CYBERSPACE—We've really got to hand it to PornHub. Reviled for many years as a pirate tube site—it still gets the majority of Takedown Piracy's takedown notices—PornHub has been trying its damnedest to reform its prior image with such societally friendly moves as offering snow plows to Boston and other municipalities during this past winter's major snowfalls, making visitors to its site more secure by using https protocols, creating a "Sexual Wellness Center" on its site to help educate people about sex, and even using its viewing statistics to shed light on Americans' sexual hypocrisy.
So perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise that the much-maligned-but-well-endowed site inaugurated a scholarship program, dubbed "PornHub Cares," two years ago, choosing winners from among those who either submitted an essay on the topic, “How do you strive to make others happy?” or a short video that "elaborates on the good work that you do and anything else that you might want to say," and passed other requirements.
The first $25,000 scholarship was awarded in December of 2015 to a 48-year-old Texan woman, MaryAnn Uribe, who managed to survive her former bosses' plot to have her assassinated and is using the money to obtain a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Studies from Troy University in Alabama.
But the second scholarship, awarded just today, went to Natalie Nevarez, the largely self-taught daughter of migrant farm workers from Mexico, who obtained her Bachelor's degree at the ripe old age of 19, and at 26 is about to receive her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan—assuming she successfully defends her doctoral thesis on the neurobiology of how brain chemistry affects monogamous relationships in prairie voles, according to an article in The Washington Post.
"We wanted to do our part in not only recognizing women's outstanding accomplishments in the STEM [Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics] fields, but also encourage them to continue to achieve both their academic and societal aspirations and make the world around us a better place," Corey Price, vice president of PornHub, said in a statement. "Natalie embodies everything we were looking for and more. Her academic achievements in STEM really stood out to us as did her inspiring personal story to give back and provide for her community."
Nevarez first decided to study the prairie vole because the mouse-like creature forms a strong monogamous relationship with its mating partner, and Nevarez figures that understanding that bond could have a significant impact on understanding human sexuality and health. Her field of study is also what inspired her to apply for the PornHub scholarship.
"I thought that whoever read about a scholarship from PornHub would also probably find it interesting to read about studying monogamy," she told the Post.
As for her detractors who scolded her for taking money from a porn company?
"I understand a lot of the negative connotations about where the money is coming from but I don’t think that should matter," she said. "It can make a tangible difference in what my quality of life is like right now."
