ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Today on Based Camp, we examine the rise of prestige porn, where highbrow erotica in books, audiobooks, and films is marketed as sophisticated entertainment and even therapy. We review recent articles profiling women who consume explicit content framed as luxury or self-care, including mainstream retail tie-ins and celebrity involvement.
Our discussion covers cultural shifts toward hedonism and nihilism, with analysis of specific titles, apps, and movies, and the preposterous markups apparently charged by Bloomingdale’s—while also touching on broader trends in media consumption and relationship dynamics.
Show Notes
A Michigan State University analysis of 38,467 songs by 230 popular artists, spanning 1947–2024 found that artists’ lyrics grow more anxious over their careers and that newer artists write with more anger than their predecessors—plus declining references to social relationships.
The “Prestigification” of Porn
Choice quotes:
Opening Profile
“Rachel is a 41-year-old doctor in Bergen County, New Jersey. She has a solid, loving marriage to a fellow MD, two boisterous kids under seven, and one method that she uses to stay sane:
Prestige porn.
Specifically, the kind of highbrow erotica with the same explicit content as a softcore video, but made by award-winning filmmakers and novelists, and starring Oscar-winning actors instead of OnlyFans girls.”
““It’s become like my therapy,” said the family medicine specialist, who plays XXX-rated audiobooks like “Helpless” by Jessica Knoll and “A Court of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah J. Maas when she’s driving alone in her family SUV, and watches movies like “Baby Girl” and shows like “Industry” on her iPhone while doing laundry.”
“In another generation, Rachel would likely need to keep her sex-positive programming under wraps. Not today.”
““My group chat is full of moms who trade [sex content] recommendations,” Rachel told The Post. “It feels like you’re watching any other good movie… just with bondage.”
The Growing Industry
Rachel and her friends are reaping the rewards of prestige porn, a new genre where 40+ women are centered in highbrow erotica about sexual dominance and desire — in movies, in books and at upscale fashion and beauty boutiques.
Think “Fifty Shades” for women who have a mortgage, a career and no patience for fake bags… or fake orgasms.
The era of prestige porn means Oscar winners like Nicole Kidman, 59, and Olivia Colman, 52, can engage in once-unthinkable graphic acts for au courant movie studios like A24.
Jessica Knoll, who has made millions writing crime thrillers, is now a Gen X Anais Nin writing about unspeakable — but delightfully readable — sex acts in her bestselling new book “Helpless.”
Meanwhile, Bloomingdale’s now sells $108 “arouse stimulating serum” alongside its Louis Vuitton purses; at Revolve, there are anal beads and Isabel Marant. And the $60 erotica app Quinn tells bedtime stories spicier than Blue Ribbon’s wasabi, read by Emmy nominee (and Dior darling) Andrew Scott.”
* What’s notable about this article is just how abundant the products and media are
* So far, we’ve got: Books, audiobooks, subscription audio services, stimulating serums, and anal beads.
Wicker
““The latest entry into these artful new films came this weekend: “Wicker,” an “absurdist romantic comedy” starring Colman as a frustrated spinster and Alexander Skarsgård as a man made of straw who gives her a roll in the hay.
When its steamy trailer debuted in July, it went so viral that doctors had to warn people against pleasuring themselves with “trees or shrubs.”
The movie opens nationwide on Oct. 30, but advance screenings for the show — including several with “vibrating and motion seats” — sold out across the country.
Reddit reports say the theaters are full of older women. In Florida’s Palm Beach Gardens, The Post saw an entire screening room full of female retirees.
“Very enjoyable,” said one 74-year-old woman named Joyce after the movie, under the condition that she withhold her last name. “My kids read your paper.””
* The preview is pretty flagrant
The Prestige Psyop
“Why is our era so ripe for prestige porn?
“People are totally disconnected from their bodies right now,” said Brianna Makówka, MSEd, LMHC, CST, a licensed sex therapist who specializes in kink therapy. She told The Post that between social media, dating apps and remote work, “we’re living in screens so often that our bodies are reminding us how important they are to our full being.”
Prestige porn, she argues, is letting us frame sex as not just desirable but luxurious, which gives people — especially women — permission to engage in it more openly.”
* I see it differently; I think it’s a sign that people feel it’s OK to celebrate self indulgence and nihilism
The article goes into detail describing smutty Broadway shows and sex products being sold in mainstream stores for things like makeup and underwear.
They also describe how the semblance of luxury is being used to legitimize nihilistic hedonism:
““Elevated design gives people permission to view sex as something they should feel good about wanting and exploring,” said Goicochea, who counts the Hollywood bombshell Dakota Johnson as a business partner.
Maude was one of Sephora’s first-ever sexual wellness brands; today it sells lube and vibrators at Ulta Beauty next to Naomi Watt’s sexual wellness line, Stripes, which was created especially for post-menopausal libidos.
Gwyneth Paltrow, 54, sells her own lubrication — called “Sex Oil” — through her Goop wellness empire for $55.
“Buying an intimate oil or a sex toy should be as mundane and shame-free as buying a face cream,” Goop’s editorial director, Kylie Gilbert, told The Post, adding that frank chats on sexual pleasure have been part of “Gwyneth’s vision of Goop from day one.” She notes that the Goop lube is a longtime bestseller.”
* Goop lube is kind of the perfect name for lube though
They Call it “Romance” While Normalizing Toxic Relationships
“Perhaps the big hook for prestige porn is that it refuses to call itself porn at all. In press interviews for “Wicker,” both Colman and Skarsgård are careful to call the movie a “romance” despite its explicit content.
“Industry” is described by HBO as a “gripping and provocative” drama despite its penchant for strap-ons and fellatio scenes. And the Nicole Kidman hit “Babygirl” features the Oscar winner on all fours, pretending to be a dog, licking candy out of her 20-something intern’s hand before getting thrashed in bed.
Makówka, the sex therapist, says all this is pretty great.
“A lot of people might have a curiosity of a power exchange dynamic —a dominant and submissive relationship that’s about leadership and surrender,” she said.
“Films like these are giving a lot of people permission to get curious about asking, ‘What is it that I want? What have I not been seeking? Maybe it’s okay to seek this out.’ That is healthier, psychologically, for everyone. It makes people happier and more connected.”
Tech devices don’t do that, says Makówka.
“Good sex does.””
* I hard disagree on that; these shows and movies feature pretty toxic relationship dynamics
* Also, the sex is extremely superfluous; it feels just like fan service. I watched Industry and had to fast forward through the sex scenes because they were so gross
Episode Transcript
Simone Collins:Hello, Malcolm. I’m excited to be speaking with you today because we have another episode of women are terrible.
Malcolm Collins:Why do you always find these?
Simone Collins:I literally have AI crawl the Internets for for stories for me. But this is, like, actually bad. I... Women are prestigifying porn, and they’re dating well into their eighties. And I feel like it’s a sign of the end times, and I’m going to explain why. Prestigifying porn. They’re prestigifying porn. And all
Malcolm Collins:the dating into their eighties. You did It’s so gross. Gross tomorrow.
Simone Collins:You’re gonna you’re gonna quir…
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit basedcamppodcast.substack.com/subscribe
