New research on female pornography users revealed four distinct patterns of pornography preferences. These different consumption patterns were linked to differences in sexual experiences, sexual esteem, and prior sexual victimization. The study was published in the Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy.
The production and use of pornographic content has seen a dramatic expansion with the advent of the internet. Just a few decades ago, pornographic content was almost exclusively produced by specialized companies and distributed through VHS tapes or DVDs for consumption of heterosexual men. However, at the moment, specialized internet sites are the dominant way of distributing these contents. Estimates state that around 35% of global internet traffic consists of downloading and streaming of pornographic videos, images, and related materials.
The pool of users of pornographic contents has also expanded. It now includes substantial numbers of women. There are specialized pornography sites dedicated exclusively to presenting pornographic contents to women.
Recent studies have indicated that at least half of the women aged 16-69 in the United States and Australia have looked at pornographic material in the last year. Other studies have shown that women use pornography to facilitate masturbation and enhance sexual arousal, much the same as men do. In spite of this, there are but a few studies exploring pornographic content use by women.
Study author Megan K. Maas and her colleagues wanted to explore what genres of pornography women find appealing and how those preferences cluster together into more complex viewing patterns. They also wanted to study if and how those patterns were associated with sexual experiences and beliefs of female pornography users.
Participants of the study were 206 women who reported consuming pornography in the past year. They were selected from a much larger sample of survey participants (969) who did not qualify for this analysis for various reasons (not being women, not using pornography, not completing the survey). The mean age of the sample was 28 years and almost 80% of participants were White.
Participants were asked to report how often they use pornography alone and with a partner. They were then provided a list of 93 pornography genres available on PornHub and asked to rate their preferences for watching each of them. The ratings had 4 categories – do not know the genre, not interested, curious, and most interested. The researchers conducted their analysis on the top 15 most popular genres.
Participants also completed assessments of sexual esteem (the Sexuality Scale), rape myth acceptance (the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale), sexual violence perpetration (three items about how often they performed sexual violence in the past 12 months), and sexual violence victimization (three items about how often they experienced sexual violence in the past 12 months). Participants also reported on the diversity of their sexual experiences (BDSM, fetishes/kink, consensual non-monogamy/polyamory/swinging).
Results showed that higher rape myth acceptance was associated with higher levels of sexual violence perpetration, but also, to a much lesser degree, with sexual violence victimization, diversity of sexual experiences, and pornography viewing. Participants who reported more diverse sexual experiences also tended to report higher sexual esteem.
More diverse sexual experiences were associated with more pornography viewing, but also more sexual violence perpetration and victimization. Participants who reported more sexual violence perpetration also tended to report more sexual violence victimization.
The researchers identified four patterns of pornography viewing. 39% of participants showed the heterogeneous pattern. This pattern consisted of women who endorsed multiple genres of pornography. Traditionally feminine was the second identified pattern and it included 27% of the sample. Participants with this pattern endorsed more socially acceptable depictions of female sexual behavior (e.g., massage) and were very unlikely to endorse genres that are less socially acceptable depictions of female behavior (e.g., hardcore).
The female pleasure class included 23% of the sample. These participants were more likely to endorse genres that depict female orgasms (e.g., lesbian), but much less likely to endorse genres that mostly do not depict female orgasms. The rough/violent class included only 11% of the sample. Participants in this class endorsed genres that depict aggressive or violent sexual acts (e.g., rough sex) and were much less likely to endorse genres that depict emotional connection (e.g., the romantic genre).
Participants with the traditionally feminine viewing pattern tended to have higher scores on rape acceptance myths, but lower on sexual esteem and diversity of sexual experiences compared to participants with the female pleasure viewing pattern. Participants with the rough/violent viewing pattern tended to have higher scores on sexual victimization and more diverse sexual experiences, but lower sexual esteem compared to female pleasure pattern participants.
“Our findings that behavioral and attitudinal associations with pornography use vary by patterns of content preference indicate that pornography literacy may be beneficial to help (especially young) women think critically about the content they consume,” the study authors concluded. “Pornography is an alluring educator for sexually inexperienced adolescent girls, as it is entertaining and full of vivid details and examples that are absent from traditional sex education.
“However, encouraging women to seek out content that showcases mutual respect and pleasure may mitigate harmful messages that are inadvertently internalized while watching more aggressive or even more stereotypically ‘romantic’ content,” they added.
The study provides a unique contribution to scientific knowledge about pornography use by women. However, it also has limitations that need to be taken into account. Notably, the sample was small and convenient. Additionally, it lacked a question about sexual orientation.
The study, “Sexual Experiences and Beliefs Vary by Patterns of Pornography Genre Preferences Among Women”, was authored by Megan K. Maas, Janine Slaker, Karen Holt, Rabindra A. Ratan, Kyla M. Cary, and Kirsten M. Greer.
