Sexplorations: Good News About the Three Types of Porn Watchers

This article originally ran in the May 2017 issue of AVN magazine. Click here to see the online edition. Not all porn watchers are equal. According to a recent study, there are three types of porn viewers; only one of them is considered healthy. But here’s the good news: the largest group, called “recreational users,” at 75.5 percent, are deemed “healthy” by the study. The two other groups are “at risk” users (12.7 percent) and “compulsive users” (11.8 percent), who like porn a little too much. The study’s aim, published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, was to examine if watching porn increased or decreased ”sexual satisfaction.” Called “Profiles of Cyberpornography and Sexual Well-Being in Adults,” the study questioned 830 men and women at Universite Laval in Quebec. We’re just happy that the study found that most people use porn to enhance their sex lives, rather than turning into compulsive meat-beating sex addicts who use granny porn like a drug. “Most consumers consider that their use of pornography has never been a problem,” says the study. They report “positive side effects; sexual entertainment, a richer sexual repertoire, stronger desire & arousal, and increased sexual knowledge.” From a sex education point of view, porn doesn’t always provide step-by-step instruction, especially since scenes are edited to the part where someone sticks it in with no foreplay. “Learning sex techniques from watching porn is like learning how to drive from watching The Fast and the Furious,” says sex educator Reid Milhalko. On other hand, porn can be a serious sex educator; where else can you learn how to fuck someone in the ass while someone eats your ass out? The study also found that “recreational” users—which included most of the female porn watchers and couples in the study—reported “higher sexual satisfaction” and “lower sexual compulsivity and avoidance.” In other words, for the person lucky enough to have someone to watch porn with, you are “sexually satisfied,” which probably has more to do with the fact that afterwards (or during), you get to have sex with an actual person.        On the down side, the “solitary” users were “highly distressed” and more likely to be in the compulsive group. The “emotional distress” came from having to hide their porn watching habits, like the guy down in the basement sneaking in a quick gangbang porn down while his wife is making dinner, or the born-again Christian who watches (and enjoys) she-male porn, then feels guilty afterwards. It’s not the porn, it’s the guilt. In both the “high risk” and “compulsive” group, users were sexually less satisfied and reported more sexual dysfunction. They also reported “more sexual partners, more alcohol use, and lower odds of being in a long-term relationship.” The study concluded that “super fan” porn lovers could “benefit from interventions targeting the compulsions and associated distress.” (Those interventions would include something like Sexaholics Anonymous.) Or you could ask someone to come over and keep you in check. (“Okay, Bob, that’s enough porn for you today! You can watch the rest of the jizz-on-the-face compilation tape tomorrow.”) Three More Porn-Watching Types I would argue there are three more porn watchers—and they’re the worst. The first one is the guy who watches porn at work, like the AT&T guy who puts me on hold for 20 minutes. (No wonder nobody gets any work done at work). The second one is the creepy guy sitting next to me on the NYC subway who leers at me while watching “Big Butted Mama Get Stuffed With Big Fat Dong.” But he’s not quite as bad as the sex addict seated next to me on an airplane watching “Eye Gluing Extra Sticky Face Shots” with an airplane blanket on his lap and a couple of hours to kill. Who’s Watching What? With all the data at their disposal, tube sites like Pornhub, xHamster and YouPorn can keep tabs on what type of pornos each of these three types of porn watchers is watching. These sites can show what people are interested in by looking at “most searched words.” One of Pornhub’s studies—called “What Women Want”—found that women really, really liked “For Women” porn the most. They also really liked “eating pussy” porn, “pussy licking porn,” and “man eating woman’s pussy” porn. Sex tips for guys alert! From my own studies, I would say that women want the two C’s: compliments and cunnilingus. The top porn women searched for was “lesbian,” “gay male” porn, and “solo male” porn, where women can watch a guy take care of his own business. Personally, I like watching gay male porn with good dialogue like “Give it to me, you big prick,” but that’s just me. A more recent study probing people’s porn-watching habits was done in January 2017. Pornhub’s “2016 year in review” looked at people’s most-searched porn terms and for the second year in a row “lesbian” was the number one search term worldwide. Jincey Lumpkin—“CSO” of Juicy Pink Box (“Chief Sex Officer”), a feminist porn company specializing in “lesbian erotica”—told me that while they make lesbian porn for a lesbian audience, “straight males” are their biggest audience. And this year, apparently men have more mommy issues than previously thought with “Step Mom” coming in second followed by “MILF.” “Step-sister” was up there too. Oh, and “Mature”/granny porn continues to grow as people get older and older women look better. A random finding of interest was the answer to “Who is your favorite porn star?” In practically every country surveyed, including those in Europe, Asia, and South America, reluctant/not even a professional porn star Kim Kardashian came in number one. Her leaked sex tape continues to be one of the most popular sellers of all time. Coming in second were Mia Khalifia and Sarah Palin impersonator Lisa Ann, showing that boobs and MILFs rule the world. The study even found local cultural differences, including the finding that New Zealanders like “Samoan porn,” Indians like “Aunty porn,” Chileans like “Pokemon porn,” Maltese like “giantess porn” and Finns like “Sauna porn.”   Other random findings included the fact that “BBL” (“Big Beautiful Latina”) was searched more this year than last, especially in America, and that the younger you are the more you watch porn. People 18-24 watched the most, followed by those 25-30. The future of our country is in good hands. Anka Radakovich is a legendary sex columnist who wrote a groundbreaking column for Details magazine. Currently she writes for British GQ and Sexpert.com. She is the author of three books, including her newest, The Wild Girls Club, Part 2. She has appeared multiple times on TV talk shows, including eight appearances with Conan O’Brien. She is also a certified sexologist. We are thrilled to have her as a contributor. Follow Anka Radakovich on Twitter: @ankarad.