A Billion Wicked Thoughts: What the World's Largest Experiment Reveals about Human Desire (43 page)
Authors: Ogi Ogas,Sai Gaddam
BOOK: A Billion Wicked Thoughts: What the World's Largest Experiment Reveals about Human Desire
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92
2 million different stories and more than 600,000 visitors
Traffic from
Quantcast.com
. Also
http://www.oprah.com/relationships/Online-Pornography-Why-Men-Are-Visual-and-Women-Are-Textual/print/1
, retrieved on August 30, 2010. “The leading site in this category is AdultFanFiction.net, with visitors that are predominately 18- to 24-year-old women.”
2 million different stories and more than 600,000 visitors
Traffic from
Quantcast.com
. Also
http://www.oprah.com/relationships/Online-Pornography-Why-Men-Are-Visual-and-Women-Are-Textual/print/1
, retrieved on August 30, 2010. “The leading site in this category is AdultFanFiction.net, with visitors that are predominately 18- to 24-year-old women.”
92
“Continuing the stories of favorite characters”
Personal e-mail communication with Sylvia Volk, September 2010.
“Continuing the stories of favorite characters”
Personal e-mail communication with Sylvia Volk, September 2010.
93
about half of the stories are tagged as “romance”
Based on scraping of tags on
fanfiction.net
in March 2010.
about half of the stories are tagged as “romance”
Based on scraping of tags on
fanfiction.net
in March 2010.
93 “
Four Months Later,” a story pairing Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling
Abridged from
http://community.livejournal.com/apckrfansfic/113090.html
, retrieved on August 30, 2010.
Four Months Later,” a story pairing Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling
Abridged from
http://community.livejournal.com/apckrfansfic/113090.html
, retrieved on August 30, 2010.
94
derived from the titles of more than 15,000 Harlequin romance novels
Cox & Fisher (2009).
derived from the titles of more than 15,000 Harlequin romance novels
Cox & Fisher (2009).
95
absent from the list of romance heroes are blue-collar workers
Some other romance heroes: Josef Serafin aka Killian from Anne Stuart’s
Ice Storm
: For the majority of the book, the reader is led to believe that the hero is “the most dangerous man in the world.” He is portrayed as a well-known warlord and arms dealer who’s caused the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of people. It turns out that he was just deep undercover for the CIA portraying the mercenary Serafin. Simon Cross from Linda Howard’s
Death Angel
: he’s an assassin hired to kill the heroine. Viktor Drakovich from Lisa Marie Rice’s
Dangerous Passion
: the hero is an arms dealer.
absent from the list of romance heroes are blue-collar workers
Some other romance heroes: Josef Serafin aka Killian from Anne Stuart’s
Ice Storm
: For the majority of the book, the reader is led to believe that the hero is “the most dangerous man in the world.” He is portrayed as a well-known warlord and arms dealer who’s caused the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of people. It turns out that he was just deep undercover for the CIA portraying the mercenary Serafin. Simon Cross from Linda Howard’s
Death Angel
: he’s an assassin hired to kill the heroine. Viktor Drakovich from Lisa Marie Rice’s
Dangerous Passion
: the hero is an arms dealer.
95
“Alphas are natural leaders”
Knight (2007).
“Alphas are natural leaders”
Knight (2007).
96
processing cues indicating social status
Waismann et al. (2003), Allison et al. (2000).
processing cues indicating social status
Waismann et al. (2003), Allison et al. (2000).
96
“I’m a lesbian, but the powerful attraction”
http://www.thegreatstory.org/stories-awaken.html
.
“I’m a lesbian, but the powerful attraction”
http://www.thegreatstory.org/stories-awaken.html
.
96
“an inconsiderate asshole beats being a polite beta”
http://roissy.wordpress.com/the-sixteen-commandments-of-poon/
, retrieved on August 30, 2010.
“an inconsiderate asshole beats being a polite beta”
http://roissy.wordpress.com/the-sixteen-commandments-of-poon/
, retrieved on August 30, 2010.
97
“women like bad boys”
Knight (2007).
“women like bad boys”
Knight (2007).
98
“I used to write to Richard Ramirez”
http://www.experienceproject.com/groups/Find-Serial-Killers-Fascinating/forum/Serial-Killer-Penpals/3533
, retrieved on August 30, 2010.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/28/
“I used to write to Richard Ramirez”
http://www.experienceproject.com/groups/Find-Serial-Killers-Fascinating/forum/Serial-Killer-Penpals/3533
, retrieved on August 30, 2010.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/28/
BA8M19PDAN.DTL. “Oh my favorite is Kendall Francois he is such a wonderful guy and so friendly and caring.”
Also:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/killer_groupies/message/507
. “I write to Richard Ramirez. He is realy nice, sweet & funny. And I’m happy over every day he has.”
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/killer_groupies/message/507
. “I write to Richard Ramirez. He is realy nice, sweet & funny. And I’m happy over every day he has.”
http://www.experienceproject.com/stories/Find-Serial-Killers-Fascinating/839889
. “Poptart: In the words of Steven Tyler ‘Groupies are fantastic man, they make an old man young, & keep a young man hard-kkkkkkow’! No man i know ever gets tired of hearing a young hot girl say ‘omg i wanna suck your cock’. Well, no hetero man anyway! RichardsGirl: hahaha poptart maybe so but i’d never say it at least, not to richard anyway. okay, maybe not in my FIRST letter, anyway . . . HAHAHA. Poptart: haha now your gettin’ it darlin’—you are a babe—he is gonna luv ya! Good girls corrupted & turned bad are a fave!”
. “Poptart: In the words of Steven Tyler ‘Groupies are fantastic man, they make an old man young, & keep a young man hard-kkkkkkow’! No man i know ever gets tired of hearing a young hot girl say ‘omg i wanna suck your cock’. Well, no hetero man anyway! RichardsGirl: hahaha poptart maybe so but i’d never say it at least, not to richard anyway. okay, maybe not in my FIRST letter, anyway . . . HAHAHA. Poptart: haha now your gettin’ it darlin’—you are a babe—he is gonna luv ya! Good girls corrupted & turned bad are a fave!”
http://skcentral.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=816&rowstart=100
. “I am obessed with them. I have a friend who asks me when I’m going to write one. I say the ones in prison are the safest. Then they can’t cheat on you”—LostLittleGirl
. “I am obessed with them. I have a friend who asks me when I’m going to write one. I say the ones in prison are the safest. Then they can’t cheat on you”—LostLittleGirl
98
“If I could have died by his hands”
http://www.experienceproject.com/stories/Find-Serial-Killers-Fascinating/839889
, retrieved on August 1, 2010.
“If I could have died by his hands”
http://www.experienceproject.com/stories/Find-Serial-Killers-Fascinating/839889
, retrieved on August 1, 2010.
98
regarded by the Yanomamo women as the most desirable
Personal e-mail communication with Donald Symons, June 2010.
regarded by the Yanomamo women as the most desirable
Personal e-mail communication with Donald Symons, June 2010.
98
required to present the shrunken head of a man
http://www.bukisa.com/articles/26013_bizarre-culture-of-primitive-tribes-from-around-the-world
.
required to present the shrunken head of a man
http://www.bukisa.com/articles/26013_bizarre-culture-of-primitive-tribes-from-around-the-world
.
98
tolerate a little misogyny and jerkdom
Knight (2007).
tolerate a little misogyny and jerkdom
Knight (2007).
98
mate preferences across thirty-seven different cultures
Stone et al. (2007). Lippa (2007): “Women ranked honesty, humor, kindness, and dependability more important than men did.”
mate preferences across thirty-seven different cultures
Stone et al. (2007). Lippa (2007): “Women ranked honesty, humor, kindness, and dependability more important than men did.”
99
it was what’s inside that was important
From
Crumb
: “In this strip I talk about all my problems with women, starting with high school, where I learned a lot about women because there was this guy named Skutch . . . who was like this mean bully, but he was also very charming, and all the girls liked him. He was, like, the
dreamboat
but he was also a bully. . . . [Points to another part of the comic strip.] Here it shows all these girls talking about how one of their friends got a date with Skutch and how envious they all are. And this is how I felt about it.” [Chuckles as he points to a drawing of himself in the comic. He looks distraught and angry, and there is a bubble showing him saying “Arghh!”] “I’m a little bitter about it as you can see here. I show here how I thought that most teenage boys were very cruel and aggressive and everything like that, and if girls could see that I was more kind and sensitive they would like me more, they would be kinda impressed by the fact that I could draw. But I couldn’t understand why they liked these cruel, aggressive guys and not me, ’cause I was more kind and sensitive and everything, more like them, I was more like
them
. I didn’t realize that they didn’t
want
you to be like them, basically. I felt very hurt and cruelly misunderstood because I considered myself talented and intelligent and yet I was not very attractive physically, but I didn’t think those things really mattered, it was what’s inside that was important. When I was thirteen and fourteen and trying to be a normal teenager I was really a jerk. I tried to act like I thought they were acting and it just came out all wrong and weird. So then I just stopped completely and just became a shadow, and I wasn’t even there, people weren’t even aware that I was in the same world they were in.”
it was what’s inside that was important
From
Crumb
: “In this strip I talk about all my problems with women, starting with high school, where I learned a lot about women because there was this guy named Skutch . . . who was like this mean bully, but he was also very charming, and all the girls liked him. He was, like, the
dreamboat
but he was also a bully. . . . [Points to another part of the comic strip.] Here it shows all these girls talking about how one of their friends got a date with Skutch and how envious they all are. And this is how I felt about it.” [Chuckles as he points to a drawing of himself in the comic. He looks distraught and angry, and there is a bubble showing him saying “Arghh!”] “I’m a little bitter about it as you can see here. I show here how I thought that most teenage boys were very cruel and aggressive and everything like that, and if girls could see that I was more kind and sensitive they would like me more, they would be kinda impressed by the fact that I could draw. But I couldn’t understand why they liked these cruel, aggressive guys and not me, ’cause I was more kind and sensitive and everything, more like them, I was more like
them
. I didn’t realize that they didn’t
want
you to be like them, basically. I felt very hurt and cruelly misunderstood because I considered myself talented and intelligent and yet I was not very attractive physically, but I didn’t think those things really mattered, it was what’s inside that was important. When I was thirteen and fourteen and trying to be a normal teenager I was really a jerk. I tried to act like I thought they were acting and it just came out all wrong and weird. So then I just stopped completely and just became a shadow, and I wasn’t even there, people weren’t even aware that I was in the same world they were in.”
100
a man who seems to epitomize the male ideal
In an episode of
Sex and the City
, the women all say their fantasy male is Russell Crowe.
a man who seems to epitomize the male ideal
In an episode of
Sex and the City
, the women all say their fantasy male is Russell Crowe.
100
things a guy must do to get back together
Abridged from
http://www.enotalone.com/forum/showthread.php?t=348168
. “I was actually considering getting back together with him (I think I must have forgotten about him sleeping with another girl part) I needed him to 1. introduce me to his parents, 2. change his facebook relationship status 3. Give me all his email, FB and phone passwords, 4. Call his stupid ex and tell her to stop calling him amongst other things. He agreed to it all. . . . to my surprise.”
things a guy must do to get back together
Abridged from
http://www.enotalone.com/forum/showthread.php?t=348168
. “I was actually considering getting back together with him (I think I must have forgotten about him sleeping with another girl part) I needed him to 1. introduce me to his parents, 2. change his facebook relationship status 3. Give me all his email, FB and phone passwords, 4. Call his stupid ex and tell her to stop calling him amongst other things. He agreed to it all. . . . to my surprise.”
101
“She received nice letters in return”
http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=239749
.
“She received nice letters in return”
http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=239749
.
101
415 millionaires, 286 billionaires, and 263 sheiks
Scraped from all book titles in the romance genre on
Amazon.com
in September 2010.
415 millionaires, 286 billionaires, and 263 sheiks
Scraped from all book titles in the romance genre on
Amazon.com
in September 2010.
103
who sit around the house watching TV are
never
heroes
Knight (2007).
who sit around the house watching TV are
never
heroes
Knight (2007).
103
date someone who didn’t know how to drive a car
See OkCupid data description.
date someone who didn’t know how to drive a car
See OkCupid data description.
QUESTION #48960 WOULD YOU CONSIDER DATING SOMEONE WHO DOES
NOT KNOW HOW TO DRIVE A CAR?
Straight Males: # of Respondents: 74410; 79.0% YES; 11.72% NO. Bisexual Females: # of Respondents: 9460; 67.73% YES; 20.39% NO. Straight Females: # of Respondents: 49039; 48.00% YES; 37.67% NO.
The Hadza people are an ethnic group of hunter-gatherers living around the Rift Valley in central Tanzania. For tens of thousands of years, they have survived on the berries and nuts gathered by the women, and the antelope meat obtained by the men. Anthropologist Frank Marlowe asked the Hadza women what characteristic they most desired in a husband. Marlowe always received the same answer. “He must be a good hunter.”
103
“be confident in his ability”
Knight (2007).
“be confident in his ability”
Knight (2007).
103
hunting or fighting prowess is an essential quality in a man
Escasa et al. (2010), Marlowe (2004).
hunting or fighting prowess is an essential quality in a man
Escasa et al. (2010), Marlowe (2004).
103 s
ilver-tipped myotis bat has
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article749435.ece
ilver-tipped myotis bat has
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article749435.ece
103
valuation of male creativity and intelligence
Miller (2000).
valuation of male creativity and intelligence
Miller (2000).
104
why women are far more interested in older partners
Symons (1979). Lists of romance novels with age gaps (in both directions):
http://www.likesbooks.com/may-dec.html
,
http://forums.rtbookreviews.com/viewtopic.php?t=8094
. Generally, in historicals, the heroines are either debutantes (eighteen to twenty-two), widows (late twenties to late thirties), or spinsters (late twenties to midthirties). From Kresley Cole’s
A Hunger Like No Other
:
why women are far more interested in older partners
Symons (1979). Lists of romance novels with age gaps (in both directions):
http://www.likesbooks.com/may-dec.html
,
http://forums.rtbookreviews.com/viewtopic.php?t=8094
. Generally, in historicals, the heroines are either debutantes (eighteen to twenty-two), widows (late twenties to late thirties), or spinsters (late twenties to midthirties). From Kresley Cole’s
A Hunger Like No Other
:
She frowned as a sudden thought occurred. “You said ‘every age that I have lived.’ So how old are you? Six hundred? Seven hundred years?”
“Does that matter?”
She shook his hand free. “How—old?”
“Roughly twelve hundred years.”
She gasped. “Do you know what ‘robbing the cradle’ means? I am almost seventy-one. This skeeves me out!”
104
“I’ve had enough of the boys”
Abridged from
http://www.blogher.com/dating-older-men-how-old-too-old#comment-119801
. “I am stuck I guess. I want a mature strong man and I feel I cannot find that with a guy my age or in his 20s. I like older men but I want one who has his sh!t together and is compassinate and I just feel like I can communicate with older guys better. Communication is very important. Being able to TALK instead of having to explain EVERYthing to a childish BOY is something I have to go for. I’ve had enough of the boys.” Nineteen-year-old actress and singer Gabriella Climi did an interview with
Gossiptiva.com
about how she wants to date older men like Robert Downey Jr. and John Travolta.
http://gossipvita.com/2010/06/gabriella-cilmi-likes-date-older-man-sex-boyfriend-love/
. Lily Allen talks about why she likes to date older men: “They make me feel grown up.”
http://www.metro.co.uk/showbiz/830110-lily-allen-i-date-older-men-as-they-make-me-feel-grown-up
.
“I’ve had enough of the boys”
Abridged from
http://www.blogher.com/dating-older-men-how-old-too-old#comment-119801
. “I am stuck I guess. I want a mature strong man and I feel I cannot find that with a guy my age or in his 20s. I like older men but I want one who has his sh!t together and is compassinate and I just feel like I can communicate with older guys better. Communication is very important. Being able to TALK instead of having to explain EVERYthing to a childish BOY is something I have to go for. I’ve had enough of the boys.” Nineteen-year-old actress and singer Gabriella Climi did an interview with
Gossiptiva.com
about how she wants to date older men like Robert Downey Jr. and John Travolta.
http://gossipvita.com/2010/06/gabriella-cilmi-likes-date-older-man-sex-boyfriend-love/
. Lily Allen talks about why she likes to date older men: “They make me feel grown up.”
http://www.metro.co.uk/showbiz/830110-lily-allen-i-date-older-men-as-they-make-me-feel-grown-up
.
104
natural leaders, rich, powerful, and well connected
On Support and Advice for Escorts (
www.saafe.info
), women explicitly look for “sugar daddies” (wealthy men who pay women to be their girlfriend): “The only sugar daddy that I could tolerate would have to be super-mature, handsome, fit, funny, witty and too busy with his amazing life to be whiny or insecure. Because it sounds like the sugar daddy relationship is way too up-closeand-personal, despite the money (which has to be disguised as gifts? WTF? I can’t eat shoes!) so if you don’t actually like each other, it’s a nightmare. I have rather high standards for my male company unless I’m getting an hourly fee.”
http://www.saafe.info/main/index.php?topic=2755.30
natural leaders, rich, powerful, and well connected
On Support and Advice for Escorts (
www.saafe.info
), women explicitly look for “sugar daddies” (wealthy men who pay women to be their girlfriend): “The only sugar daddy that I could tolerate would have to be super-mature, handsome, fit, funny, witty and too busy with his amazing life to be whiny or insecure. Because it sounds like the sugar daddy relationship is way too up-closeand-personal, despite the money (which has to be disguised as gifts? WTF? I can’t eat shoes!) so if you don’t actually like each other, it’s a nightmare. I have rather high standards for my male company unless I’m getting an hourly fee.”
http://www.saafe.info/main/index.php?topic=2755.30
105
what a movie might look like that simultaneously appeals
Salmon & Symons (2003).
what a movie might look like that simultaneously appeals
Salmon & Symons (2003).
106
“the reader is satisfied with a Happy For Now ending”
Personal e-mail communication with Susanna Carr, April 22, 2010.
“the reader is satisfied with a Happy For Now ending”
Personal e-mail communication with Susanna Carr, April 22, 2010.
106 “
Wedding” and “fucking”
Number of searches for “wedding”: 406,416. For “fucking”: 321,198.
Wedding” and “fucking”
Number of searches for “wedding”: 406,416. For “fucking”: 321,198.
106
each subsequent book’s focus on a new hero and heroine
For example: the Desperate Duchess series stretches the story arc of Elijah and Jemma, the duke and duchess of Beaumont, through Books 1 to 5 (
Desperate Duchesses
,
An Affair Before Christmas
,
Duchess by Night
,
When the Duke Returns
, and
This Duchess of Mine
). In
Desperate Duchesses
(Book 1), Elijah has called Jemma home from Paris, where she has been living for many years during their estranged marriage. She left him because she walked in on him with his mistress, but now it’s time for him to have an heir, and he’ll need his wife to do it. Throughout each novel, they fight and make up, are pulled emotionally apart, and then brought together.
This Duchess of Mine
(Book 5) features Jemma and Elijah as the main couple, and it’s in this novel that they finally get their Happily-Ever-After.
CHAPTER 6each subsequent book’s focus on a new hero and heroine
For example: the Desperate Duchess series stretches the story arc of Elijah and Jemma, the duke and duchess of Beaumont, through Books 1 to 5 (
Desperate Duchesses
,
An Affair Before Christmas
,
Duchess by Night
,
When the Duke Returns
, and
This Duchess of Mine
). In
Desperate Duchesses
(Book 1), Elijah has called Jemma home from Paris, where she has been living for many years during their estranged marriage. She left him because she walked in on him with his mistress, but now it’s time for him to have an heir, and he’ll need his wife to do it. Throughout each novel, they fight and make up, are pulled emotionally apart, and then brought together.
This Duchess of Mine
(Book 5) features Jemma and Elijah as the main couple, and it’s in this novel that they finally get their Happily-Ever-After.
108
In one TV ad for Fair and Lovely
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-9tcXpW1DE
.
In one TV ad for Fair and Lovely
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-9tcXpW1DE
.
109
“Being desired is very arousing to women”
Meana (2010).
“Being desired is very arousing to women”
Meana (2010).
109
“The Magic Hoo Hoo does it all”
Wendell & Tan (2009).
“The Magic Hoo Hoo does it all”
Wendell & Tan (2009).
110
“the way women feel about themselves may be very important”
Meana (2010). “An increasing body of data is indicating that the way women feel about themselves may be very important to their experience of sexual desire and subjective arousal, possibly even outweighing the impact of their partners’ view of them.”
“the way women feel about themselves may be very important”
Meana (2010). “An increasing body of data is indicating that the way women feel about themselves may be very important to their experience of sexual desire and subjective arousal, possibly even outweighing the impact of their partners’ view of them.”
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