Surprising Statistics about Women who watch PORN!

By Alyssa Quimby, MD

So I will be super honest here – I’m not a fan of most porn. It’s a multibillion-dollar industry that is generally speaking, pretty derogatory toward women.  And because porn is so easily accessible, the majority of adolescents are exposed to it which gives them a false sense of what sex is about.  It paints a picture of the female body that is unrealistic for most of us to achieve without surgery or other significant modifications - even down to pubic hair.  Porn teaches us that pubic hair does not or should not exist when in reality we know this isn’t true.  Porn also teaches that foreplay isn’t really necessary or can be extremely short-lived and that females can orgasm quickly from penetration alone – all facts that we also know aren’t true.

So what is porn good for?  Entertainment in the right setting.  Sexual expression.  For some, it scratches the itch of a fetish.  Some couples use porn to help get them in the mood for sex by watching together – a kind of visual foreplay. 

So yes, there are some benefits of porn – but again, in the right setting. 

I was blown away when I read a recent study on the impact of watching porn on sexual function.   The study followed 100, 000 college age men and women from France.  Participants were asked to complete surveys at several time intervals to collect data on the amount and type of porn they were watching, how often they masturbated, the number of sexual partners they had, relationship status, sexual orientation, sexual satisfaction scores, etc.  Data was collected over the course of a year.

And what the study found was this – not surprisingly, men tended to watch more porn, started watching porn at an earlier age, and prefer hard core over soft core porn. 

But was WAS surprising was that higher frequency of porn use for male participants was associated with lower levels of sexual self-competence, impaired sexual functioning, and decreased partner reported sexual satisfaction.

There are many theories behind this, but most likely this is because of the very issues behind why I’m not a fan of porn – it gives people (here men) an unrealistic idea of what sex is about.  It doesn’t teach them to be good partners and to have satisfying sex. 

But for women on the other hand – the impact of porn was surprisingly positive.  Women with more exposure to porn had higher levels of sexual self-competence, improved sexual functioning, and enhanced partner reported sexual satisfaction. 

It’s almost like women’s brains are able to better distinguish that porn is not reality.  And instead, the visual stimuli of porn allows them to be more connected to the erotic part of their brain.  This in turn boosts libido, allows them enjoy sex more and possibly even encourages them to be more adventurous sexual partners.

I often recommend that for women with low libido, they work on getting in tune with the erotic aspects of their brain.  As clearly proven by this study, porn can actually be a great way to accomplish this. 

But don’t worry – even if after reading this the idea of porn still gives you the creeps – stay tuned next week when we talk about other ways to get in touch with the erotic part of your brain and thereby boost your libido.

See you then!