California Will Vote to Require Condoms on Porn Shoots

Condoms (StyleCaster)

Condoms (StyleCaster)

This year, California residents will head to the polls, and be asked to vote on something unique to the Golden State: what happens on a porn shoot.

Proposition 60, a.k.a. the Condoms in Pornographic Films Initiative, proposes that adult performers wear condoms during scenes where they “actually engage in vaginal or anal penetration by a penis.” (Side note: can we just appreciate that this language made it into a ballot measure?) Aside from that essential fact, the measure requires producers of pornographic films to pay for medical vaccinations and testing related to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and to obtain the state health license.

This measure would cover the San Fernando Valley, where the majority of the porn industry’s films are shot. The measure is not without precedent: In 2012, 56% of voters approved a similar measure, called Measure B, that covered Los Angeles County.

A recent University of Southern California Dornsife/LA Times poll showed that 55% of respondents would support the measure if they had to vote that day. Over 1K people were surveyed.

But Prop 60 also has the potential to harm one of California’s booming industries. Right now, perfumers get tested regularly for STDs, and shooting shuts down if an outbreak occurs. It’s pretty self-governed. But passing the measure might open up liability for independent producers and private companies that distribute porn films.

One reason behind opposing Prop 60 hinges on the fact that it could drive the business elsewhere, to a place that has less stringent (or no) regulations. This concern also has precedent in data: In 2012, the year Measure B passed in Los Angeles, FilmLA reported that there were 480 permits pulled for shoots involving “nonsimulated sex.” In 2013, that number plummeted drastically to 40 permits, and has been dropping year-over-year since. Implementing Prop 60 would also cost the state around $1M to “license and regulate film production, and an additional several million dollars in lost taxes if the industry flees California.”

As you can see, there are many aspects to consider whether you’re for or against Prop. 60. Californians, make sure you do your research before you vote!

 

 

How Common is Intimate Partner Violence?

James Deen and Stoya (The Guardian UK)

James Deen and Stoya (The Guardian UK)

Late last year, adult film star James Deen was accused of rape by his former girlfriend, fellow adult film star Stoya. Other performers later came forward to accuse Deen of sexual assault, but Stoya’s two tweets on Nov. 28, 2015, started Deen’s downfall: He’s since been dropped from one major studio.

Rape can be part of a larger pattern of intimate partner violence. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV), intimate partner violence “comprises 15% of all violence crimes,” and women ages 18-24 are most likely to be “abused by an intimate partner.” In addition, 46%+ of women raped are raped by an acquaintance. Of this number, 45%+ of women are raped by an intimate partner. These are scary stats.

As of 2014, women ages 18-24 comprise 4.8% of the total population.As of the 2010 Census, women comprised 50.8% of the total population, or 156.9M+ residents. We can estimate that the current number of women in this age group who’ve been raped by an acquaintance might shake out to 155K+.

Here’s the math:

  • 156,964,212 *.0048 = 753,429 (estimate of women ages 18-24 as of 2014)
  • 753,429 * .46 = 346,578 (estimate of number of women in that age range raped by an acquaintance)
  • 346,578 * .45 = 155,961 (estimate of number of women ages 18-24 raped by an intimate partner)

Obviously, this isn’t an exact estimate, due to a couple of reasons: self-reporting (not all women will probably report rape/violence), and inaccurate data (using both 2010 and 2014 numbers).

Scary, right? Unfortunately, this is the reality, so take care of yourselves.

 

Pornhub Data of 2015: By The Numbers

Pornhub Insights 2015 Year in Review (Pornhub Insights)

Pornhub Insights 2015 Year in Review (Pornhub Insights)

I always love it when certain tech companies release their user data for the general public’s education/amusement. Last week, we learned about OkCupid stats. This week, it’s Pornhub.

Pornhub is pretty good about releasing user insights (see their recent post on activity during winter storm Jonas), and their year-end data, released last month, is no exception. The following numbers are just what I found most interesting, and you can read the full report on Pornhub’s Insights blog (NSFW, BTW).

Amount of bandwidth used: 1,892 petabytes (PBs)

  • Context: 1 PB = 1,000 terabytes (TB) = 1,000,000 gigabytes (GB), i.e. that’s a hell of a lot of data

Average visit duration (U.S. only): 9 minutes, 51 seconds

Pornhub 2015 Year in Review: Hourly Traffic Worldwide (Pornhub Insights)

Pornhub 2015 Year in Review: Hourly Traffic Worldwide (Pornhub Insights)

Most popular search term worldwide: lesbian

Top pornstar: Kim Kardashian

Top term searched more in 2015 than in 2014: giantess (+1,091%)

Pornhub 2015 Year in Review: Women - Worldwide Traffic (Pornhub Insights)

Pornhub 2015 Year in Review: Women – Worldwide Traffic (Pornhub Insights)

Country with highest proportion of female users: Jamaica (44%)

Country with highest proportion of female users: Japan (17%)

Average age of Pornhub users: 35.3 years

Pornhub 2015 Year in Review: Traffic by Device Worldwide (Pornhub Insights)

Pornhub 2015 Year in Review: Traffic by Device Worldwide (Pornhub Insights)

Most popular mobile operating system (OS): Android (49.7%)

Most popular desktop browser: Chrome (48.9%)

 

This is all so fascinating to me, and I hope you feel the same!

 

What were PornHub’s Top Search Terms of 2014?

PornHub Top Gaining U.S. Search Terms in 2014 (Mic)

PornHub Top Gaining U.S. Search Terms in 2014 (Mic)

Happy Friday! Ever wonder which keywords are commonly searched on porn sites (and maybe how your personal preferences stack up)? You know you were, so read on!

PornHub recently released data compiled from users for all of 2014. Further proving that 2014 was The Year of The Booty, search term “big booty” showed an increase of 486% year-over-year (YoY). (Unfortunately, PornHub didn’t release any actual numbers so we could gauge the, uh, size of their traffic.)

Appetites for larger sizes peppered the list: In addition to “big booty,” “big tits” landed in second position with a 410% increase (YoY). “BBW” sits in fifth place with a 235% increase YoY.

Users also searched for porn relating to lesbian sex and people of color. “Lesbians scissoring” had a 245% increase YoY, and “lesbian” closed out the list at #10 with 81% increase YoY. Regarding ethnicity, “latina” placed third with 314% increase YoY. Black women were represented with the aforementioned “bbw” and also with “ebony,” which had a 207% increase YoY.

The UK Bans Certain Sex Acts in Porn

Handcuffs, a.k.a. "physical restraint" (Fleshlight)

Handcuffs, a.k.a. “physical restraint” (Fleshlight)

Earlier this month, the United Kingdom enacted a ban on certain sex acts in porn. The ban amends the 2003 Communications Act, which previously sketched in “unacceptable” acts as ones associated with violence and abuse.

Now, the British Board of Film Censors (BBFC) has narrowed down their lists of “good” and “bad” sexual acts to very specific, fetish-focused ones. Per “The Independent:”

The Audiovisual Media Services Regulations 2014 requires that video-on-demand (VoD) online porn now adhere to the same guidelines laid out for DVD sex shop-type porn by the British Board of Film Censors (BBFC).

The acts listed under “content that is not acceptable” includes a variety of BDSM-related activities, age-play, and female ejaculation. Almost all of the sex acts listed are included under the BBFC’s “Restricted 18” rating, which means that the films can only be shown at licensed adult cinemas and sex shops.

Now this only applies to porn made within the UK, and porn made outside its bounds is totally fair game to have any of these “unacceptable” acts. I have to wonder if this will lead to a rise in Brits importing their porn to see these now-illicit acts. Now foreign porn production houses can get themselves piece of that hardcore caning action:

Pornhub's UK Banned Porn Content Table (The Independent)

Pornhub’s UK Banned Porn Content Table (The Independent)

(Side note: I’d love to know how these nine acts were agreed upon. And how female ejaculation made its way in. It doesn’t seem to fit with the overall theme of violence and pain the rest of the entries have. Seriously, what’s up with that?!)

The UK has had a long, uncomfortable history attempting to regulate porn. (Robert Rosen’s “Independent” article provides some enlightening historical context.) The country only legalized hardcore porn in 2000, about 30 years after the rest of the Western world. And you’d be considered a criminal for possessing “non-realistic sexual images of a minor,” or, in popular parlance, cartoon porn.

This ruling certainly changes the game for British porn producers and consumers, so it’ll be interesting to watch how its landscape changes over time. Who knows, Britain could, at some point, enact a law dictating that only a certain amount of porn can be imported at any given time. After all, Pelchat’s amendment worked for French radio.