Gad Saad in Psychology Today:
David Mech, aka Dave Pounder, contacted me several years ago to explore the possibility of pursuing his PhD under my tutelage. To suggest that he had a unique profile would be an understatement. Dave has had a successful career as a pornographer including having starred in countless films as an actor. From my perspective as an evolutionary consumer psychologist, his experience in the adult industry offered a rare opportunity to tackle research questions that might have otherwise been difficult to investigate. Although Dave was accepted into our doctoral program and was offered an attractive financial package, he decided to remain in Florida as he felt that the Montreal winters would be too difficult to bear! Recently, he advised me that his book and documentary dealing with the porn industry were published and released respectively. I thought that it might be an instructive and fun exercise to interview him about his former career and recently completed projects. Here are the highlights of our recent e-chat. GS and DM refer to Gad Saad and David Mech respectively.
GS: What led you to pursue a career in pornography?
DM: I decided to follow a career in pornography because I wanted to align myself with an industry that was unnecessarily stigmatized. I never saw an issue with sex, yet many people did. Whenever I would ask people why they had an aversion to sex, they never really had a concrete, valid answer. Gandhi once said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” I figured if I could use my desirable background (e.g., educated, well-spoken, no criminal history, etc.) and align it with the adult media business, then I could start having conversations with people about the adult industry (and sex more generally) and begin a process of social change.
More here.
