Sexuality: The payoff of porn

Recently I had a friend over for dinner and drinks, and although we had originally planned on watching some light-hearted romantic comedies, we somehow ended up on the subject of porn and soon found ourselves flipping through various sites as we talked about feminism.

Mind you, this conversation wasn’t something that’s terribly out of the ordinary, as most conversations that are started with me – whether by telephone, in person or even Gchat – usually end up on some sex-related topic.

After our second glass of Fish Eye Riesling wine, we were sprawled across my couch with chips and salsa and looking at Kink.com. Suddenly, my friend started choking. I assumed it was due to my salsa, because let me tell you, it’s flaming hot. But as she regained her composure, she started pointing to the naked redhead bound to what looked like a medieval torture device.

“I went to high school with that girl,” screamed my friend. She then took over my computer and started flipping through this girl’s assorted clips on the site.

For the next few minutes we watched as the former high school volleyball champion did girl–on–girl, threesomes and various S&M scenes. When we had exhausted the two minute previews made available to us by Kink.com, I started wondering about this girl’s story, what had made her go into porn to begin with and, perhaps more than anything, what the payoff was.

When both the wine and my dear friend were gone, I returned to my computer and started doing some research. I began with Kink.com.

Under the jobs section, I scrolled down to where it said “Models,” and soon was confronted with a table of prices. I have to admit, I was very pleased to see just how organized everything was.  The categories were ordered by gender and the type of “work” one would be willing to do.

Just for fun, let’s say I was looking to do G/G scenes (sexual contact between two females). If both parties were willing to do vaginal play (without cunnilingus), the payoff would be anywhere from $400-$500, depending on the number of hours worked. After looking through the various sites Kink would direct me to for this sexual performance, I learned that the “average” amount of hours for a G/G scene was three-four with the exception of competitive female wrestling, which was one-two hours. Who knew porn was a math equation?

I suppose that having sex on sites like Hogtied.com or Whippedass.com could be could be feasible if the pay in fact was worth the physical labor, and I’m sure that I’m not the only person who feels this way.

“If the pay was good, I’d definitely do it,” said my straight friend Brody. “Hell, lots of guys go gay for pay because I’ve heard that it’s a way bigger pay day than just banging a chick, a blowjob is a blowjob, right?”

I always assumed that people went into porn, and even as far as going “gay for pay” because of the money. But after finding an article on Forbes and looking at the amount of serious “physical” labor that goes into porn, I’m starting to think that money and being broke might not really factor into it.

According to a recent issue of Forbes, men in the porn industry, especially, don’t make as much money as people might assume. Porn star Richard Mann said that male actors actually only get paid for the shoot, and usually don’t see royalties.

Betsy Morris, a University of Colorado student studying both sociology and psychology, recently did a study into the sexual behavior of Americans. She said that her research shows that people do not go into porn solely for the money anymore, but are now going into the industry on behalf of their sexuality.

“People often have a natural sex drive that isn’t being fulfilled,” Morris said. “So while the money might not be great due to the thousands of amateurs going into the business, individuals still see a sort of profit for their sex drive.”

So while the actual “payoff” of doing porn isn’t great and can be very physically demanding, the desire and curiosity are still there. What I do know, though, is that it might not be too uncommon to be browsing through Xtreme Tube and see your class valedictorian involved in a bisexual threesome.