AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The fact that men seem to like looking at naked women more than women like looking at naked men coerces them,” said Decker.
“Maybe it’s only that it’s socially acceptable for men, though?” said Essence. “Maybe men and women are equal in that regard.”
“Don’t think so,” said Decker. “Not entirely. Men are worse than women.”
“They are not. See, that’s sexist,” said Essence. “Don’t you think so, Hollis?”
“Women can be very, very awful,” said Hollis. “But it does seem that women are more likely to be seduced by words than pictures, if we assume that right now, everyone’s exploiting their preferred medium.”
“Well,” said Essence, “but there isn’t good porn being made for women. It’s all made by men, for men. Not all of it, but most of it. So, there’s no real way to know if women wouldn’t want it. There’s a lack of supply, because there’s an assumed lack of demand. We don’t know if that’s even true.”
“Point,” said Hollis.
“Whatever. Women aren’t looking at porn,” said Decker.
“You didn’t even think women liked it rough in bed,” said Essence. “So, it seems to me you don’t really know anything about women.”
Decker coughed, embarrassed.
Then Essence felt herself flush. “Um, not that I like…” She cleared her throat. “Why are we talking about this?”
“It’s my fault,” said Hollis. “But we can drop it if it’s getting too personal. I was exploring it purely from an academic perspective.”
“Look, she’s misrepresenting my position,” said Decker. “I’m not anti-porn. I’m just saying, it’s unnatural, and it’s like, um…” He searched for words, found them, and snapped. “Sugar!”
“Sugar? How?” said Essence.
“Like, we evolved to like sweet things so that we would eat fruit, which is really good for our brain development,” said Decker. “Probably, if we didn’t all have sweet tooths, we wouldn’t even have civilization. But then, we started figuring out how to get that sweet taste without all the vitamins, nutrients, and fiber. And that was really bad for us. Porn’s the same thing. Processed sugar to rot you from the inside.”
“You just said you weren’t anti-porn,” said Hollis.
“I mean, it’s okay occasionally,” said Decker. “But a steady diet messes with you.”
“In what way?” said Hollis.
“I think it makes you put unrealistic expectations on sex,” said Decker. “And if you don’t have those, you’re more satisfied.”
“So, porn lets you know how good it could be,” said Essence, “and then regular sex isn’t that good, so we all should settle for a subpar sexual experience. Got it.”
Decker sighed. “There’s also the way it seems to make you want more and more intense experiences, the way it pushes you towards violence and force and humiliation. If that’s the kind of stuff you’re reading in your books, how do you know it’s not doing the same thing for you? Maybe you’re being radicalized?”
“You’re kidding me.”
“I’m not. Maybe, you read all these books about how to be a nice, submissive thing, so receptive to pain, and then you’re just a perfect little victim for the abusers.”
“Tangles. And. Briars.” She shook her head at him. “It’s just a hop, skip, and a jump to victim blaming.”
“No, I’m not blaming the victim, I’m blaming nature,” said Decker. “We do not do what is good for us, Essence, not if we’re left to our own devices. We check our phones eighty times a day, we eat junk, we don’t exercise, we take the easy route, and we are all—apparently—I thought it was just men, but all of us—turned on by dominance.”
“Well, probably not everyone,” said Hollis. Then he thought about it. “Well, hmm. Is sex sort of always about dominance?”
“No,” said Decker.
“Maybe,” said Essence.
Hollis laughed.
“All I’m saying is that you have to curb your sexual desires at some point,” said Decker. “If you didn’t, you’d be sitting around, beating off all the time, and you’d never get anything done.”
