Section 3
Introduction
This section draws comparison between adult magazines from the 1900s and the adult websites of today as vessels for explicit content and the ads that accompany them. Again, we see a similar uptick in the consumption of pornography during the Great Depression and the Covid Pandemic. Along with an upsurge in the subscribers of dating apps, adult websites saw a record number of viewers.
Disclaimer
This section contains imagery that some viewers may find disturbing.
Viewer discretion is advised.
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Rise in internet traffic during the Covid Pandemic
Graphs a and b chart the internet traffic change by demographic and age groups during the Covid Pandemic. Graph c illustrates the worldwide internet traffic change while graph d shows the worldwide daily Coronavirus related searches.
All four of them exhibit steep increases during the Covid Pandemic, supporting the claim that isolation during the pandemic led to an increase in the consumption of pornography.
Source:
Zattoni, Fabio, Murat Gül, Matteo Soligo, Alessandro Morlacco, Giovanni Motterle, Jeanlou Collavino, Andrea Celeste Barneschi, Marco Moschini, and Fabrizio Dal Moro. "The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on pornography habits: a global analysis of Google Trends." International journal of impotence research (2020): 1-8.
Male Enhancement and Pseudoscience
Like their print counterparts from the 1900s, these websites include a plethora of ads promising "clinically proven" methods of improving sexual performance. One specific ad found on PornHub, a leading adult website, suggests that pouring apple cider vinegar on male genitalia increases it in size.
Sexual and Social Opportunites
Similar to the classifieds in adult magazines, these websites also feature ads promising sexual and social opportunities. The legitimacy of these opportunities remains shaky as these links can lead users to untrustworthy scam websites.
Popular Brands on Adult Websites
The internet traffic that adult websites get is undeniable. The subject of pornography remains taboo but recent ad campaigns by popular brands like Diesel, Unilever, and Zomato (A food delivery service in India) on PornHub suggest a shift, or an acceptance of porn consumption as the norm in pop culture.