Porn in the U.S.A.

Published on February 28th, 2009

Posted by Eideard in Politics, religion

Americans may paint themselves in increasingly bright shades of red and blue, but new research finds one thing that varies little across the nation: the liking for online pornography.

There are some trends to be seen in the data. Those states that do consume the most porn tend to be more conservative and religious than states with lower levels of consumption, the study finds.

“Some of the people who are most outraged turn out to be consumers of the very things they claimed to be outraged by,” Edelman says…

After controlling for differences in broadband internet access between states – online porn tends to be a bandwidth hog – and adjusting for population, he found a relatively small difference between states with the most adult purchases and those with the fewest…

Eight of the top 10 pornography consuming states gave their electoral votes to John McCain in last year’s presidential election – Florida and Hawaii were the exceptions. While six out of the lowest 10 favoured Barack Obama.

Church-goers bought less online porn on Sundays – a 1% increase in a postal code’s religious attendance was associated with a 0.1% drop in subscriptions that day. However, expenditures on other days of the week brought them in line with the rest of the country, Edelman finds.

Residents of 27 states that passed laws banning gay marriages boasted 11% more porn subscribers than states that don’t explicitly restrict gay marriage.

Could it be, could it be…that hypocrisy was perfected by conservatives and christians?

Thanks, Mr. Justin

47 users responded in " Porn in the U.S.A. "

Subscribe to this post comment rss or trackback url

# 1 The Master Fisherman said, on February 28th, 2009 at 10:11 am

Another weak attempt to knock the right by failed editors. God, it is just too damned easy to beat on these newbs.

# 2 bobbo said, on February 28th, 2009 at 10:12 am

More likely that in states with that slightly more religious/conservative bent, the outlets for normal sexual expression or more limited hence driving a few of the religious types, but a whole lot of less religious types in those states, into on-line porn.

Its the danger of thinking things are monolithic rather than breaking down the relevant subgroups.

You do know there are no monoliths?

# 3 jccalhoun said, on February 28th, 2009 at 10:13 am

This study is being reported totally wrong. It does not say that people in the “red” states view more porn but that they PAY for more porn. It could easily be the case that people in “blue” states are more tech savvy and know how to get their porn for free.

# 4 orangetiki said, on February 28th, 2009 at 10:21 am

Maybe they are just not as smart as some in the blue states who can find free porn online?

# 5 Somebody_Else said, on February 28th, 2009 at 10:22 am

Odd artwork for this article.

Off topic, but one of the nice things about the Boy Scouts is that its a very decentralized program. No matter how right-wing-crazy and homophobic they get up at the national leadership level most local units really don’t care about the religious views or sexuality of their members.

As for the story, the porn thing doesn’t surprise me at all. “Conservative” is almost synonymous with “hypocrite.”

# 6 Hyph3n said, on February 28th, 2009 at 10:30 am

If you live in Utah, the ONLY place you’re going to get your porn is online. You even have to buy beer from a cop in that state.

# 7 QB said, on February 28th, 2009 at 10:55 am

1. Correlation doesn’t imply causality. Only an anti-scientific religious type would make that mistake.
2. A simpler explanation is that religious conservatives live in rural areas so they have to go to the net for their porn. Liberals live in urban environments so they are more “hands on” buyers.
3. As I said yesterday, I appreciate conservatives stimulating the economy through support of the porn industry.

# 8 Li said, on February 28th, 2009 at 10:55 am

What is the source of that poster? I mean the original source, before they put that ridiculous text on top of it? ‘Cause that’s some messed up freudian imagery there, even without the later addition of the text.

# 9 Duger said, on February 28th, 2009 at 11:03 am

The artwork was originally composed for Liberty Bonds sales during World War I in the USA.

Here’s the original: http://tinyurl.com/bqxu2t

# 10 god said, on February 28th, 2009 at 11:33 am

The real fun about the research > article > post > is how easy it is to give the theocratic politicos a metaphoric wedgie over their hypocrisy.

They know it’s true. Which provides another opportunity to be hypocrites.

# 11 QB said, on February 28th, 2009 at 11:43 am

Amen god

# 12 John E. Quantum said, on February 28th, 2009 at 11:59 am

Pay for porn? People really pay for porn?

# 13 Dallas said, on February 28th, 2009 at 12:10 pm

Really, the holier than thou are hypocrites?

I knew that before Metallica put out an Album on it.

Who are you? where ya been? where ya from?
Gossip is burning on the tip of your tongue
You lie so much you believe yourself
Judge not lest ye be judged yourself

Holier than thou
You are
Holier than thou
You are

# 14 sargasso said, on February 28th, 2009 at 12:27 pm

I wonder; are they The Horny Devout, or The Repentant Voyeurs?

# 15 Mister Mustard said, on February 28th, 2009 at 12:49 pm

#2 – Bobbolina

>>More likely that in states with that slightly
>>more religious/conservative bent, the outlets
>>for normal sexual expression or more limited
>>hence driving a few of the religious types,
>>but a whole lot of less religious types in
>>those states, into on-line porn.

I think you’ve got a shot at taking the Bulwer-Lytton prize this year, Mista Bobbolina!

That sentence of yours gives “It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents–except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.” a good run for its money!!

Enter!

# 16 The Pig said, on February 28th, 2009 at 1:10 pm

There is probably a correlation between porn and pork too. The states with the highest porn consumption are probably the ones with the highest pork consumption (BBQ startin’ to tingle you?)

In a good segue,

The pig is the most virile animal in the kingdom. There are more sperm in the average male ejaculation in the pig than in any other animal including man.

I think this is why Islam and Judaism ban pork.

# 17 BubbaRay said, on February 28th, 2009 at 1:11 pm

#15, Mr. Mustard,

Goodness me, I may not stop laughing for 30 minutes! The image that forgotten “prose” conjures may be tantamount to watching the 3 Stooges at their best.

# 18 MikeN said, on February 28th, 2009 at 1:31 pm

Give him whatever prose prizes you want, but Bobbo’s analysis beats the editors again.

Now a survey of individuals has shown that Democrats view porn 60% more than Republicans(not solid but certainly more solid than the logic here).

# 19 CDRaff said, on February 28th, 2009 at 2:31 pm

This is the liberal/conservative version of my daddy can beat up your daddy. Grow up.

# 20 RBG said, on February 28th, 2009 at 2:37 pm

Must be difficult to repress a billion years of innate sexual drive en route to being civilized. Just ask a rapist.

RBG

# 21 Billy Bob said, on February 28th, 2009 at 2:45 pm

I guarantee you that they started from a desired result and then tortured the “broadband access magic number manipulator fun factor” to get the result they wanted. Broadband access is much more prevalent in urban centers (blue states), so they most likely discounted that by some BS % in order to get the “per capita” answer they were looking for. In fact, I’ll bet you that the unfudged per capita in fact shows that urban centers buy more porn simply because of the technology advantage.

I’m so sick of BS passing as science.

# 22 GregA said, on February 28th, 2009 at 2:49 pm

#18,

Except that if you read the actual article, (the actual peer reviewed article, not the newscientist clipping) he controlled for that, and found precisely the opposite of bobbos conclusion.

If you look at his various datasets, the onlything in his paper that sort of supports that idea is that Democratic zipcodes (vote for Kerry in 2004) were more likely to visit escort, and dating sights, while republican zipcodes “visit wife-swapping sites, adult
webcams, and sites about voyeurism.”

So while conservatives tend to be the losers sulking in their moms basement wacking away, even the democratic pervs have it together enough to go out and get the real thing, even if it is paid for. (and its always paid for)

Also, one thing that explains this whole report away to me is education. The more eductation you have the less likely you are to buy porn.

One of the surprises for me is that gender does not seem to play a role in this study. That means it is your republican women who are seeking out those “wife-swapping sites, adult webcams, and sites about voyeurism.”

I just want to point out to any youngish people reading this, there are those of us in adulthood who have well adjusted sex lives, and don’t consume porn out of principal. But none the less, this report confirms my suspicions that the most pervy people are indeed republicans. And the actual report confirms that more strongly than than the Dvorak editors.

# 23 GregA said, on February 28th, 2009 at 3:04 pm

#21

Broadband access had nothing to do with it. He had credit card data that was keyed on porn purchases. It was measured by purchases per 1000 people.

The report is absolutely conclusive, republicans are more pervy than democrats…

It is by enough in a few states that if the republican party were to simply actively court perverts, they could swing elections.

Another take is that if Sarah Palin had simply done the Hustler photo shoot, she could be vice president. Republicans do have a thing for wife swapping it seems…

# 24 brm said, on February 28th, 2009 at 3:37 pm

It’s only hypocrisy if the peeps railing against porn are exactly the ones looking at it.

People might be more extreme, no matter what the behavior, in these states.

This is more of a Work Hard / Play Hard sitch, imo.

# 25 jbenson2 said, on February 28th, 2009 at 3:49 pm

The Top Pornography Consuming States?

How about addressing the Top Pornography Producing States:

California has to be #1.

# 26 deowll said, on February 28th, 2009 at 4:08 pm

It was perfected before the first human walked in North America and is practiced by the living.

Those who like to point fingers at others like the person who posted the article are true masters of it.

# 27 QB said, on February 28th, 2009 at 4:18 pm

jbenson2, you wouldn’t want tan lines, would you?

# 28 soundwash said, on February 28th, 2009 at 5:05 pm

another useless waste of media space..

when you create a taboo, (esp religious taboo) you can bank on the the thrill seekers hunting it down with a vengeance..

the act of banning anything promotes its use even more and usually fosters a thriving black market. -porn is no exception.

porn in the US is strictly a tool to sell copy, buy feel-good votes, infringe on peoples privacy, give the priest in the confession box material to abuse his alter boys with, hide completely unrelated “zinger” laws within the bill, -and ofc, -remove a politician/DA from office who’s investigation starts infringing on your federal money making/laundering scam. (compliments of the fbi, no doubt)

oh, and of course, feed the needs of normal people who need a little *incentive* to get the juices flowing…

case in point on zinhers..

a Bill (HR 1076) recently introduced in the house, will require just about *anyone* who provides internet access to a third party via DHCP to keep two years of IP and access logs. (up from 90days),

it also changes prior language so that anyone found guilty will face the possibility of LIFE in prison. (up from 10 to 30 years)

the abuse/blackmail potential of this by corrupted individuals on both sides of the Law alone is immeasurable. -if it passes.

so this means anyone who happens to share their WiFi router or provides an access point with mates, or the neighborhood (which many do without even knowing it) will be defined as service providers and be bound to this law/provision.

-somebody piggybacks on your router and does the kiddy porn thing, your life becomes will become infinitely more expensive and complicated.

but wait..what’s a bill without some mystery meat? lets add some completely unrelated RICO language just for fun..

—snip—
“ADDITIONAL RICO PREDICATES.

Section 1961(1) of title 18, United States Code, is amended–

(1) by inserting ‘section 641 (relating to embezzlement or theft of public money, property, or records,’ after ‘473 (relating to counterfeiting),’; and

(2) by inserting ‘section 666 (relating to theft or bribery concerning programs receiving Federal funds),’ after ‘section 664 (relating to embezzlement from pension and welfare funds),’
—-snip—

what spam is this?
-i bet they shove this bill in front of some pro internet-porn-law senator they know has been ripping off a Fed program and/or [gasp] running a child-porn racket and tell him, “ok, here’s your Bill, -your move”

yup, Change we can believe in..

(all joking aside:
scream NO to your local senator on HR 1076:

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-1076

-s

a bargaining chip?..garunteed fail/pass.? -or is this a subtle way of hinting that the biggest child porn rings are are funded by the high level government officials who have ripped off tax-payers and federal

rip off tax payers and federal programs

# 29 GetSmart said, on February 28th, 2009 at 6:35 pm

We are surprised that the most sexually repressed folks are sporting behavior to compensate? Look no farther than the Japanese, one of the most individuality repressed cultures on the planet. Some of their porno is the most sick, twisted and deranged shit ever produced.
I’m certainly no prude, but OMFG.

# 30 Mr Diesel said, on February 28th, 2009 at 8:32 pm

#29 GetSmart

Oh yeah, you got that right. Who the hell could watch a Buhkake video…….

If the conservatives are paying for it maybe they need to look at pornotube.com as it is better than youtube.

# 31 bobbo said, on February 28th, 2009 at 9:04 pm

#15–Mustard==hope your reduced activity means you found better things to do. Sante.

#22–GregA==I didn’t read the article because the subject bores me======studies about correlations and such. Some state goes 51/49 for Kerry and at a rate of 51 vs 49 visits certain websites (hits or discreet viewers) and so that means xyz.

#1==I don’t buy it. #2==Don’t care anyway.

Conclusion: Just trying to remind people not to think in terms of labels. We all do it all the time and we all need to do it less.

# 32 billabong said, on February 28th, 2009 at 9:14 pm

I’m shocked! shocked! that people masturbate in this country.

# 33 Animal Mother said, on February 28th, 2009 at 9:38 pm

Nope, I’m pretty sure all Republicans are expert at one-handed web surfing. Just ask Mark Foley or Larry Craig.

# 34 bobbo said, on February 28th, 2009 at 9:43 pm

I disagree. Masturbating to pictures of young boys while on the web is “more connected” than I give the average congressperson. Shitting on the Constitution while burning money on the casket of a returned soldier is more my stereotype.

# 35 Billy Bob said, on February 28th, 2009 at 9:58 pm

I was motivated to read the actual paper here:

http://people.hbs.edu/bedelman/papers/redlightstates.pdf

The paper got its broadband data here:

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-280906A1.pdf

It turns out that the FCC data has some massive holes in it that perfectly explain why certain states show up highly. To boot:

Utah – No cable modem sub data available
Alaska – No cable modem data
Massachusettes – No ADSL data after 2005
Hawaii – No cable modem data

This study systematically underestimates broadband–ahem–penetration in certain states. Lo and behold, a lot of podunk “red states” don’t submit good data, and it makes the porn sub rates per thousand broadband users higher. But it’s because the broadband user number is wrong.

Finally, even the study finds that porn sub rates are pretty consistent across red and blue states, so the article’s cherry picking is BS.

# 36 MikeN said, on February 28th, 2009 at 11:13 pm

#22, so you assume people in zipcodes are identical now?

# 37 MikeN said, on March 1st, 2009 at 1:35 am

So looking at his tables, Mississippi and North Dakota are in the bottom ten of subscriptions per thousand people, but jump to the top 5 in terms of subscriptions per broadband.

This is a junk study for sure.

# 38 Sonny said, on March 1st, 2009 at 2:16 am

Yall mean ders free porn ot der?

Well Jesus H. Christ. The preecher neber said nuting about that. Dang, mabe I won’t have to go to hell after all.

Yippee Skippee. Now, were do I find dis here free porn? Do ‘ey have pictures of nekkid wimen? are the titties real?

# 39 AlgoreIsWorseThanHitler said, on March 1st, 2009 at 7:41 am

The problem with the “Conservative” group is that to get conservative fiscal and foreign policy you have to hold your nose and accept religion based “conservative” social policy along with it. Liberals have the opposite problem.

Neither group really represents mainstream America. We all have to prioritize and compromise when we’re voting.

# 40 Give Me A Break said, on March 1st, 2009 at 9:25 am

My, what a surprise; yet another conservative religion bashing post on good ole Dvorak.org/blog. Will the wonders never cease? I guess it’s a requirement for the authors here to be liberal fools.

# 41 Billy Bob said, on March 1st, 2009 at 11:23 am

Massachusettes and Hawaii, which don’t get any bluer, are also in the top 10. Why cherry pick North Dakota? Oh, because it suits your political agenda. How Cheney-like.

This study is at best misleading, incomplete, and inconclusive.

# 42 Sonny said, on March 1st, 2009 at 1:46 pm

#41, Billy Bob,

Hey, is ya that Billy Bob Hatchins who lives down by the holler? The one that had that great big ole Hillary Sign up last year? Ain’t ya the one that got in trouble with the animal folks for what someone had done to yer goats?

Ya’s was making some of that fancy porn wasn’t ya? Jes you and your goat. I got one question fer ya. Did the goat blow his load all over your chin?

That is iffen yer that Billy Bob Hitchens. Cus, iffen yer ain’t, then never mind.

# 43 QB said, on March 1st, 2009 at 8:28 pm

#40 and #41

Surely no one is suggesting that Conservatives are hairy palmed masturbators!

# 44 Angel H. Wong said, on March 2nd, 2009 at 9:03 am

#43 QB

Nah, they don’t but they sure are good at tap dancing inside a restroom stall.

# 45 Daniel said, on March 2nd, 2009 at 10:31 am

I don’t think its hypocrisy so much as a byproduct of oppression. I grew up in the south and saw this first hand. Everyone is told that sex is horrible, that porn rots your brain.. it makes you more curious. Sex and nudity are so taboo that the only outlet is porn. And since porn is so easy to find on the internet, it makes an easy outlet for people looking to escape.

# 46 RBG said, on March 2nd, 2009 at 3:42 pm

So why do you figure people are so fixated on porn compared to, say, playing Scrabble(tm)? Do you figure it has anything to do with a billion years of sexual evolution? In which case, can we excuse other similar behaviors, such as human affinity to violence, because it too has been induced by evolution? Just asking.

RBG

# 47 Darrell b said, on March 8th, 2009 at 8:49 pm

What the study actually shows is Republican perverts are willing to pay for their porn while Democrat perverts feel entitled to free or stolen porn.

Leave Your Reply Below...

Comment Moderation is Active, so if your comment doesn't
show up immediately, please don't submit it again.

Special Deals 4U

25% off eHarmony subscription with code EHTECH
12-percent discount forever with code TECH
10-percent discount and free month using TECH10
10-percent or 30 dollars off weekly car rental!
Get 10-percent discount on car rental!
Get 10% off rental cars!
Get 10% off Dollar rentals!
Discounts on domain names!

Login / Search

Login
Register

Stock Market Advice

MarketClub Education Page Click Here MarketClub Videos page Click Here

Support the Blog

For those of you that hate Paypal you can send a check: John C. Dvorak, Box 339, El Cerrito, CA 94530

Note! One Less Ad!!

Blogroll

2005 Personal Portal - — handy all text personal research portal — great links!
About Us (Masthead)
Actual Review of Top Horoscope Websites
Amsterdam
Blog Primer - Introduction for new readers
Child SAFE Personal Portal - Fun portal for children
Comment Guidelines for those Wishing to Add Comments
Copenhagen - various pics from Copenhagen and environs
Cranky Geeks Online Vidcast - New half hour discussion with grumbling geeks
Ft. Worth, Texas
How to Use this Blog - What this Blog is All About
Links to Older Essays and Archives
Northern Spain
October 2006 Video Archive
Ongoing Review Of WordPress - Dvorak’s look at WordPress
- Monday’s PC Magazine Column Online and print columns posted for online viewing
Public Speaking - Information Regarding Public Speaking
September 2006 Video Archive
Short BIO of John C. Dvorak - Short bio of John C. Dvorak
Should Your CEO Become a Blogger? - Discussion of PR benefits of CEO blogs.
Six Flags/Marine World
Slovenia
Solano Stroll/Lomography
Sweden
Switzerland
Tech5 Daily Podcast
Terms of Use/Privacy Policy - legal
This Week in Technology (Podcast)
Venice
Weekly Dow-Jones Marketwatch Column - Column appearing every Wednesday on CBS Marketwatch: \
Whatever Happened to Alaskan Airlines? - A Commentary on West Coast Air Travel
- Spam! End it! Here’s How.

Translate

Stock Market Help!

MarketClub Education Page Click Here MarketClub Videos page Click Here

Categories

Syndicate

Subscribe to Main Blog feed here:

Subscribe to Comments too (below):