But What IS Porn For Women?

Porn for women?

Every now and then an article in the mainstream media pops up and, with a vaguely amazed tone, discusses the fact that women like porn. The article then talks about "porn for women" as though it were only one thing and usually it assumes that all women want:

• Storylines
• Romance
• Softcore sex
• Glamour photography

As with all generalizations, this media picture of "what women want" misses the mark because, well, all women are different. Firstly, not all women like porn. Secondly, our tastes are just as varied as men's.

So what IS porn for women, if it's not softcore plot-filled explicit romance?

I've been creating and curating porn aimed at straight women since 2000. Even when I started out, I knew that not all women want the same thing. In my time I've made female-friendly porn that showed BDSM, kink, rough sex, pegging and anal sex along with the softer romance stuff.

My definition of "porn for women" has always been really broad. I consider it to be porn that:

• Acknowledges women as an audience
• Seeks to depict female fantasies or a female experience of sex
• Gives priority to female pleasure

As you can see, this is the kind of definition that can encompass a huge range of content. The main point is that women are considered to be the audience. The porn is catering to a female gaze i.e. assuming the main viewer is a woman.

Of course, this definition still makes assumptions about who one defines as a "woman" but it's still very useful.

It's useful because the vast majority of porn out there still targets a white, straight male audience. Thus:

• The language used assumes that it's a guy watching. 
• The scenarios are often male fantasies.
• The camera focuses mainly on the female body
• Male pleasure is seen as the ultimate outcome - the male orgasm is the "final whistle" on almost all porn scenes
• It uses sexist stereotypes and slut shaming in its depiction of women, re-inforcing the patriarchal male point of view.

Porn for women is first and foremost a critic of mainstream porn. It defines itself partly by NOT being like the rest of what the adult industry produces.

Most importantly, it speaks to the CLIT, not the cock.

This is how I see porn for women. And it's why I still like to use the phrase, even though it is problematic.

It's why this blog exists, to help women who type the phrase into Google, looking to find something - anything - that isn't the usual sexist porn shit.

I hope you find something here you like :)

- Ms. Naughty