The Pop Culture of Sex: An Evolutionary Window on the Worlds of Pornography and Romance

Abstract

Pornography and romance, at first glance they seem to be two genres that are almost polar opposites. Yet both are the products of our evolved human sexuality and both have been the subjects of a variety of authors and researchers. Particularly in the case of pornography, some have argued strongly against its very existence, charging it, its creators and consumers with many of the evils in the world (real and imagined). In the case of romance, many have been derogatory and dismissive of the writers' skills and the readers' minds. In this article, I hope to introduce a different approach to these genres, through an evolutionary lens that serves to illuminate the way in which our sexual natures combined with modern technology to create such widespread distribution and sales. Romance and pornography are both multibillion dollar industries, and their stark contrasts reflect the deep divide at the heart of male and female erotic fantasies. These differences reflect the fact that the selection pressures males and females faced in the reproductive realm over human evolutionary history were not identical.

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