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Yes, women watch porn, too!

By Tiffany Kagure Mugo on

In 2017, 68 years, 24.811 days, and 595.482 hours of footage were uploaded onto Pornhub. You’d assume that there’ll be something for everyone.

And needless to say, there is a market for all these movies being uploaded. Pornhub recorded over 28.5 billion annual visits and 10 million GB per day being transferred. And who do you think is watching these videos other than men?
 
Women.
 
Yes, contrary to popular belief, women watch porn too. And masturbate.

Women want to see women’s pleasure

And these women have their tastes and preferences. According to one survey, here are some terms that were searched by women more than by men: ‘hardcore pussy licking‘ (ladies searched this 630 per cent more than dudes), ‘lesbian scissor‘ (570 per cent more), ‘lesbian threesome’ (351 per cent more), and ‘lesbian orgy’ (295 per cent more).

On Pornhub, ‘Porn for Women’ was the top trending category of 2017, rising by 1400 per cent.

And women wanted female-friendly porn, the statistics show. Women are 193 per cent more likely than men to search for the ‘For Women’ category and 132 per cent more likely to search for ‘lesbian’. They also love looking for women squirting and threesomes.

All of this points to women wanting to see the pleasure of other women, even if it is slightly problematic (lesbian porn is iffy at best).
 
Even though women are clearly interested in watching people have sex, nearly all of the 4 million videos are unrealistic, made with a good dose of misogyny, and often completely ignorant of the pleasure of women.

The male gaze

The male gaze is still the lens we view sex through. Porn is filmed in a way that allows men to fulfil their fantasies. Furthermore, with all the woman-on-woman stuff being searched for, women are looking for something different. Something other than being banged.
 
In this way, feminist porn is changing the game.
 
Feminist pornography refers to a genre of film developed by and/or for those dedicated to gender equality. It was created for the purposes of encouraging women and their self-beliefs of freedom through sexuality, equality, and pleasure.

More and more female directors and producers are producing porn that speaks to women’s pleasure and a sense of mutual equality.

Directors such as Erika Lust, Nenna, and Maria Beatty are leading the pack and winning awards for their new depictions of coitus in amazing ways.

Equals, not objects

The presence of porn for women that breaks away from the images that make women something to be conquered in bed and instead make it an interaction between equal partners goes a long way towards catering for women’s tastes. As well as changing ideas we have about sex.
When the stuff that gets us off shows us that sex can be affirming and healthy, it tackles the messed up ideas we have about sex, ideas that feed into rape culture and sexual violence. This is because women are now seen as partners in sex – not objects. People who not only want and can experience pleasure but also deserve it.

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