{"id":173592,"date":"2024-11-21T11:07:33","date_gmt":"2024-11-21T10:07:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=173592"},"modified":"2026-01-19T14:27:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T13:27:23","slug":"a-pornfession-booth-pornhub-wrapped-and-discussion-with-porn-performers-researchers-provide-an-academic-perspective-on-pornography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2024\/11\/21\/a-pornfession-booth-pornhub-wrapped-and-discussion-with-porn-performers-researchers-provide-an-academic-perspective-on-pornography\/","title":{"rendered":"A pornfession booth, PornHub wrapped, and discussion with porn performers: researchers provide an academic perspective on pornography"},"content":{"rendered":"

Students gathered at the Erasmus Paviljoen on Tuesday night for an event focused on pornography. Researchers and porn performers explored the stereotypes existing in porn through amusing experiments and lively discussions.<\/p>

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Porn actors Marvin and EslunaLove and researchers Michael Giffin and Samira van Bohemen answer questions from the audience during Studium Generale's porn conference.<\/span><\/p>

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A sense of excitement and curiosity fills the air as students gradually gather at the Erasmus Paviljoen. On stage, two black leather couches with red heart-shaped cushions, red velvet curtains, and vintage erotic posters set the mood. Soft music plays in the back, and the staff asks students to squeeze to ensure everyone can sit. Finally, the lights turn off.<\/p>\n

Sex priest<\/h2>

\u201cI didn\u2019t research pornography because of a dirty mind\u201d, jokes Samira van Bohemen as she takes the stage. She introduces her research, which focuses on stereotypes in pornography. Pornography, she explains, is dominated by stereotypes: the fake taxicab, the pizza delivery guy, the schoolgirl\u2026 But what role do these stereotypes play in sexual arousal? And how much does our social environment influence what excites us?<\/p>\n

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Samira van Bohemen welcomes the audience.<\/span><\/p>

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On stage, the researchers reproduce some of the experiments they conducted at Lowlands music festival for the research. First, the conference\u2019s host and the researcher Lena van de Lande sit together in the \u2018Pornfession booth\u2019, where a red curtain only allows them to hear each other. There was a similar set-up at the festival where Van de Lande listened to festival-goers\u2019 sexual confessions as a kind of sex priest.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people were really enthusiastic\u201d, she recounts, \u201cthere was a waiting line all day long.\u201d The first findings showed that \u2018mutual pleasure in porn is essential for most Lowlands participants\u2019, says Van de Lande. \u201cOlder participants were uncomfortable with porn involving younger people than them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vanilla sex<\/h2>
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Michael Griffin explains the 'sexperiment' to the conference host.<\/span><\/p>

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Another experiment that attracted a big crowd was the \u2018sexperiment\u2019, explains researcher Michael Giffin. Participants\u2019 physiological reactions to various pornographic stereotypes were measured by recording their heart rates while they watched clips from porn videos. As Giffin explains that, he plays the videos that the participants saw. Soft chuckles are coming out of the rows, before erupting into laughs as the porn gets more explicit.<\/p>\n

The results from the research showed that \u2018vanilla sex\u2019 was the most arousing category among participants. In opposition, the \u2018anti-stereotype\u2019 category, featuring women in dominating positions, was the least arousing, especially among women, adds Giffin.<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018On Easter Sunday people watch the least porn in the Netherlands\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Porn preferences and societal change<\/h2>

PhD student Lotte Mikkers gets everyone\u2019s attention back as she reveals her first slide, \u2018PornHub wrapped 2023\u2019. \u201cWhich day of the year do people least watch porn?\u201d, she asks. \u201cChristmas!\u201d several voices shout from the audience. She smiles and replies that it\u2019s actually on Easter Sunday that people watch the least porn in the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

Mikkers also shares statistics on the platform\u2019s most popular categories. \u2018Sex machines\u2019, \u2018super size\u2019, and \u2018mature actors\u2019 are the top three. She draws a connection between these trends and societal changes. As technology becomes increasingly central to our lives, interest in androids and machine-based content has risen. Similarly, as populations age, there\u2019s growing demand for content featuring older performers.<\/p>\n

Consent in porn<\/h2>

Finally, the last guests are coming up on stage. Porn performers EslunaLove and Marvin sit on the couch under loud applause. Marvin explains that he now mostly works as a producer, and EslunaLove says she acts in some projects and creates a lot of content for OnlyFans.<\/p>\n

When asked about the difficulties of their jobs, Marvin says he wishes professionals were present on every production to make sure that consent is present, even \u2018normalised\u2019. EslunaLove adds that she selects very carefully the projects she participates in, prioritising a \u2018safe environment\u2019.<\/p>\n

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Porn performers EslunaLove and Marvin with the conference host.<\/span><\/p>

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Porn concerns us all<\/h2>
Not everyone is enthusiastic about porn research. After Lowlands, a few students for example criticised the Christian terms used. But nobody voiced such criticism during the evening. Samira explains: \u201cIt wasn\u2019t my intention to hurt anyone with this research. I wanted to make it fun and engaging.\u201d <\/span>Holding a glass of champagne, she adds that the research can be \u2018groundbreaking\u2019. She hopes to show the impact of social background on the physiological response to porn.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n\n\t
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\n\t\t\u2018Talks like this can really change how people see porn\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Meanwhile, three medical students remain seated in the upper row, debriefing with excitement. \u201cI loved it. Talks like this can really change how people see porn\u201d, one of them says. When asked about their own consumption of porn, another says that she \u2018learned from porn\u2019. She adds that \u2018more research should be done about porn\u2019, as it \u2018really concerns us all\u2019. Her friend agrees: \u201cAlmost everyone consumes porn, and not only videos: you can also listen to and read porn now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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Read more<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t