# Porn of VHS and today **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 17, 2016, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/porn-of-vhs-and-today/757646 "2016-06-17T22:33:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2016, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/porn-of-vhs-and-today/757646/1 "2016-06-17T22:33:17Z")
In the early days of widely available VHS I watched some porn. It got repetitious rather quickly and I went to more wholesome entertainment for a few decades. Recently the political stories on the internet were more repetitious and boring than I could tolerate so I Googled some porn. The first thing I noticed was almost all the naked bodies were white. The old porn I remember had a lot of blacks. Did persons taste in decadence and debauchery change or am I recalling it wrongly? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2016, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/porn-of-vhs-and-today/757646/2 "2016-06-17T22:41:17Z")
> [@janeslogin](#): > > The first thing I noticed was almost all the naked bodies were white. The old porn I remember had a lot of blacks. > > Did persons taste in decadence and debauchery change or am I recalling it wrongly? Not sure where you were looking but a ton of modern porn video is still of the black male(s)/white female variety. Photo collections tend heavily towards white models though. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2016, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/porn-of-vhs-and-today/757646/3 "2016-06-17T23:18:58Z")
I have no peer reviewed studies to cite but my gut feeling is it is now much easier to find whatever combination or niche you are looking for than it was in the VHS era. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2016, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/porn-of-vhs-and-today/757646/4 "2016-06-17T23:45:11Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I have no peer reviewed studies to cite but my gut feeling is it is now much easier to find whatever combination or niche you are looking for than it was in the VHS era. Like yourself, I don’t have any properly conducted academic studies on the subject to hand, but I would suggest your observation is absolutely correct. Look at it another way: There’s a reason Google safe search not only exists, but basically _has_ to be enabled by default. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2016, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/porn-of-vhs-and-today/757646/5 "2016-06-17T23:50:10Z")
I, having never spent too much time online searching for porn, would imagine that there are almost limitless varieties of freely available- as in not costing a dime- porn pics and videos out there to be seen. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2016, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/porn-of-vhs-and-today/757646/6 "2016-06-17T23:56:13Z")
Back then is was basically the same dozen or so guys and the same three dozen or so women. Now, it’s everybody. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/porn-of-vhs-and-today/757646/7 "2016-06-18T00:16:30Z")
What about Betamax porn, you Johnny-come-lately? Pardon the pun. Porn was virtually all-white during the 1970s. Video appeared around 1980 and took over from film by 1981. I’m not an expert but I’ve read the histories of porn and I don’t remember anybody ever commenting that the ratio changed when video upended the industry. Pardon the double entendre. Interracial sex is a category, but the mainstream porn industry has always been white and is still white today. Porn star Lisa Ann made headlines a couple of years ago when she went public with the reality that there was a progression in “barriers” that a newcomer would go through to progressively do more and more and keep her hot for her audience. Interracial was about 20th on the list. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/porn-of-vhs-and-today/757646/8 "2016-06-18T00:59:55Z")
OP, the answer is that you’re not looking hard enough, or that wherever you obtained your VHS was a non-neutral source. Either that or you needed to adjust your old TV’s contrast settings. > [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Look at it another way: There’s a reason Google safe search not only exists, but basically _has_ to be enabled by default. I’d say there’s 34 reasons why it exists… Even so, Google still censors. Compare Google vs. Bing results with their safe search equivalents off. > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > What about Betamax porn, you Johnny-come-lately? Pardon the pun. A common story is that VHS beat Betamax partially because the former had fewer compunctions about supporting porn. Googling suggests that it’s an urban legend, though. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/porn-of-vhs-and-today/757646/9 "2016-06-18T01:09:39Z")
Old timey porn followed a couple through the whole of the act. Nowadays, it’s a lot of short cuts and jumps. Everything’s much faster-paced. It’s like the difference between an opera and opera highlights. It no longer looks like two people having sex, but, rather, two people going through a weird gymnastics routine. On the other hand, in the olden days, such depictions were so boring, many of us would watch the tape on fast-forward, so maybe the new style was inevitable. Also shaving. You don’t see anywhere near as much pubic hair. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/porn-of-vhs-and-today/757646/10 "2016-06-18T02:16:57Z")
> [@janeslogin](#): > > The first thing I noticed was almost all the naked bodies were white. The old porn I remember had a lot of blacks. I have heard (maybe even read it here) that one of the hardest genres of porn to find, even online, is straight porn featuring black couples, and that the dialogue 😛 generally follows old-fashioned stereotypes. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/porn-of-vhs-and-today/757646/11 "2016-06-18T02:23:14Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > A common story is that VHS beat Betamax partially because the former had fewer compunctions about supporting porn. Googling suggests that it’s an urban legend, though. VHS won because it always had twice as more time on a tape as Beta. 1 hour to 1/2 hour, then 2 hours to 1 hour. For the same price. > [@Trinopus](#): > > Old timey porn followed a couple through the whole of the act. Nowadays, it’s a lot of short cuts and jumps. My memory is that filmed porn almost never had sex acts as long as five minutes and many were two or three. That was true for early video as well. It’s today’s porn that gives full arcs, 20, 30, even 60 minutes. When are you basing “old-timey” on? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/porn-of-vhs-and-today/757646/12 "2016-06-18T02:29:35Z")
The oddity that I noticed about VHS era porn was that it tended to be almost ritualistic; couple after couple having oral sex, vaginal sex, anal sex, like they were marking off a checklist. > [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Look at it another way: There’s a reason Google safe search not only exists, but basically _has_ to be enabled by default. It’s not just “enabled by default”; you _have no choice_ but to have it on. So-called “safe search off” is what \*used to be \*“moderate safe search”. The result is that all sorts of things are very difficult to find though google, and not just porn. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/porn-of-vhs-and-today/757646/13 "2016-06-18T02:42:40Z")
Does anybody else get anxious on behalf of the pizza delivery boy, who is SURE to be returning late to the store, and will likely be in a lot of trouble, or is it just me? ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/porn-of-vhs-and-today/757646/14 "2016-06-18T02:59:48Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > It’s not just “enabled by default”; you _have no choice_ but to have it on. So-called “safe search off” is what \*used to be \*“moderate safe search”. > > The result is that all sorts of things are very difficult to find though google, and not just porn. I really don’t understand what you mean by this. I seem to have no trouble finding porn with google. If safe search is on, I hate to imagine what I would get with it off. Example (NSFW): [spoiler][Imgur: The magic of the Internet](http://imgur.com/m4LyQOr%5B/spoiler%5D) ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/porn-of-vhs-and-today/757646/15 "2016-06-18T03:34:33Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > . . . My memory is that filmed porn almost never had sex acts as long as five minutes and many were two or three. That was true for early video as well. It’s today’s porn that gives full arcs, 20, 30, even 60 minutes. > > When are you basing “old-timey” on? Wow! My experience is exactly the opposite of this! ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/porn-of-vhs-and-today/757646/16 "2016-06-18T03:47:05Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > I really don’t understand what you mean by this. I seem to have no trouble finding porn with google. If safe search is on, I hate to imagine what I would get with it off. > > Example (NSFW): [spoiler][Imgur: The magic of the Internet](http://imgur.com/m4LyQOr%5B/spoiler%5D) Safe Search only affects image results, not regular searches. I explained it too, but to be more specific, I GIS “cream pie” with Safe Search OFF, and get a full page of desserts. **Zero** porn. The categories at the top are somewhat suggestive, but in a joking way, not explicit. Meanwhile over at Bing, moderate SafeSearch gives me desserts, while off gets me all porn. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/porn-of-vhs-and-today/757646/17 "2016-06-18T04:07:11Z")
The way Google SafeSearch works now is that there is an “on” setting which always works and filters everything. And then there’s an “off” setting that still filters– **unless you use certain words that it recognizes as meaning you want NSFW material.** The obvious one is just to add the word “porn” to your search. Instead of “cream pie,” try “cream pie porn.” Google, AFAIK, hasn’t released a list of what words work, and I don’t know of anyone whose bothered trying to reverse engineer it. As for the claim about white people porn–Google gives you what it thinks you would want. And people who want porn with PoCs tend to specify. We could have a debate on why there is such segregation, but the issue is not that there isn’t as much out there. It’s roughly proportional. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/porn-of-vhs-and-today/757646/18 "2016-06-18T04:36:04Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > I’d say there’s 34 reasons why it exists… Well played. 🙂 (For the folks following along at home, [Rule 34](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_34_(Internet_meme)) is an internet meme/trope that states “If it exists, there is porn of it.”) ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/porn-of-vhs-and-today/757646/19 "2016-06-18T04:52:30Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Well played. 🙂 > > (For the folks following along at home, [Rule 34](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_34_(Internet_meme)) is an internet meme/trope that states “If it exists, there is porn of it.”) F16’s suffering mechanical failures? ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/porn-of-vhs-and-today/757646/20 "2016-06-18T05:40:31Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > F16’s suffering mechanical failures? …found it. :eek: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/porn-of-vhs-and-today/757646.md?page=2)