Once upon a time, most porn was for men. Women enjoyed the occasional foray into fantasy, but the major consumers were definitely guys. We were curious and sometimes enjoyed getting off to what we found, but not many women went slinking into sex cinemas or sticky jerk-off booths in order to see people fucking on screen.
Today approximately a third of pornography is consumed by women!
More open attitudes, recognition of female sexuality, privacy, and safe access from home are no doubt major drivers of the dramatic upsurge in female porn watching. Feminist porn making or porn made with a female market in mind have also affected the totals.
What Kinds of Pornography Do Women Like?
Whatever Is Available
Often enough, women are watching what you are. That’s because for many women, porn is not a private thing behind closed doors, but something she does with a partner. Other women simply tune in to whatever is streaming on Pornhub or other popular sites, and some do so out of curiosity more than anything.
Porn Made for Women by Women
Although female directed porn or porn made with women in mind is still a tiny percentage of what’s out there, its popularity is telling.
Women are excited to watch porn that is constructed with female desire in mind. The differences between porn for men and porn for women include the importance of a story arc and context, aesthetics on set, male beauty, sensuality, and a buildup of arousal.
Gay Porn
Perhaps the taboo of a place where no woman has gone before, mixed with the aesthetic similarities of gay and female desire, make gay porn popular with some women. Another selling point: gay porn can be just as male-focused commercially as mainstream porn, but it doesn’t degrade women or treat them as disposable. We aren’t even in the picture! Male beauty is of course important in gay porn, so there’s that too.
Kinky Submission
Far and away the largest category driving female porn views is BDSM. It’s difficult to stress how huge this phenomenon is.
In the early 70s, Nancy Friday broke the hush on female fantasies in My Secret Garden, a controversial collection of interviews with real women. There were stories of every kind, but the prevalence of submission fantasies, rape fantasies, pain and masochism fantasies, and other BDSM fantasies was astounding.
Erotica of a BDSM nature has always sold well to women, whether visual or narrative.
The book Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James was a phenomenon, selling 15 million copies, with sequels selling ten million each, and the film adaptations rocking the house as well. Everyone agreed, from readers to critics—the books were horribly written, with zero literary value. And yet it was the bestselling book series of the decade! Women weren’t in it for the literature, but for the fantasy and the submission and the ravishing.
BDSM is a safe place where we can consent and control our destiny, enjoy being overtaken and turned into a love slave on our own terms by the object of our own selection.
BDSM Domination
Women also consume and love porn where we take the upper hand. Femdom porn is popular with men—AND women. There are umpteen genres of femdom porn now, including sissy-boy porn, good old fashioned dominatrix porn, dress-up domme porn, and more. And we love it.
Knowing what kind of porn women like and watch helps if you are interested in watching porn as a couple and engaging in mutual masturbation.
What kind of porn do the women in your life like to watch? Please share in the comments!
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