The workaday reality of making porn is contrasted with the skin trade's glamorous myths, and the idea that porn consumers prefer these myths to 'truth' is outlined. The author examines the gay adult video industry from an insider's perspective. Sex pigs: why porn is like sausage, or the truth is that-behind the scenes- porn is not very sexy. These observations are supported through the qualitative textual readings of how the performers are described on these popular sites, revealing the narratives and marketing strategies that shape the construction of popular porn brands, performers, and profitable fantasies. The figures confirm that these sites generally market themselves as featuring penises that are extraordinarily large and find a sample-wide correlation between smaller penis sizes (5-6.5 inches) and receptive sexual acts (bottoming), and larger (8.5-13 inches) with penetrative acts (topping). Textual analysis of the profile descriptions is combined with a quantitative representation of disclosed penis size and sexual position, which is presented visually by two figures. Specifically, in excess of 6,900 performer profiles sourced from 10 commercial Web sites are analyzed.
This article combines qualitative and quantitative textual approaches to the representation of penis size and sexual position of performers in 10 of the most visited gay pornography Web sites currently in operation. Size Matters: Penis Size and Sexual Position in Gay Porn Profiles.
