Conservative pornocrats

A new study is out about subscriptions to online pornography in the United States. It has some interesting correlations:

• The more red/conservative a state is, the bigger a consumer of online pornography it is likely to be. Of the top ten consuming states, only two were blue in the recent presidential election.
• States that banned gay marriage or civil unions had, on average, 11% more subscribers than those that did not.
• States that agreed with either or both of the statements “I have old-fashioned values about family and marriage,” and “AIDS might be God’s punishment for immoral sexual behaviour,” had more subscribers than those that did not.

A New Scientist article suggests that the correlation is due to the fact that social conservatism in red states means that online pornography is discouraged, which therefore makes it seem more valuable. I’d also like to add that consies are more likely to see women as objects useful only for breeding rather than people, and that this might also explain red states’ appetite for pornography. I hope the correlation is due to the reason suggested in the article.

Update: I’d like to indicate that correlation does not imply causation. Indeed, the New Scientist article says “When it comes to adult entertainment, it seems people are more the same than different.”