Study: Danes Love Their Online Porn... Free

LOS ANGELES—In Denmark, watching porn is not cause for shame. Paying for it might be, though. Results of a new survey being published Monday in women's magazine Q indicate that "three fourths of Danish men and a third of Danish women watch porn," according to The Local. But that acceptance of porn comes with a deficit. Namely, "Eight out of ten users said that they only view porn on free sites and 84 percent said they primarily watch porn alone." The study also revealed a marked increase in the number of Danish women who consume porn, which now stands at about a third of the female population. Regarding a possible explanation for that trend, Helle Hartz, editor of women’s magazine Tidens Kvinde told The Local, “I think there has been an increase in the number of women who watch porn because there are now so many more woman- or pair-friendly films that appeal to them. And I think that the numbers will increase in conjunction with (hopefully) more films coming out in that genre." She added significantly, “It’s become more acceptable to see porn because they are now produced in much better quality and with a focus on women so it’s no longer so ‘sleazy’ to watch one." So, once again we have a nod to quality as a reason for not only increased viewership, but also greater societal acceptance, even in already sexually liberal Denmark! Where trends and reality diverge, however, is at the sticky intersection of return on investment—as in, who is going to pay for the "better quality" porn with a "focus on women?" The answer, it seems, is not young men, who would rather lose a testicle than pay for porn. No, it looks as though professional porn production may have to be supported in the future by women and the men (and women) who want to make them happy. If not, production of all that better quality porn will be left completely up to amateur producers, who, once they become proficient, also often want to be remunerated for their efforts. The good news is that women are in general more rational and pragmatic than men, especially when it comes to paying for things of perceived value, and will by and large choose to pay for the content they want rather than walk away from guaranteed value that costs something in favor of questionable value that is free. Call it gender bias if you want, but all industries target the demographics most likely to support them. Traditionally, of course, porn's demographic has been vastly male, but maybe the porn worm is finally turning and the ascendancy of women as not only producers but majority consumers of porn is finally on the horizon. Whether men are pleased with the outcome remains to be seen. As far as Denmark goes, maybe it can be the test case for whether women will pay for the porn they want. In that regard, it hopefully has a leg up on the rest of the world.