Dave Pounder has a colorful résumé, to say the least. The ASU graduate student turned pornographer has produced, directed, and starred in such X-rated films as Blowjob Ninjas, Bikini Banger, MILF Shakes, and Entering the Student Body.
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Though Pounder since has moved away from the bedroom shots and incidentally to Boca Raton, Florida, his life hardly has become less scandalous. Just this year, the 36-year-old ex-porn star, legally named Dave Mech, started his own business as "the Happy/Fun Math Tutor" for high school teens.
Upon discovering his pornographic past (Dave Pounder Productions stopped producing adult films in 2010), the Palm Beach School District removed Pounder's tutoring advertisements, causing Pounder to engage in a publicized lawsuit with the district and its members.
Between his litigious media exposure and recently directing the documentary Risky Business: A Look Inside America's Adult Film Industry, 2013 also has yielded the release of Pounder's first book, Obscene Thoughts: A Pornographer's Perspective on Sex, Love, and Dating. It's available via Amazon for $17.96.
Not surprisingly, the book contains some loosely academic and highly disputable material regarding the sexual dynamic between men and women. Among them: Women are incapable of separating sex and emotion, and deception is a necessary component of long-term relationships because men need to cheat and women need the illusion that their partner is faithful.
Jackalope Ranch connected with the former Sun Devil by phone and e-mail to discuss the book, sex, and his own personal dating advice.
What prompted you to write Obscene Thoughts? I wrote Obscene Thoughts because American social norms regarding sex, love, and relationships are completely inconsistent with what science knows and what most people experience anecdotally.
What do you want people take away from Obscene Thoughts? This book is for anyone who wants an honest understanding of the evolved gender differences of men and women, and how those differences affect human mating, courtship, and relationships.
My hope is that readers will walk away with a fresh look at human sexuality and have frank discussions about the merit of the claims posited in the book.
You make some controversial points about gender, sexuality, pornography, etc. in your book. What statements would you say are getting the most opposition from women? From men? Most women are upset when I argue that an overwhelming majority of men are sexually unfaithful in their relationships; and that the ones who aren't typically haven't chosen to be faithful but rather have nobody with whom to cheat (i.e., they lack options). Despite the endless evidence supporting this claim, many women are still very uncomfortable with the idea.
Men mostly agree with the arguments in the book.
How exactly did you get involved in porn? I was at swingers club in Costa Mesa, California. A guy saw me having sex with one of the girls there and asked if I ever thought about doing porn. He knew the production manager at Wildlife Video. I made a call, and the rest is history.
As far as why I chose to do porn? Well, why would a single 25-year-old guy not want to be paid to have sex with beautiful women? It certainly beats working at a bank. A large part of my decision stemmed from a deep desire to align myself with an unnecessarily stigmatized industry in the hopes of helping it become more mainstream.
Are you still involved with that profession? I retired from performing in adult movies many years ago, and I stopped producing adult movies within the last few years. However, my media company, Dave Pounder Productions LLC, is still active and producing mainstream projects about the adult industry, including this book and a recent documentary about the social, economic, and health aspects of performing in the adult industry.
If you could give one dating tip for men and one for women, what would they be Men: Remove the shirtless picture in the bathroom mirror from your online dating profile. Women hate it.
Women: Add a shirtless picture in the bathroom mirror to your online dating profile. Men love it.
