Why Do Women Love Lesbian Porn?

Whatever your feelings around pornography might be, understanding what people are watching can be a fascinating window into human sexuality. Take, for example, a recent PornHub report showing lesbian porn as the most popular category viewed by women. Contrary to popular hearsay about straight dudes being the primary audience for "girl-on-girl" videos, the lesbian category is actually 151 percent more popular with women than with men.

So are all these women watching lesbian porn secretly attracted to women themselves?

Maybe some, sure. "Women do tend to be more fluid in their sexuality and allow themselves greater permission to explore their curiosities than men tend to," Vanessa Marin, a licensed psychotherapist specializing in sex therapy and female orgasm, tells mbg.

Whereas our culture heavily punishes men for exploring sexualities outside the accepted heterosexual norms, women don't quite get the same amount of social blowback for showing interest in other women. (Not to minimize the very real and targeted forms of discrimination, stigmatization, and injustices faced by lesbians, bisexual women, and queer women from both mainstream heteronormative culture and some parts of the LGBTQ community.) Simply put, it's just a lot easier and more socially acceptable for women to wander outside the lines of straightness to see what else is out there.

But while some studies have suggested that women are more likely than men to be sexually aroused by both men and women, that doesn't necessarily mean those women would be interested in actually sexually engaging with other women. Fantasy and reality are different, after all, and not everything we're physically aroused by is necessarily what mentally turns us on.

So to put it simply: No, enjoying lesbian porn as a woman doesn't necessarily mean you're secretly lesbian, bisexual, or some other sexual identity involving attraction to women.

"In general, women tend to like lesbian porn because lesbian porn shows sex that emphasizes female pleasure," Marin explains. "Heterosexual porn is typically made to emphasize male pleasure, so there isn't much in it for women!"

Indeed, porn categories involving men and women usually depict scenarios involving a lot of aggression, unequal power dynamics, and a very specific depiction of femininity that's mostly designed to be good-looking to a straight guy. Moreover, these videos focus heavily on penetration, which research shows some four in five women can't reach orgasm from by itself.

But with lesbian porn, there's a lot more diversity of sexual acts and relationships displayed. "There's more depiction of activities that feel good for women, like oral sex, manual stimulation, kissing, and caressing. There's less emphasis on intercourse, which tends to be the activity that brings women the least amount of pleasure," Marin says.

It's really just that simple: In sex scenes involving only women, the women actually get off. Women are depicted being catered to, pleasured, and satisfied by partners who are their equals. So is it any surprise that plenty of women are hooked?