, the director directs, and the crewmembers light the set and record the sound. Then at the end of the day, everyone goes home. For them it isn't anything taboo or degrading, it's just a job.
If the industry is hard on anyone, it's hard on the men. They have the most pressure put on them. The men have to stand naked in a cold studio and maintain an erection while every crewmember impatiently watches him and waits for him to be ready to perform. If you can't perform, you gain a bad reputation and you won't get anymore work. In the adult film business, women have it way easier.
Before you go out and say that these women are degraded or that they're whores, why don't you hear what they have to say? Go to an actor or actress' Web site, read their bios, look at their FAQs, and find out what they have to say about what they do. Why not start with famous porn star, Mensa member and Rutgers alumnus Asia Carrera (www.asiacarrera.com).
Fernando Vazquez is Deputy Life & Leisure Editor.