Cover photo credit to Marvel Studios, retrieved from CNN.com.
Some people are okay with sexual objectification…but not us.
Have you heard of Rule 34 of the internet?
It’s a sad truth that internet porn is more varied than just about anything else you can find online. The infamous Rule 34 of the internet—a comical list of protocols and conventions which first appeared years ago on a popular online forum—states, “If it exists, there is porn of it. No exceptions.”
So, if you can think of a pornographic scenario, theme, or style—no matter how random or innocent it may seem—then such porn will already have been made and will be available online. If it’s somehow not out there, then it is only a matter of time before such porn is made.
Nothing is safe from the porn industry’s objectification. Not even record-breaking movies based on superhero comics.
A 2,912% surge in Avengers searches
Ahead of the blockbuster release of the latest Avengers movie this week—which is already breaking box office records—there has been a huge surge in searches for Marvel characters in explicit scenarios. Don’t believe us? Take it from the world’s most popular free porn site.
According to Pornhub’s Insights:
“When the last Avengers Infinity War movie was released in 2018, it caused a 356% surge in ‘Avengers’ searches on Pornhub. At the time, that seemed like a sizable increase for an already popular search term. That was then, and Avengers Endgame is now… With plenty of spoilers making their way around the internet, ‘Avengers’ searches increased an incredible 2,912% on April 19th, when compared to their pre-April 16th average. In real numbers, that’s an additional 2 million searches over 7 days.”
Wow. But that’s not all.
In addition to the searches containing “Avengers,” Pornhub also shared that major Marvel characters also peaked in popularity. Classy.
What does all of this mean?
Our porn-saturated culture can’t leave popular or much-beloved stories and characters alone—it has to make them sexual and objectifying. Not cool.
It’s time we put an end to the porn industry getting a free pass when it comes to the objectification and dehumanization of otherwise awesome stories and characters. If you’re on board, join us in speaking out that this isn’t acceptable.
People aren’t products or simply a collection of body parts to be used, viewed, and discarded. With research continually showing how harmful porn is, we can take a stand against these harmful ideals, fight for our humanity, and give a voice to those who can’t fight for themselves—even if they’re fictional characters out to save the universe.
