Why Do So Many Straight Women Watch Lesbian Porn?
The answer might surprise you
Let’s talk about porn — specifically, lesbian porn.
It’s no secret that people like to watch porn. Single people watch it for themselves. Couples watch it together or for themselves. There are hundreds of different websites and fantasies and videos and actors and worlds to choose from — it’s a big industry. And people of all different orientations and sexualities and genders and backgrounds like to watch porn.
But what’s up with straight women often watching lesbian porn? For many straight women, lesbian and girl-on-girl porn is actually their genre of choice. Lesbian porn is one of the most top-searched genres of porn in the history of pornography, and women are 186% more likely than men to search for it (and presumably watch it). But statistically, only 5% of women in the United States identify as LGBTQ (still, this survey did not count everyone and the number is likely higher). So there’s clearly a high amount of straight women viewers. But why?
For starters, it’s not about bisexuality. It’s not about sexuality fluidity or bi-curiosity or the idea that “all women are a little bit gay.” No. Actually, the answer has nothing to do with sexuality and everything to do with pleasure.
Women want to see their pleasure prioritized.
When people watch porn, it’s usually for their own personal enjoyment, so they’re going to search for content that makes them feel good and fits their fancy. That means there’s definitely a reason why so many straight women are watching lesbian porn — and it’s most likely because lesbian porn tends to prioritize women’s pleasure much more than any other genre. Usually in a sexual experience, it’s expected that one (or both!) of the partners will experience a climax, and that both will experience a satisfactory level of pleasure. So obviously, with two women participants, you’re going to witness a woman being pleasured by her partner. Of course, this is possible to witness in straight porn as well, but it’s often more focused on the man’s pleasure and can often see women as the afterthought. That isn’t always an enjoyable experience for a woman who is viewing it, however.
Porn is so focused on the male gaze.
Most porn videos are focused on the male gaze. Producers assume that men are frequent porn-viewers and they seek to satisfy their audience — which is why they tend to focus on the men in the equation. Have you ever noticed in straight porn how there is so little foreplay? How things are often harsh, intense, and rough? How the woman isn’t always visibly enjoying herself? She might make loud noises and seductive facial expressions, but they’re not usually very genuine. It’s likely something that she was told to do by the producer to — yet again — please the male viewers. The camera often focuses on the woman’s face or body, but yet the man is usually hardly touching her or trying to prioritize her pleasure at all. And straight porn is so often filled with thrusting and grunting and groping. But only about 25% of women actually orgasm from vaginal penetration alone. So it’s understandable why most women wouldn’t feel inherently turned on from watching porn of that persuasion. I mean, I’ll just say it: most women require at least some amount of clitoral stimulation to reach climax. And porn (with the exception of lesbian porn) seems to conveniently ignore the existence of the clitoris. What’s up with that?
It’s also about ethics.
We have a huge problem with sex trafficking, exploitation, and sexual assault — not just in the United States, but all across the world. And the porn industry isn’t immune to that. In fact, the porn industry is an instrumental part in upholding those sickening issues that plague girls and women so disproportionately. Many straight porn videos have headlines that promote underage sex, assault, exploitation, incest, etc. Some people see these things as “fetishes,” but to many women, it’s such a persistent source of fear and trauma in our lives and it’s unethical and downright wrong to see it be advertised in the media; it’s certainly not something we’d search for or enjoy. There can also be a power complex between male and female porn actors — depending on the source, it can be questionable whether the female is a willing, enthusiastic participant, especially when she appears to be treated so roughly or to be dominated by her male partner. As women, that’s not what we want to see. We want to know that the porn we are consuming is ethical, consensual, and legal. And I’m not saying lesbian porn is always every one of those things, but it’s usually more visibly enjoyable and consensual for the people participating, or located on feminist porn sites that only produce/post ethical, consensual, legal videos.
In conclusion:
Since straight porn is so focused on the male gaze, it’s never really the woman’s time to shine — or enjoy herself. So it’s no surprise that lesbian porn is an opportunity for women of all sexualities to see their own pleasure being sought, and it’s much more enjoyable to watch that and to visualize a sensual, climactic scene rather than the sometimes unrealistic and animalistic situations depicted in straight porn.
I have a lot of straight women friends in my life who talk to me about watching lesbian porn. It’s been a curiosity of mine for years why this is such a popular genre for straight women, because it’s not always what you would expect. In fact, I used to wonder if maybe all women were just wired to have attraction for other women, despite our prevailing sexualities and orientations. I wondered if maybe watching lesbian porn just meant that straight women were bi-curious or were physically attracted to the female body. And yes, this is possible; there probably are some women out there who watch lesbian porn, thinking they’re straight, when they actually have an attraction to women or are curious about having a sexual experience with one.
But when I have discussions with my friends, they all say the same thing: lesbian porn is more enjoyable, gentler, nicer, more pleasurable. Both partners know and are attentive to each other’s desires and likes. It’s a fulfilling experience for both parties and usually for the viewer, too.
I’d argue that this has very little to do with sexuality and everything to do with pleasure. It has to do with the fact that we live in a world that is so focused on the male gaze and so preoccupied with how men benefit from entertainment that we neglect women. Men’s pleasure is a given, and even a goal; women’s pleasure is an afterthought, if it’s even considered at all.
This needs to change. With more of the world trying to develop positivity and understanding about sex, it’s time that we balance women into this equation. Digesting solely male-focused entertainment encourages more people to forget women’s roles and desires. That’s not fair. If our goal is to work towards a more sex-positive, healthy, consensual society, we need to break the silence around women’s pleasure and make it an active part of entertainment, just the same as men.
Sexism and misogyny is often implicit in society, and it can be so seamlessly a part of our lives that it tends to become invisible. But this problem has been invisible for far too long. The orgasm gap isn’t considered. The domination of the male gaze is not addressed. The blatant disregard for women in their sexual experiences is not confronted. Who would have thought something like porn could be such a complicated string of dangerous, implicit sexual bias and ignorance?
Well, I guess that’s not much of a surprise.
But seriously: we have a lot of work to do. Sexism and misogyny hides in so many places.
Let’s bring it out into the open and change that narrative.
Because as women, we deserve better.
