Why Do Straight Guys Work In Gay Porn?

[Steven_Draker]

http://queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com/wp/docs/2014/06/straight-guys-documentary-670x441.jpg

 

Legitimately straight men have performed in gay porn for as long as pornography has existed, though many prefer to take the easy road and presume these men are “actually gay” and just lying to themselves.

 

But the truth is that many gay porn performers are straight, they have girlfriends, and there’s an even larger number of gay men who love watching them simply because they are straight. “Straight guys” have become synonymous with gay porn to the point that many sites are specifically dedicated to only employing allegedly heterosexual men to have sex with other men.

 

What’s that all about? Why do straight guys do gay porn? Why do gay guys love it so much?

 

All these questions and more are explored in Straight Guys, a documentary film by Daniel Laurin now playing at the DOC NOW Festival in Toronto. In an effort to identify what makes the “straight guy” porn genre so popular while examining his own relationship with gay porn, Laurin interviews porn historians, porn theorists, porn producers and the performers themselves to find out — he even spent some time with some real, live straight dudes on the set of several ChaosMen films:

 

Why do some gay men prefer to watch sex between two heterosexual men? Where does this desire come from? Is it innate or is it learned? And why would men who identify as straight choose to perform in gay porn? Straight Guys follows filmmaker Daniel Laurin on his journey to answer these questions and reconcile his own relationship to this type of pornography. Daniel speaks to porn historians, porn theorists, porn producers and the performers themselves.

 

Straight Guys is a lighthearted look at a very real and pressing set of questions. As children and teenagers get more and more of their information from the Internet, pornography has become an increasingly prevalent source of sexual education. It is an even more influential resource for gay/bisexual/questioning teens, who have very few examples of gay sexuality in mainstream media. This film uses Straight-Guy Porn as an entry point into deeper questions about gay desire in a very straight world.

 

[video=vimeo;95656779]

 

source: http://www.queerty.com/new-striaght-guys-doc-explores-why-so-many-straight-dudes-work-in-gay-porn-20140606

[hornytwells]

So curious to see this-wondering why Conner Habib is used in the trailer with the heading "Straight Guys"?

[JT Brooklyn]

Why? The reason most people WORK..$$$$

[hornytwells]

No, I meant because he has never professed to be straight, or even bi

[Epigonos]

Brooklyn Guy is absolutely 100% correct. The answer to why straight guys preform in gay porn is simple -- EASY MONEY.

[Steven_Draker]

To put it differently: why do some gay men prefer to watch sex between two heterosexual men?

[Boink]

If they're so straight, why aren't they sticking to straight porn? (And, no, I can't believe the money is THAT much better in gay porn.)

[EZEtoGRU]

To put it differently: why do some gay men prefer to watch sex between two heterosexual men?[/color]

 

Steven, you must be wanting to stir things up with this question. You know very well that lots of gay men are attracted to str8 guys. This is nothing new and has been happening for centuries.

[+ friendofsheila]

(And, no, I can't believe the money is THAT much better in gay porn.)

 

I keep hearing it is, for the men anyway.

[+ friendofsheila]

If they're so straight, why aren't they sticking to straight porn?

 

A better question might be: "Why are the sticking to the claim that they're 100% straight?"

 

Answer: Because it pays to do so.

[Phil_musc]

I guess I'm weird but the idea of watching two straight guys have sex together in a porn production does nothing for me. There is no fantasy there at all for me - it's clearly about the money and it's a job plain and simple. I can't place myself into that scenario to build a fantasy around at all.

 

On the other hand I recently discovered some of the work of Sean Cody's studio which I think claims to use models who are straight. I found the clips I watched to be amazingly hot - mostly because the guys were just so darned cute and they seemed to be incredibly enthusiastic about the action that they were filming. It seems to me if those guys are really as straight as all that is claimed, they should be nominated for Academy Awards because that is acting of a superlative nature.

 

Sooo - straight guys do gay porn because it is more lucrative than straight porn (I have heard this for years and guess it must be true).

 

Why gay guys like to watch (allegedly?) straight guys engage in homosexual acts in front of the camera is more complicated. No easy answers for me on this one. Possibly because if gay guys like masculine-acting men, the straight guys who do gay porn sometimes seem more masculine - even with helium heels.

[hornytwells]

Am not sure anyone got my point-Conner Habib is NOT straight, nor has he ever claimed to be, so why are they using him in a documentary about straight guys??? Isn't part of the point that they are NOT really straight, or am I missing something?

[+ Gar1eth]

If they're so straight, why aren't they sticking to straight porn? (And, no, I can't believe the money is THAT much better in gay porn.)

 

Straight porn is about the woman with the guy as an after thought in most cases. Traditionally I do think gay porn stars did better than straight male porn stars. But who knows in these days of Corbin Fisher. There was also the excuse that the guys's girlfriend didn't mind him making it with another guy but didn't want to see him with another woman.

 

Gman

[+ deej]

(And, no, I can't believe the money is THAT much better in gay porn.)

 

The last information I had was about 15 years ago, before the proliferation of online porn, but even then a model in gay porn could expect around $1500 or more per scene. In straight porn, it was $500 and under.

 

You can not believe it all you like and still be wrong.

 

I keep hearing it is, for the men anyway.

 

Think about it: straight porn's audience is mostly straight men. They don't give a shit about the guys. The guys in straight porn are props, about as important as the lampshades. (In recent years, more women have been watching and thank goodness! Guys in str8 porn used to be downright ugly!)

 

And it doesn't take much to get a straight guy to stick it in a pretty girl. Heck, a lot of 'em will volunteer for it. If YOU want too much money, well, there will be a guy who will work for less coming through the door any minute now, and since they don't actually care (much) what he looks like why pay more?

 

It's definitely a buyer's market.

[+ Gar1eth]

Am not sure anyone got my point-Conner Habib is NOT straight, nor has he ever claimed to be, so why are they using him in a documentary about straight guys??? Isn't part of the point that they are NOT really straight, or am I missing something?

 

I understood. I thought it was a good question that no one yet has answered.

 

Gman

[nate_sf]

Am not sure anyone got my point-Conner Habib is NOT straight, nor has he ever claimed to be, so why are they using him in a documentary about straight guys??? Isn't part of the point that they are NOT really straight, or am I missing something?

 

My GUESS (and it's just a guess) is that they may have interviewed Conner and had him talk on the subject. I know he's written on it - an essay a few months back about Girth Brooks comes to mind. He is also an eloquent speaker so would probably have something to say about it. And he's performed with enough str8 guys to probably have some opinions.

 

The blog that goes with the movie has an item about an interview with him: "Everyone’s favourite college instructor turned porn star, Conner Habib has signed on to Straight Guys. Blogger, NewNowNext Sexpert, prolific Vine-er, Conner can provide an articulate, intelligent (and handsome) insight into the world of gay porn, and into gay men’s attraction to straight guys. If you haven’t already, check out his fantastic blog here. Progress!"

 

Or... he's nice eye candy for a movie trailer.

 

Or... they want to pique people's curiosity, which will hopefully bring them to see the move.

 

That's

at least. And yeah I'm a fan of Conner Habib's, in case there is any doubt!

[+ azdr0710]

ok, I'll throw this idea out there....

 

(some) gay guys like to watch straight guys get it on because they suffer from internalized homophobia....(i.e. effeminate or even gay-identified actors are a turn-off).....discuss!

[Nvr2Thick]

To put it differently: why do some gay men prefer to watch sex between two heterosexual men?[/color]

 

Often we don't know that the men are heterosexual. The last ten or so years of Internet blogs and news have made it easier to be aware of what's going on in porn behind the scenes, if we choose to read about it. For me, however, it's more about watching two hot men having sex. I may not find out that one or the other is straight until much later, if ever. If being straight affects a guy's ability to perform then that's a factor, but if the men are hot and hard and look good on camera I may not give it a thought.

 

There are guys such as Girth Brooks who have a hard time hiding their personality. He comes across as proud to be showing off his big dick, but still a bit out of his element and still kind of in disbelief that he's having sex with guys. At least that's what it looks like to me. I get a kick out of situations like that.

 

I also enjoy watching a big aggressive top work over a bottom who is in over his head. If a guy isn't really enjoying bottoming, and the top knows it but he's having a good time anyway that's about as hot as it gets for me. There have been a couple scenes with the late Arpad Miklos fucking straight bottoms. Arpad really seemed to be so happy when he was showing off as a top. While he didn't really have a mean streak he didn't hold back either. I know what it was like to be fucked hard by Arpad. The idea of some handsome straight guy having to tolerate that in order to show off his naked ass for money appeals to me on so many levels.

[Boink]

The last information I had was about 15 years ago, before the proliferation of online porn, but even then a model in gay porn could expect around $1500 or more per scene. In straight porn, it was $500 and under.

 

You can not believe it all you like and still be wrong.

 

Thanks, I may be wrong but I still don't believe it. And it begs the question - Do straight men in gay porn make more $$$ than gay men in gay porn?

[kjun]

some of you guys (like epignos & brooklin guy) are either hard of reading or hard of understanding. Hornytwells was quite clear in what he said. Conner Habib does not profess to be straight so why use him in a movie about straight guys doing Gay porn.

[marylander1940]

Because men (straight, gay,bi or in denial) are paid more money on gay porn than on straight porno...

 

There are only 3 professions where women get paid more than men: modeling, prostitution and porno.

[+ quoththeraven]

The thread has gotten this far and no one has mentioned possibilities other than the straight/gay binary (other than Marylander in passing)? Seriously? Perhaps we need to resurrect Dr. Kinsey and his research, or others who have followed in his footsteps.

 

Steven Draker: So as far as I can tell -- and I've read a fair number of bitter pixels spilled over this issue on various blogs devoted to the gay porn industry -- a gay man seducing a straight man is the fantasy that's usually sold here. From what Conner Habib has written about it, so-called straight actors usually have scene partners who identify as gay (or bi/queer but treated as gay for this

purpose). There are sites that purport to show college-aged straight guys fooling around, but I am not entirely sold that they're all so straight.

 

Some men who enter the industry as gay-for-pay discover that they're actually bisexual, like Johnny Rapid (though maybe he already knew), Andrew Stark. Even Rocco Reed, who came from the straight porn world and then quit after six months. (And yes, all three have made statements to this effect. I'm not jumping to my own conclusions.) Then there are those who are bisexual or some less binary-sounding form of it but whom the audience assumes are gay, like Colby Jansen, who is married to a trans woman, and Tommy Defendi. (Don't believe me? Look at Defendi's Rentboy ad.)

Nate Bruno: I'm a big fan of Conner Habib's too. He's one of the most articulate essay writers out there, which means when he taught writing full-time, he could walk the walk as well as talk the talk. He's also written about his teenage crush(es) on various straight guys. He's probably in the mix here because he was interviewed in the documentary, and that probably happened on the basis of his essay about working with straight scene partners.

 

A whole bunch of people: Yes, men make more in gay porn than they do in straight porn, although women still outearn men in porn as well as escorting. Isn't that strange? The only type of work where women on average make more than men doing equivalent work is in sex work.

 

Marylander1940: Just saw you made the above point as well while I was typing this long-winded post. And thank you for mentioning bisexuality, albeit briefly. I forgot about modeling, which isn't sex work but definitely depends on appearance, attractiveness and, sometimes, sexiness.

 

Deej: The statistics I saw last year were something like $500 per scene for men in straight porn and $1000 for gay. Maybe more for a big name. That was a large part of the reason Rocco Reed left straight porn for gay porn.

 

Boink: You can think whatever you want, you can't change facts. I suspect some straight guys are paid more for being in gay porn than the gay guys who are already there (see: Rocco Reed), but if that were the norm, the gay/bi/queer guys would go do something else. They're the backbone of the industry (no pun intended); I don't think the powers-that-be want to piss them and their fanbase off in this day of the internet and easily available information.

 

azdr0710: Outside of certain venues (performing arts, primarily), gay culture worships masculinity and bashes effeminacy. But I'm not sure internalized homophobia is the right term. After all, there are and should be a wide variety of gender expression among gay men, just as there are among people in general. It's just as limiting to assume effeminacy is the gay default as it is to assume that hypermasculinity (or leather or whatever) is or should be. Let's call it what it really is: cultural misogyny. Because it's the so-called "femmes" who are looked down upon by gay and straight culture alike. You don't want to get me started on how anything having to do with women, females, or femininity (whatever that is) is looked down upon and used as an insult. See also Marylander's point about the only three professions in which women earn more on average than men.

 

I don't much care who's doing whom. What I do object to is hiring someone who can only function by watching straight porn that's out of the audience's line of sight, because then his performance is likely to be perfunctory and lifeless. I also don't find watching a man (straight, gay, or otherwise) being forced to take cock when he doesn't like or want it sexy. But I also can't watch scenes that look too realistically coerced between two gay guys either even though I know they're not in fact coerced. Also not sexy to me. But I waffle a little on this one. There are some scenes that amount to sexual harassment that I've liked because everyone's clearly really into it. Ex.: A baseball coach whose tryouts test more than a player's ability on the field.

 

Yes, I watch gay porn. Straight porn. Queer porn, which is probably my favorite because it's the least contrived-looking of all of them. Also the occasional tube site, mostly courtesy of David-SF's NYC date night videos, then I start skipping around. *listens to sound of myth that women don't watch porn or like it and aren't visually oriented crumbling*

[jimboivyo]

if you are a man and you put a dick in your mouth, you're not straight

 

I don't care how they dress that pig up

[Bargara Leatherboy]

As a 100% gay man, I would prefer not to know that the guys I am watching on a gay porno - (and I do not watch any other type), are straight or bi.

 

As a 100% gay man I would not want to know that the hot gent I am about to hire is straight or bi.

 

In fact I have declined appointments once I discover they admit to being bi.

 

Without being too crude - I really do not want to perform oral on a hot member than was buried inside a woman before me. Even if it has been washed several times since.

 

To me that thought is just abhorent.

 

Call me weird, call me strange, but that is what works for me

[fedssocr1]

ok, I'll throw this idea out there....

 

(some) gay guys like to watch straight guys get it on because they suffer from internalized homophobia....(i.e. effeminate or even gay-identified actors are a turn-off).....discuss!

 

I don't know about that. It's still gay sex whether the guys are gay or not gay. I think it might have to do with that fact that most of us have had straight friends or straight men in general that we have been attracted to, often early in life. So the fact that some allegedly straight guys enjoy gay sex gives us hope that others will as well.