Porn: The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly (Part I)
Part I: The History of Porn
Pornography certainly isn’t anything new. The oldest depiction of erotica dates back 28,000 years to modern day Austria. It’s a statue of a woman with huge breasts; and is thought to have been used in fertility festivals (basically giant orgies) [4]. The Kangjiashimenji Petroglyphs are the oldest known record of illustrated erotica [11]. Created around 4,000 years ago in modern day China, these giant carvings, which scholars believe took centuries to create, rival even the most extreme videos of today with their depictions of orgies, transsexuals, double penetration, and babies streaming out of erect penises (or at least that’s what archeologists have come up with 😉).
Fast forward to Ancient Pompeii, the infamous town in Italy that was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Amid the ruins, one can still appreciate the elaborate paintings of sexual escapades on the bathhouse walls [4]. Men would frequent these buildings to socialize, bathe, and look at some porn, perhaps while receiving a sexual favor from a willing companion or sex slave.
While these earliest works of sexual expression had to be visited in person to be enjoyed, eventually people figured out how to duplicate and mass produce erotica. Prior to the expansion of the printing press in the 1500’s, only the wealthy and religious personnel had access to books, which had to be copied by hand [17]. The printing press made it possible to create hundreds of copies of the same text, which ultimately lowered the cost of written materials and made them more accessible to the general public. While the Bible and other religious works were high on the reading list, it wasn’t long before the printing press was being used to print and distribute erotica [21]. In 1524 a book illustrating various “lovemaking positions” was published, much to the chagrin of the pope, who immediately banned it. In 1748, “Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure,” the first full length erotic novel to be published in English, both shocked and delighted readers with tales of bisexuality, group sex, and masochism [14].
The Industrial Revolution laid the groundwork for the film industry with the invention of the daguerreotype, a primitive method of photography that used a silvered plate and mercury to create photographs [14]. It didn’t take long for people to start using this technology to capture sexual images. One of the earliest surviving daguerreotypes from 1846 is described as “a rather solemn man gingerly inserting his penis into the vagina of an equally solemn middle-aged woman” [14]. Imagine trying to get off to that !
In the same year the world experienced its first cinema, it also experienced its first pornographic film. The first erotic motion picture was released in France in 1896 [2]. Lasting only 7 minutes, it portrayed a woman performing a strip tease for her husband on their wedding night [8]. It was a huge hit; and filmmakers saw growing demand for this new genre, dubbed “pornographie”. However, what was considered X-rated in the 19th century can regularly be seen on HBO today! Later that year, a short film called “The Kiss” was released in Ottawa, which included a scene of a couple kissing for 18 seconds. Critics deplored this as, “a demonstration of bestial lust not appropriate for a civilized man” [3]. Another particularly racy film for the time depicted women performing their daily chores naked [14]. In an era where women dressed in multiple layers of clothing year-round with underwear that covered most of their bodies, audiences found this both scandalous and titillating.
With the roaring 20’s came the emergence of “stag” films in the United States. At the time, producing and distributing pornography was a crime punishable by prison, but that didn’t stop early filmmakers from creating adult material to meet the growing demand [20]. Amateur producers would travel around the country, creating anonymous, silent, black and white productions wherever they could find willing participants (which was typically in the local brothels) [8]. Salesmen, who were often members of organized crime, would then peddle these films from town to town, where men’s clubs and fraternities would chip in to rent a group showing. Can you imagine saving up your money to sit in the dark and watch the latest seedy film with your neighbors and co-workers?
“There was a time when the only porn a teenager had any real access to, was the printed kind and a plethora of men’s magazines catered to every taste,” Raizin reminisces. In December 1953, Hugh Hefner published the first issue of Playboy magazine, featuring Marilyn Monroe on the cover [9]. Hefner didn’t put a date on the magazine because he wasn’t sure if there would be enough interest to warrant a second installment [23]. To his surprise, all 70,000 copies sold, and Playboy grew into an empire that included a bestselling monthly magazine, the Playboy mansion and various gentleman’s clubs, where a man could relax after a long day with food, entertainment, and of course the companionship of the Playboy bunnies. In the following years Hustler and Penthouse entered the growing market for adult magazines, each competing to feature the naughtiest centerfolds while still remaining within the confines of the law [19].
New technology during the 1950’s and 60’s led to huge innovations film-making – and in pornography. During the first half of the 20th century, producing films was expensive, and was limited to the very wealthy, criminal organizations, and corporate studios [20]. In the 1950’s, the popularization of 8mm film and the Super 8 camera made it cheaper, easier, and more efficient for the average person to create and watch films at home [6]. This technology was quickly adopted for pornographic purposes. In 1958, Harrison Marks, a British photographer, began creating “Glamour Films” of women removing their shirts and posing topless [8]. Soon sales of Super 8 film skyrocketed as it became the standard in a growing pornography industry. By the 1960’s, the Sexual Revolution fostered a collectively more open attitude toward sexuality and set the stage for the first adult movie theatre to open its doors in California [20]. In 1960 there were only around 20 adult theatres in existence, by 1970 there were 750.
The 1970’s were considered the “Golden Age of Porn”. Andy Warhol’s Blue Movie in 1969 and Bill Osco’s Mona in 1970 were the first films depicting explicit sex to receive widespread release in the United States [18]. At a time when porn was still very much underground, Warhol managed to bypass obscenity laws and release Blue Movie under the guise of “art”. Deep Throat followed in 1972, starring Linda Lovelace and boasting a plot, musical score, and tongue-in-cheek humor [19]. This iconic film cost only $25,000 in production and raked in over 3 million dollars in the first six months of its release [29]. Even more astonishingly, Lovelace received a mere $1,250 for her starring role [19]. For the first time in American history, porn was out in the open. With everyone from film critics to Hollywood celebrities endorsing this new genre, porn went from something that was reserved for the seedy part of town to something that was socially acceptable, maybe even trendy.
In the 1973 ruling Miller v. California, the Supreme Court softened its definition of “obscenity”, which opened the doors for more extreme content [19]. Facing less prosecution, and more demand than ever, porn production studios cropped up in San Fernando Valley. Due to its proximity to Hollywood and relatively cheap cost of living, San Fernando was an ideal location to lure aspiring actors and actresses looking to make a little money on the side while they waited for their big break to stardom [16]. Studios competed to see who could find the most well-endowed performers and produce the most shocking content, such as anal and double penetration [4].
In the late 1970’s, the invention of video tape recorders (VTRs) brought pornography into people’s homes – or more accurately, pornography brought video tape recorders into people’s homes . At this time more than half of all videotapes in circulation consisted of pornographic material [6]. People were willing to pay the steep $800 price tag on a VTR for the luxury of viewing their porn in private. The shift from watching porn in theatres to watching porn at home led to the development of more extreme genres and fetish films [14]. Men who did not feel comfortable watching homosexual or foot fetish content seated next to their friends and neighbors were more willing to purchase and view this material in the privacy of their homes. Sales of VTRs skyrocketed, along with sales of video porn. Some people even believe that pornography was the deciding factor in the success of JVC’s “VHS” over Sony’s “Betamax” [6].When Sony refused to license its technology to porn producers, JVC took the opposite stance . Unable to play porn on the Sony device, most people went with the VHS, and the Betamax faded into obscurity. VHS not only made it possible to watch porn at home, but also to make porn at home. By the time VCRs had become more affordable in 1991, amateur content accounted for 30% of all pornography rentals and sales in the United States [19].
Over the course of the 20th century, porn has evolved from illegal to somewhat socially acceptable. However, even as recently as the 1980’s, one had to choose between navigating the awkwardness of buying it in public, or the inconvenience of waiting for new material to come in the mail. VX720 reminisces, “I actually watched porn (in my twenties) before the internet. Back when you could purchase VHS tapes then DVDs. [I would] probably purchase a new edition every few months. BuffChastityJoe concurs, “When I grew up you had to really put in an effort to access porn. You would be able to get a few pieces of it (magazine, video), but you ended up having to go back to the same ones often”.
With the early inception of the internet in the late 1980’s, the only media formats available were text and pictures. The creation of BBS (Bulletin Board Systems…not Bare Back Service 😉) allowed one person to browse the files on another person’s computer [10]. Not surprisingly, one of the first commodities people began to share and trade were pornographic pictures. Unlike today where you can instantly play a video with a click of the mouse, back in the early BBS days you had to patiently wait while each image loaded, pixel by pixel. Viewing pornography on the early internet was not only tedious, it was also risky, as there were little to no safeguards against downloading a virus instead of the sexy pictures you were hoping for [25]. Despite these risks, the market for internet porn grew rapidly. A 1993 publication in the Georgetown Law Journal estimated that as much as 80% of the internet consisted of pornographic material [9]. While the accuracy of this figure was later questioned, it is certainly true that pornography made up a significant portion of the growing internet.
As the internet became more widely accessible and user friendly, pornography did too. “Internet porn has evolved with the internet itself”, muses Santiago, one of the respondents in my study. In the mid 1990’s, faster internet speeds combined with the popularization of banner ads and drove up web traffic [25]. This led to an explosion of pay-per-view subscription style sites [9].These sites made it possible to purchase and consume a wide variety of porn without ever leaving home. They also spelled huge financial payouts for domain owners and advertisers [25]. In an attempt to make purchasing internet porn more secure, innovative porn producers developed anti-fraud techniques such as flagging charges from free email accounts, matching the IP address of the computer to the user’s credit card address, and a double opt-in process for email subscription. The development of streaming technology had its roots in porn as well. In an attempt to eliminate the hassle of installing the plug-ins necessary to watch videos, The Dutch company Red Light District along with entrepreneur and former porn star Danni Ashe created a new technology which allowed viewers to watch videos at their leisure; they could pause, play, and skip through content with just a few clicks of the mouse [25].
By the early 2000’s mainstream Hollywood adopted this new streaming technology; and YouTube was launched in 2005 . Now it was effortless to upload , share, and stream content. Less than a year later, the pornography industry capitalized on this new technology. New sites such as YouPorn and RedTube allowed users to instantly access millions of videos for free without leaving their chair. Gone were the days of whacking off to the same faded picture torn out of your dad’s Playboy magazine, sneaking into an adult video store hoping you didn’t bump into someone you knew, or clicking on a file in a chatroom and praying you didn’t download a virus. With viewers now able to upload, watch, and share millions of clips for free, porn studios were unable to control access to their videos, and as a result performers’ incomes took a nose dive [26].
In recent years, internet porn has grown to encompass more than just streaming sites. Chatrooms, message boards, blogs, webcams, provider ads, and some corners of social media all fall under the umbrella of internet porn. The shuttering of Backpage in 2018 drove sex workers to seek out new platforms, hoping to find a safe place to advertise and connect with clients. While the majority of social media sites prohibit explicit content, Twitter, already home to a thriving BDSM and swinger community, seemed to be the exception. Thousands of sex workers have joined Twitter to advertise and engage with prospective clients and fans. It soon became apparent that there was a demand for virtual services, and companions with an entrepreneurial spirit began selling everything from their panties to their spit to eager buyers.
Some men who felt disillusioned or turned off by overproduced and poorly scripted commercial porn found appeal in companion-created content. One of my clients shared with me that he prefers browsing provider ads to watching traditional porn because the prospect of potentially meeting the lady in the pictures turns him on. He is not alone. Anon#1 writes, “My version of porn is perusing the provider sites and fantasizing on encounters with some of the beautiful women on those sites”. Even if it is not feasible to meet every provider that tickles your fancy, it still adds an element of reality that is missing from commercially produced porn.
The worldwide Covid-19 pandemic brought yet another change to the porn industry with the rise of performer-operated subscription sites such as OnlyFans, JustforFans, and ManyVids. OnlyFans was created in 2016 by Timothy Stokely, who had already gotten his feet wet in the adult entertainment industry [5]. His vision was a platform for independent contractors and entrepreneurs to sell additional services and content to their client base. While this could apply to adult entertainers, it could also apply to fitness coaches, hobby instructors, models, and influencers. When the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in spring of 2020, it created the perfect storm. Millions of people were quarantined and confined to their homes with excess time on their hands. There was a sudden demand to find ways to make money from home. There was also a demand for personalized entertainment. This led to a huge increase in adult traffic on the site. To put some perspective on it, prior to the pandemic there were around 150,000 content creators on OnlyFans [12]. That number doubled during the first month of quarantine, and by the end of March 2020 the site boasted 350,000 creators. By the beginning of 2021, OnlyFans was home to over 1 million creators and had become a household name.
Unlike traditional porn sites, which offer a hodgepodge of clips pirated from production studios along with anonymous amateur sources, sites like OnlyFans brought a new personal touch to porn. Subscribers have the option to chat with content creators, as well as commission custom pictures and videos in a new individualized take on pornography. This adds an aspect of reality to porn that it did not previously possess. Oscar de la Hoya explains, “I think perhaps relating to what I'm watching is more important to me. Whether the actress really enjoys what she's doing (or a great actress) or any specific kinks she's into. I think this is why watching a sex tape of someone you know or care about is more exciting.” Phosluvr agrees, “I enjoy homemade and amateur porn as I love to see real people enjoying their sexuality”.
So, porn has been around for a long time. We can see throughout history that new developments in communication and entertainment were quickly adopted for use in pornography . While the enjoyment of erotic expression may be as old as civilization itself, our methods of celebrating, sharing, and getting off to sexual content have changed along with technological innovation. And not only have they changed with technological innovation, they have influenced it as well.
The only thing that can be guaranteed about the future of porn is that it is always changing. Anon#6 points out, “The type and source [of porn] has shifted over time. Mainstream productions are a bit boring but [I] enjoy the newer more amateur content and things which seem more realistic”. Even within the past year, Covid-19 and social distancing created a shift towards personalized human connection with performer-operated sites like OnlyFans . Virtual Reality (VR) porn has also taken off in recent years [13]. In a society where we are increasingly isolated at home, it is not surprising that there is demand for a technology that allows the viewer to put on a headset and be visually transported to another realm! Some VR porn even provides a point-of-view experience, where the viewer can experience the scene as a performer. If you have never tried this, you should check it out. It’s wild! Only time, technology, and the human imagination will tell what comes next!
Thanks for reading!
Coming soon… Part II: Porn - The Good, The Bad
Names in bold throughout this post are gentlemen who contributed to the short answer portion of my survey – thanks for taking the time to share a piece of yourself. You are appreciated! If you contributed and didn’t see your name, don’t worry! There are still 3 more parts coming ;)
A special and continued thank you to @TheBuffaloon for being a great editor, graphic artist, and friend.
References
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