It was 10 years ago that I decided to write a piece on “Mainstreaming Pornography.” I had recently gotten out of a relationship with a woman who liked porn, was turned on by porn, and was turned on even more when we watched it together. Believing this was something of an oddity, I researched the subject and discovered to my surprise that there were millions of women who were porn consumers, and that many more actually found certain types of pornography sexually stimulating in the lab.

Unfortunately, I never sold the piece. Perhaps I was ahead of my time because today, the fastest growing segment of porn consumers are females – single, married, involved – and the younger the woman, the more likely they are to have their own porn collection stashed away at home.

There is still a stigma attached to porn viewing by women (“nice girls don’t do it”) but mores in America are changing fast and if you haven’t noticed, porn sellers are making it a point to market all kinds of adult products to women. Several chain stores like Starship and Good Vibrations report almost half their walk in business comes from women.

But what of the porn industry itself? Industry analysts say that more than 70% of all adult films made still cater to the tastes of men. And while those “tastes” may not have changed much since the first guy figured out that a woman has three orifices, and that it feels good sampling all of them, there has been a decided shift in what is considered “mainstream” today as opposed to 30 years ago.

Yes, real men like anal sex according to today’s standards. This survey from 2006 revealed changes in attitude toward the act that, according to my unscientific observations, mirror the rise in popularity of anal sex porn in the 1990′s:

The survey, released last year, showed that 38.2 percent of men between 20 and 39 and 32.6 percent of women ages 18 to 44 engage in heterosexual anal sex. Compare that with the CDC’s 1992 National Health and Social Life survey, which found that only 25.6 percent of men 18 to 59 and 20.4 percent of women 18 to 59 indulged in it.

Here we have a classic case study of media influence; did the rise in interest in anal sex drive the porn industry to make more films in that genre or did the explosion of films portraying anal sex in the 1980′s and 90′s drive the curiosity seekers to try it in their own lives? This leads to a further question; what influence does pornography have on sexual practices in America?

Modern pornography – dating to the Victorian era where the camera was first employed to take risque pictures – has never been much of a mystery for men. If you’ve viewed any classic porn, you know that much if it is rather vanilla in nature. Classic woman alone, one or two women with one or two (or more) men, two women — all catering to common males fantasies and are still staples of the porn industry today. Of course, there were examples of homosexual porn as well as rare fetish porn, but by and large, the market catered to men with “ordinary” tastes in sex.

This held true through the 1970′s after the breakthrough films Deep Throat, and Behind the Green Door made it hip to take your date to the local “art house.” But the invention of the VCR changed the porn industry forever. Now, because porn consumerism exploded, even fetish and gay videos could find a niche in the market and make big money.

Today on the internet, I challenge you to invent a fetish and not already find dozens of porn titles that cater to it. Everything from head to toe, hair to ankle worship, and all the bodily functions in between now has its own sub-genre on streaming porn sites. I suppose this is progress but since I’m pretty much of a vanilla sort of fellow myself, I have refrained from investigating.

Most of these fetish films cater to men. But interestingly, women seem to get aroused watching just about any kind of pornography:

Even more compelling were the results of a 2004 study at Northwestern University that also assessed the effect of porn on genital arousal. Mind you, a copy of “Buffy the Vampire Layer” and a lubed-up feedback device isn’t most girls’ idea of a hot night in. But when the researchers showed gay, lesbian, and straight porn to heterosexual and homosexual women and men, they found that while the men responded more intensely to porn that mirrored their particular gender orientation, the women tended to like it all. Or at least their bodies did.

Today’s internet porn recognizes the surging female audience in a variety of ways. The two biggest pay-per-minute sites — HotMovies.com and AEBN.com — feature a “For Women” genre that streams movies with more of a storyline, as well as films that realize specific female fantasies. HotMovies has a genre with movies directed by women, another fast growing facet of the adult film business.

No stats are available from the two streaming video sites regarding female viewership, but Hustler’s Theresa Flynt reports that 56% of their DVD sales are made to women.

The cultural earthquake being caused by the widespread acceptance of pornography by both sexes has yet to be measured. How does it affect our attitudes toward partner sex? Toward women? Men?

Seeing that porn is an estimated $57 billion dollar industry world wide ($10-14 billion in the US), the social scientists will probably have enough data to keep them busy for years.

Security technology company McAfee Inc. on Tuesday reported that searches for the 27-year-old actress are more likely to lead to online threats such as spyware and viruses than searches for any other celebrity. McAfee said fans searching for the actress have a one-in-five chance of ending up at a Web site designed to damage one’s computer. Its the third annual report on the subject from McAfee, which last year found that Brad Pitt was the “most dangerous” celeb online. “Cybercriminals are star watchers, too,” said Jeff Green, senior vice president of McAfee’s product development. “They latch onto popular celebrities to encourage the download of malicious software in disguise.” Following Biel in the report, in order, were Beyonce, Jennifer Aniston, Tom Brady and Jessica Simpson. McAfee noted President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama are curiously safe searches, ranking no. 34 and no. 39, respectively.

GenCon Indy was this past weekend. As usual, it was full to overflowing with the expected assortment of guys who look like Jonah Hill (but not as funny), dressed like Ghostbusters, or hidden inside Stormtrooper armour.

But there was also the usual complement of hot and/or cute cosplay girls. Here for your enjoyment are a baker’s dozen of the better ones:

This one won the Costume Contest.

And then there’s this… well, guy:

The indicator I prefer is the Hot Waitress Index: The hotter the waitresses, the weaker the economy. In flush times, there is a robust market for hotness. Selling everything from condos to premium vodka is enhanced by proximity to pretty young people (of both sexes) who get paid for providing this service. That leaves more-punishing work, like waiting tables, to those with less striking genetic gifts. But not anymore. A waitress at one Lower East Side club described to me what happened there: “They slowly let the boys go, then the less attractive girls, and then these hot girls appeared out of nowhere. All in the hope of bringing in more business. The managers even admitted it. These hot girls that once thrived on the generosity of their friends in the scene for hookups—hosting events, marketing brands, modeling—are now hunting for work.” A Soho restaurateur I know recently received applications from “a couple of classic Eastern European fembots. Once upon a time, these ladies must’ve made $1,500 a night lap dancing. At my place, they’re not going to make that in a week.”

Women’s professional sports are in big trouble.   The LPGA is losing sponsors left and right and just fired its commissioner.  The WBNA continues to exist only because it’s subsidized by the NBA and its winningest franchise just folded.  Women’s professional soccer lasted about five minutes after Brandi Chastain’s famous pose after winning the 1999 World Cup.*

So what?

Professional sports are a business.  They’re one of many forms of entertainment competing for limited eyeballs and dollars.  Americans love the NFL year-round.  They care about the NBA during the playoffs or when there’s a matchup of superstars.  Major League Baseball isn’t what it was but people still like it.  The PGA tour does well when Tiger’s in contention or there’s a compelling storyline, like 59-year-old Tom Watson in contention at The Open.  NHL, MLS, and others fight for the scraps with large numbers paying attention only when there’s a reason to.   College football and men’s college basketball (especially around March) are bigger.

Women’s sports, with the rare and local exceptions of North Carolina soccer and Tennessee and U-Conn basketball, just don’t get much attention.  Oh, there’s figure skating — arguably the most popular event in the Winter Olympics — and gymnastics during the summer games, but there’s legitimate debate as to whether they’re even sports.  And beach volleyball, too, if you don’t mind the fact that the main draw is hot bodies in skimpy swimsuits.

It’s not that these women aren’t fine athletes who work incredibly hard at their sports.  At the highest level, they most certainly are.   Many believe that women’s basketball, at both the college and pro levels, is more fundamentally sound than their male counterparts.  But the bottom line is that men represent the highest levels of competition.  I doubt that there’s a single woman in the WNBA who could make an NBA team in fair competition.   That’s true even of golf, which prizes skill rather than brute strength.  We’ve always suspected it but, over the last decade, we’ve seen the PGA Tour offer the best women in the game sponsor’s exemptions as publicity stunts.  None has even made the cut at a minor tournament, even though the very best men tend to sit those out.

But, again, so what? Nobody whines that there are no huge paydays for playing minor league baseball or semi-pro football.  Why should it be any different for the novelty tours for women?

What very much matters is that women or, more to the point, young girls, have an opportunity to play and learn the lessons of sports.  When I was in high school a quarter century ago, women weren’t supposed to be athletic.  Girls who played sports well — especially if they were too tall or had too much muscle tone — were made to feel like freaks.  Now, they’re not only accepted but viewed as the female ideal.  It’s great that girls and young women are able to get out there and sweat and exert themselves physically and compete at very high levels.   It’s good for their bodies, their psyches, and their social development.

So what if, after getting a scholarship at a great college or university, they have to settle for playing sports recreationally and get on with their lives? After all, that’s true of all but a tiny, tiny handful of men, too!  The vast majority of those who play football or basketball or hockey or golf at even the most elite level in college never get a shot at the pros.  Most of those who do don’t make it.

The same is true, by the way, of all manner of other hobbies.  There are plenty of talented singers, musicians, artists, actors, and writers who enjoy those pursuits through their childhood and young adulthood — or beyond — but don’t quite have the skill, drive, or luck to make a living at it.

*A new league, called “Women’s Professional Soccer,” has just formed.  WUSA, the league the came in the wake of the 1999 win, folded in 2003.

For obvious reasons, lists of hot women are a staple of men’s magazines.   Not  only do people like lists, as anyone familiar with social media sites like Digg knows, but men like looking at beautiful women.  Putting the two together, then, is pure ratings gold.

There are a lot of these lists out there but the two that get the most attention every year are the venerable Esquire‘s Sexiest Woman Alive and lad mag FHM‘s 100 Sexiest Women in the World.  Lesser lights such as Maxim‘s Hot 100 and AskMen’s 99 Most Desirable Women abound.

Here, according to Esquire, are the sexiest women alive for each year since they started formally keeping track in 2004:

2008 – Halle Barry

2007 – Charlize Theron

2006 – Scarlett Johansson

2005 – Jessica Biel

2004 – Angelina Jolie

The links take you to  photo galleries and interviews with the sexiest women alive.  You should be able to find more interesting pictures of each of them without much trouble.

How about FHM?  Well, rather than picking just one hottie, they pick the 100 sexiest.   Here’s there top choice, though, for each year:

2009 – Frieda Pinto

2008 - Megan Fox

2007 - Jessica Alba

2006 – Kiera Knightley

2005 – Kelly Brook

2004 -Britney Spears

FHM’s list goes way back to 1995, when Claudia Schiffer won.   The scholars and gentlemen running the FHM Top 100 Sexiest Women blog have painstakingly compiled each of those lists; the above is enough for our purposes here.

Let me just begin by saying that I wouldn’t quibble with any of these selections (although I must confess to having never heard of Frieda Pinto even though I’ve seen “Slumdog Millionaire”).

But what happened between the years?

Okay, so I understand Britney Spears.  She’s alternately stunningly beautiful and scary.  And maybe Angelina Jolie got one too many tattoos — or adopted one too many orphans — to stay atop the list. It’s quite competitive, after all! But has Megan Fox really dropped off that much since last year?  I’ve promised my colleague, Dodd, exclusive rights to posts regarding Ms. Fox.  Suffice it to say, though, that she remains quite lovely.

Further, what explains the disparity between the FHM and Esquire lists?  There has been exactly zero overlap over the past five years between the two.  Indeed, no single woman has topped one list and appeared on the other in five tries. (Although there is rumor that Megan Fox, THE woman of summer 2009, will top Esquire’s list for 2009, breaking that streak.)

I get that these lists are for entertainment value and that there’s no scientific method for measuring hotness that would satisfy everyone.  But you would think that there would be a consensus “It” girl at least on occasion.