I’m not totally sure why I find the porn-watching habits of the world so interesting—but apparently I’m not the only one, because Pornhub is more than happy to supply me with all the data analysis I could want. Case in point: Pornhub and BuzzFeed recently teamed up to answer the age-old question, what kind of porn do women watch? The whole analysis is worth checking out, so head on over to Pornhub for the numbers and the graphs and BuzzFeed for some commentary on it all — but in the meantime, here are the salient points:
- The top categories for women are “lesbian” and “gay (male).” Female-friendly porn, classified as “for women,” is only fourth on the list; “teen” stands between it and the top three. By contrast, the top categories for men include “teen,” “milf,” and “mature,” although I also kind of enjoy the fact that men appear to view “lesbian” and “gay (male)” porn more or less equally.
- Categories women view significantly more than men include “for women,” “lesbian,” and “solo male.” They come in at 193 percent more, 132 percent more, and 103 percent more, respectively. Women also tend to search for terms that fall under the BDSM window much more frequently than men do — for example, “rough sex” comes in at 90 percent more, “gang bang” at 80 percent more, and “bondage” at 77 percent more.
- The top search term for women is “lesbian” by a landslide. The next second and third most popular search terms are “threesome” and “squirt.” Men, meanwhile, search for things like “teen,” “milf,” and “mom”; “lesbian” is only ninth on the list for them.
- Women also search for terms like “eating pussy,” “pussy licking,” and “tribbing” much, much more than men do. 901 percent, 792 percent, and 664 percent more, respectively. “Lesbian scissoring,” “girl on girl,” and just good old “lesbian” are among the other terms that rank quite highly indeed.
(Too much? Sorry. Moving on...)
- Favorite porn stars for women include Kim Kardashian, Mimi Faust, Lisa Ann, and James Deen. James Deen isn’t a surprise, as most of the scenes he shoots tend to be very female-friendly indeed; I’ll admit that I’m kind of shocked to see Kim K at the top of the “most viewed” list, though. Apparently we dislike her personality, but can’t get over her bangin’ bod. Or something. Men also dig Kim, although not as much as women (she’s number three on the list for the men, but number one for women”; Lisa Ann is also popular, as is Madison Ivy. Somewhat hilariously, Teen Mom-turned-porn-star Farrah Abraham appears on the lists for both men and women — but I’m willing to be it’s mostly out of morbid curiosity. I don’t know about you, but I’d have a really hard time getting off to Farrah, even if half the scene is James Deen.
- Women search for male porn stars a heck of a lot more than men do. No surprise there. And guess who’s on the top of the list? Good ol’ James. Xander Corvus, Danny Mountain, and Manuel Ferrara also rank highly.
So, from this data, it’s pretty apparent that women, regardless as to their orientation, prefer gay and lesbian porn to straight porn. What it doesn’t tell us, though, is why that’s the case. The only to figure this out would be to poll a huge number of women — but on the subject of women who identify as straight watching lesbian porn, I will say this: By my experience, lesbian porn is generally much more women-friendly than straight porn. Obviously this is a bit of generalization; there’s a whooooole lot of “lesbian” porn out there that’s clearly aimed at straight men, and there is a growing selection of straight porn that’s women-friendly. But it seems to me the wide majority of straight porn focuses almost exclusively on the pleasure of the male, which, to be honest, doesn’t do it for me. Sex is the best when all the participants are having fun, and it’s a lot easier to find lesbian porn where that’s the case than it is to find female-friendly straight porn with that quality.
And yes, that’s all anecdata — but I’m also not the only who feels this way. EJ Dickson at the Daily Dot, for example, spoke to a friend who identifies as straight but watches only lesbian porn; the friend observed, “In straight porn, there’s usually cunnilingus, but it’s only for, like, two seconds, and then they move onto something else. But in lesbian porn it’s pretty much the main event. And considering that [receiving oral sex] is basically the only way I come, it’s no contest for me what I’d rather watch.” Dickson also addressed straight women who watch gay male porn, pointing to a commenter on lesbian site Grace the Spot who wrote, “With gay male porn, the actors look like they’re having fun and enjoying sex. With all other types of porn, more often than not, it looks contrived, overacted, unbelievable, ridiculous, or just plain unfun.” It makes sense when you think about it, doesn't it?
At the end of the day, though, ultimately, it’s all about taste: What gets you off? Find it. Watch it. Love it. Just do you, right?
Images: snapshot 19/Flickr; Giphy; Gif Buffet/Tumblr
