Pornhub.com, one of the most viewed websites for pornography in the world, is offering a college scholarship grant worth $25,000 which will be awarded to a student who can best answer the question, "How do you strive to make others happy?"
The scholarship program is part of the website's "philanthropic endeavor" that it calls Pornhub Cares. The pornography website, which boasts an online video viewership of 78.9 billion every year, announced that it is now receiving submissions for its grant.
On its scholarship website, Pornhub said that its employees strive to help provide happiness to millions of individuals every day. The company said that in turn, it wishes to provide support to the first recipient of its annual Pornhub Cares Scholarship to help them achieve their goal.
Despite the pornography website's seemingly philanthropic scholarship offer, Pornhub immediately attracted much criticism from women's rights groups. These activist groups said that Pornhub's campaign is merely a ploy to take advantage of women who are worried about paying the increasing costs of college education.
The National Center on Sexual Exploitation's Dawn Hawkins called the Pornhub Cares Scholarship program as only a deceptive marketing practice, stating that it targets the vulnerable demographic of struggling college students.
Hawkins said that many young people fail to realize the harm and consequences of pornography.
Miriam Weeks, a pornography performer professionally known as Belle Knox, made international headlines after a schoolmate of her at Duke University revealed her profession. Weeks said in a documentary that she entered the adult film industry in order to pay a debt for her college tuition.
Pornhub Vice President Corey Price recognized that the company's scholarship program could be considered contentious, given the controversy surrounding pornography's role in society as well as how some people view women.
He said that if people consider themselves against pornography, then the Pornhub Cares Scholarship may not be for them.
Price added that filming a porn scene is not one of the requirements to be chosen as the recipient of the scholarship. He pointed out that the company wishes that interested participants will share its "sex positive belief system" and have neutral stance regarding pornography at the very least.
Photo: Luci Correia | Flickr
