"Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, author of Everybody Lies, a new book that
uses data on America’s Google habits as an insight into our national
consciousness.
Two findings from the book dominated the conversation: America is
riddled with racist and selfish people, and there may be a self-induced
abortion crisis in this country.
But there was plenty more revelatory data in the book that we didn’t
cover. So I wanted to follow up with Stephens-Davidowitz to talk about
some of the other provocative claims he is making.
I was particularly interested in sexuality and online porn. If, as
Stephens-Davidowitz puts it, “Google is a digital truth serum,” then
what else does it tell us about our private thoughts and desires? What
else are we hiding from our friends, neighbors, and colleagues?
A lot, apparently.
Among other things, Stephens-Davidowitz’s data suggests that there are
more gay men in the closet than we think; that many men prefer
overweight women to skinny women but are afraid to act on it; that
married women are disproportionately worried their husband is gay; that a
lot of straight women watch lesbian porn; and that porn featuring
violence against women is more popular among women than men...
It’s interesting. Some sexual preferences I first learned about on The
Jerry Springer Show, which featured really poor, uneducated people.
People attracted to animals or family members or the elderly. But, now
from seeing porn data, I realize those preferences also exist among
wealthy, educated people. Wealthy, educated people are more cognizant of
contemporary social norms, which means if you have such an attraction,
you hide it..
All right, give me a couple of unusual desires you noticed — one from
men and one from women.
It is really amazing how much tastes can vary. There are women who just
watch porn featuring short, fat men with small penises. There are men
who just watch porn featuring women with enormous nipples.
How about other countries?
The number one Google search in India that starts "my husband wants ..."
is "my husband wants me to breastfeed him." Porn featuring adult
breastfeeding is higher in India than anywhere else. In just about every
country, just about every Google search looking for advice on
breastfeeding is looking how to breastfeed a baby. In India, Google
searches looking for breastfeeding advice are about equally split
between how to breastfeed a baby and how to breastfeed a husband.
After I published this finding, some journalists interviewed people in
India. Everyone denied this. But I am sure, based on the data, that
there are a reasonable number of adult Indian men desiring to be
breastfed. It is really amazing that this desire can develop in one
country without ever being openly talked about.
Any other findings from countries not named America?
Japanese men have recently become obsessed with tickling porn. More than
10 percent of Pornhub searches by young Japanese men are for
“tickling.”"
"The data from porn tells us that everybody is weird. Thus, nobody is weird."
Any other surprising findings about women in America?
About 20 percent of the porn women watch is lesbian porn. A lot of
straight women watch lesbian porn.
That’s not very surprising.
Porn featuring violence against women is also extremely popular among
women. It is far more popular among women than men. I hate saying that
because misogynists seem to love this fact. Fantasy life isn't always
politically correct.
The rate at which women watch violent porn is roughly the same in every
part of the world. It isn’t correlated with how women are treated.
So what’s the future of online porn? Where is it going?
I think anal sex will pass vaginal sex in porn within three years. That's what my data models suggest.
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