One of my classes started the way one can only hope, with my professor saying, "This semester, we’re going to have some fun."
I asked how much fun we could have, and my professor, knowing me well enough, said, "Robyn, we can pretty much do anything short of creating the next PornHub." Students chuckled before he continued with, "Although, we could probably make a ton of money from that."
I told him, "Don’t be silly, no one pays for porn anymore!"
It’s true — at least among millennials. Seriously, do you know anyone who pays for porn? No, that’s what the Internet is for.
Why pay for something when you can pull it up in five seconds and watch it for free? Gone are the days of buying "Playboy" or videos from your local adult store.
But why don’t we pay for porn? I say "we" because I’m grouped in with this trend; I’ve watched plenty of pornography but have never paid any money for it.
It would be easy enough to pay the $10 or so for a pornography subscription. That’s what, a week’s worth of guac for your Chipotle orders?
I’m guessing most of you either pay for a music streaming service, think Spotify Premium or Pandora Plus; a video streaming service, the likes of Netflix or Hulu; or both.
Why are we willing to pay money for these subscriptions but not for a porn subscription? If "Netflix and chill" is worth an Alexander Hamilton each month, then why isn’t "PornHub and jerk off"?
Watching porn for free takes money away from the performers, just like illegally downloading Taylor Swift’s "Bad Blood" robs her of money. You’re getting a service from these people — entertainment, orgasm, what have you — but you’re not giving them anything in return.
According to a 2014 article by "Men’s Health," a 2013 study by sex-toy retailer Adam and Eve "discovered that just 4 percent of online porn consumers actually pay for it."
The same article quoted porn star Veruca James, who guessed that most people who pay for porn are older than 30, "since anyone under 30 grew up with the Internet. They don’t really remember a time when porn wasn’t free."
So, our generation is basically full of cheap jerks.
Let’s consider the ethics. Why do so few of us pay for porn even if it’s something that we regularly watch? I’d argue that as a society, we don’t value porn performers as much as we do other types of artists.
We feel bad for ripping off Taylor Swift by pirating a song, but we don’t feel as bad for doing the same to a porn star — apparently someone who takes it up the butt for a living isn’t worth our money.
But with porn, as with most other things, what you pay for is what you get. "Tube" sites — PornHub, YouPorn — often have poor quality when compared to subscription sites, which feature better quality film and more enthusiastic (and consensual) actors.
It’s the difference between watching a Torrent of "Game of Thrones," which, let’s be honest, is kind of like porn sometimes, and actually watching it on HBO. The quality is markedly better, and you don’t have to visit a seedy website to get your content.
An article by "bitch" magazine equates consumers who pay for porn to consumers who care about where their food comes from or where their clothing is made. It’s all about ethical consumption, as "sites that receive compensation are legally obligated to file a form under U.S. Code 2257, providing an age and legal name, which offers some accountability for the industry."
Maybe most important to consider, though, is if you don’t pay for the porn you watch, how is the industry ever going to make money to produce more content?
Michael Kulich, an adult film producer, said in the "Men’s Health" article that "you have to consider the supply and demand chain. ... If nobody pays for it, nobody is going to produce more of it. So 15 years from now, you’re going to be watching the same scene with the same girl."
I get that we’re all poor college students and money is tight. But think about the future, think about your kids, think about you in 20 years — do you really want to watch the same point-of-view reverse-cowgirl scene for the rest of your life?
Robyn Smith is a UF journalism senior. Her column appears on Fridays.
