And most of it is submitted by women.
As PornHub proved last year, paging through the Bible still leaves America's most religiously-identifying cities with plenty of time for some after-prayer wank sessions. Huntsville, Alabama topped the most porn-loving religious cities in America, with 23.8 PornHub views per capita all the while 55 percent of its residents called themselves "highly religious." And it seems those who so enjoy the life in front of the screen also are first to take on some extra-curricular activities behind the camera. A six-month research study of all amateur porn submitted to Homegrown Video, an amateur video hub, found that nearly one-third of all homemade sex tapes submitted to the site were created in the Bible Belt, America's highly vocal evangelical midriff. To further shatter some regressive stereotypes, 56.9 percent of all those submissions came from women. Religious women making sex tapes? Hold onto your bonnets.
The results of the Homegrown study, which tracked submissions from July to December 2013, follow in line with some recent studies about sexual trends in the American South. Maps put out by Christian Post at the end of last year identified the Bible Belt as the most lustful region of the US by measuring accounts of STDs (this, of course, does not take into account radically different sex education curriculum throughout the states.) Name a sexual proclivity, and often the most religiously affiliated groups top the list of partakers.
With Bible Belters like Mike Huckabee talking all about the uncontrollable female libido and fervent anti-smut campaigns like Overcoming Pornography promoted by the American religious right, it's no wonder that the communities that try to stamp out sexuality are the ones most likely to manufacture their own. The more we repress basic healthy needs like sexuality, the more likely they're going to crop up in our illicit behaviors. Amateur porn, much like public worship, is a way to express our private essential desires and beliefs and share them with the rest of the world.
“I think the important thing to take from these results is regardless of region, religion, sex, or political views, people have an innate curiosity about sex,” says Homegrown Video owner Farrell Timlake. “Often they also have a desire to expand their sexual boundaries and share the experience.” So if Bible Belters are preaching one thing in the streets and shooting on their iPhone in the sheets, I'm actually okay with it. Maybe if they're especially curious, they can even join a naked congregation.
Image via Flickr.
