In the age of the internet, porn is more accessible than ever before. Young people looking for porn no longer have to search for a stash of “dirty magazines;” all it takes is a quick Google search. The question isn’t whether or not porn is easily accessible to young people, but rather where they consume it and what effect it has on them. With its wide availability, many have concerns about both the availability and content of modern porn. 

The content of porn has long been a source of discourse among feminists. Some feminists argue that the majority of porn available, if not all porn, is centered around the male gaze and depicts women as objects for male sexual pleasure. This argument, though constructed decades ago, surely still feels relevant today. Even the rise of OnlyFans, a platform for subscription-based content, which has allowed performers autonomy over their own content, has generated debate around whether it is free from the exploitation and potential danger that typically pervades sex work (The New York Times, 2021).

Despite many women in recent years proudly admitting that they, too, watch porn, Pornhub – one of the largest online porn streaming websites – published in their 2021 year review that women still only made up 35% of their viewers. What’s more interesting is that the most-watched category for women year after year is lesbian porn.

Of course, at least some of these women are likely to be lesbian viewers, but assuming that many of the viewers are also straight leads to one question: why do straight women prefer lesbian porn over heterosexual porn? One possibility is that many of the straight women who prefer lesbian porn prefer it because the lack of male presence reduces the aforementioned depiction of women as objects for male pleasure, which is perhaps what is keeping them off of websites like Pornhub in the first place. It’s important to note that even lesbian porn is not exempt from objectification, but perhaps the absence of men is enough to abate this for many women. If this is the case, it is certainly true that feminist concerns about the content of porn are as relevant as ever. 

Another concern that has been voiced over the years is that the seeming rise in interest in violent porn could incite a rise in violence against women overall. Studies on whether this correlation exists are mixed (Journal of Sex Research, 2018 & Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2019), but it makes sense that many adolescents who watch porn would try to emulate the porn they watch, believing it to be what normal, healthy sex looks like. This is, unfortunately, not always the case. With sex education still fundamentally lacking in so many schools, many young people turn to internet resources like porn to learn about sex and sexuality. However, porn depicts sex that is often not realistic, and sometimes not even safe. With the majority of porn viewers still seeming to be men, it is possible that young men who watch porn are seeing the objectification of women to the extent of severe violent acts against women. In some cases, viewers can become desensitized to this violence (Journal of Communication, 2006), if not wanting to emulate it themselves. 

Concerns over violent media exposure aren’t exclusive to porn either. For example, studies on violent video games have confirmed a link between exposure to violent games and desensitization to violence (Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2011), even to the point of increased aggression.

In terms of the media’s influence on perceptions around sex, one clear example is the way that the film Fifty Shades of Grey brought BDSM into the mainstream. BDSM – standing for Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, Sadism and Masochism – can be a healthy and safe sexual practice for many people but can also be dangerous if clear boundaries aren’t set or if one or both partners aren’t properly educated on what it entails. Many who practice BDSM in real life expressed that they found Fifty Shades to be troubling based on its depiction of the practice (The Atlantic, 2015 & The Guardian, 2015), but that didn’t stop the mainstream from embracing the film. In fact, less than a year before the film was released, a study was published in the Journal of Women’s Health correlating health risks and risky behaviors (e.g. disordered eating and violence victimization) with consumption of the novel that inspired the film. If a fictional book and film series can have such a large effect on the interests and behaviors of its readers/viewers, who’s to say that porn isn’t doing the same thing?

So, what is the answer to concerns such as these? Is it possible to reconcile with the concerning content and availability of porn, or is porn altogether something to be concerned about? Pioneers in sex-positive feminism like Erika Lust and Candida Royalle would argue that the solution here is feminist porn. Royalle, initially an actor in the adult industry, was a producer and director of feminist porn starting in 1984 when she founded Femme Productions with the goal of making porn geared toward female desire. Though she passed in 2015, her legacy is continued by feminists like Erika Lust, a Swedish writer, producer, and director of feminist porn and modern figurehead of sex-positive feminism.

Also sometimes referred to as ethical porn, the porn that these women advocate for and produce focuses on healthy sexual expression and gender equality, eliminating the male gaze from porn and replacing it with realistic representations of sex, gender, body type, sexual orientations, and so on. Feminist and ethical porn also focuses on fair pay and safe conditions for the actors and other participants involved. It serves to empower women in their sexuality without objectifying them and is often produced by sex-positive feminist women.

Could this be the future of porn? Is feminist porn the answer to concerns about traditional porn, or is porn itself inherently harmful? The answer is certainly up for debate, but concerns about modern porn, its content, and its wide availability aren’t going to disappear overnight. The conversation around porn is ongoing, but feminist porn surely seems like a step in the right direction, replacing porn that objectifies with porn that, at least to some viewers and sex workers, empowers. 

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For information on how to talk to young people about porn, visit thepornconversation.org.

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For more information on feminist porn, visit feministporn.org.

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