Sex, Porn, and Voluntary Celibacy

In the comments section to my recent post on Google search trends regarding the main figures in the seduction industry there was an interesting debate. A PUA believer (shill?) claimed that because interest in search terms like "picking up girls" was high, the seduction industry must be in great shape. You can probably quickly find out what the problem with this line of reasoning is. If not, then feel free to refer to my response to that comment.

An anonymous commenter chimed in, ridiculing that position by referring to the ever-rising interest in sex and porn to further illustrate the absurdity of that argument. Here's the graph, taken straight from Google Trends. It shows interest in the keywords "sex" and "porn" over time, and look at the success story "porn" has become:

"sex" (red) vs. "porn" (blue)

So, why would you prefer porn over sex? I don't want to read too much into this data, but I couldn't help but think of the rise of the MGTOW community. A relatively prominent position in this scene is to choose voluntarily celibacy, or simply pay for sex, instead of following some made-up social conventions. You know, nonsense like that the wedding ring is supposed to cost the equivalent of half your annual income, or that fat women have a "great personality" and all that jazz.


My perception is that it has become more common that men openly question societal institutions. Let's be honest: there aren't so many women around who are worth spending time with, let alone date or marry. Given contemporary obesity rates and absurd levels of entitlement, which are present in many Western women, I can perfectly well understand when someone says that he doesn't want to participate in that kind of game. The MGTOW community is growing, and Western society itself does a pretty good job discouraging men from getting involved with women. There are risks everywhere. Heck, in some countries you would get into serious trouble if, say, you doubted that the kid of your wife is yours, did a paternity test (that then confirms that it's some other man's kid). In France, you'll risk a fine of 15,000 Euros and a year in prison, and would still have to pay alimony.

So, is it any surprise that some men prefer porn over sex, as the chart above seems to imply?

I know, I know, I'm making quite a few assumptions here, but if you look at the general tendencies, you'd have to admit that it's no longer unusual that men not only don't marry, but refuse to enter any kind of relationship with women. We were discussing this and related issues in a thread on the forum some time ago, in "The End of Dating". Johnny wrote:

I feel another reason which is causing this is that the entertainment value benchmark which a "date" has to meet has gone up to a ridiculous amount. There is HD porn at your fingertips, online tv shows and movies, you have a super duper highly customized playlist of music on your phone, an exact schedule of upcoming events and classes and whatever, great food can arrive at your doorstep if need be, you can read your favorite books on your kindle etc. I mean after all this for you to spend a lot of time in a girl - she better be really special.

I couldn't agree more. Sure, there are a few very special girls out there (I'm married to one), but there is no reason your life can't be complete without a girl, and it seems that more and more men are realizing that. It can take time to find someone to spend time or your life with, and that's a choice you shouldn't take lightly. In general, though, I think that your typical average girl has very little to offer. It seems that this is an insight more and more men are making, which might explain the data of Google Trends above.