Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Revealing your porn-watching habits to your friends is like telling them your latest sex-capade: it’s either an immediate label of a freak in the sheets or they will confess that they, too, enjoy watching porn. Women seem to get a different reaction from other women when discussing porn, whereas among men it seems to be common knowledge. People joke about the fact that women watch porn in the same way younger men like to deny the fact that women do normal bodily functions such as poop, fart and burp. Believe it or not, women watch porn — it is not as taboo as many might believe. Although many of us are probably too shy to admit it, it’s no big secret. An article by Daily Infographic titled, “The Stats on Internet Pornography,” states that one in every three viewers of porn are women. Men might find this shocking, and some women may feel ashamed, but porn isn’t just for men anymore.

According to the article, “What Women Want,” a survey produced by the collaborative efforts of BuzzFeed and Pornhub, the top four categories of porn most commonly viewed by women on Pornhub are Lesbian, Gay (male), Teen and For Women. Men and women watch porn for primarily the same reasons: the thirst. However, for women, porn can be a fantasy — living vicariously through others — as well as an educational guide to better sex. Fourth-year student Karen Huynh stresses the meaning behind the word “fantasy.” “Just because I search ‘Mom teaches daughter a lesson,’” Karen explains, “does not mean I want to have sex with one of my family members.”

Porn can satisfy one’s curiosity in terms of body exploration and it can also be a great resource for learning a new trick or two. However, it is important to remember that porn scenes are as real as reality television and as artificial as breast implants: Porn won’t make you an expert in all things sex related. Don’t expect what you see online to be a preview of what really goes on under the covers.

Based on the statistics in the survey, a majority of women would much rather watch two women or two men engage in sexual activity then a woman and a man. The article “14 Things You Might Not Know About How Women Watch Porn” explains that the recent addition of the category of porn “For Women” involves erotic, sensual sex scenes, which strongly differ from the traditional rough sex that is typically affiliated with porn. Instead of hearing the sounds of the grizzly grunting of a man and the high shrieks of a damsel in distress, For Women and Lesbian porn focuses around the pleasuring of the two partners. Perhaps women prefer lesbian porn because of the emotional connection established between the two partners. Such feelings are often invisible or nonexistent in popular categories of porn.

Something else to consider is the fact that a majority of women cannot orgasm from vaginal penetration alone. Therefore, in order to get off it makes sense for women to want to view other types of sex, or sexual stimulation. In the top categories of porn viewed by men, the man is always the center of attention, as if it is the woman’s job to pleasure him, instead of it being a reciprocated action. Fair is fair — if you go down on your partner, he or she may expect the same in return.

How often do you watch porn online in comparison to the time you spend on Instagram, and when is the best time to watch porn? Perhaps on a Friday night, after your final class, when it is time to say goodbye to those textbooks and hello to your comfy pajamas. My favorite form of therapy: after a long week of stressful classes, tons of homework and maybe two all-nighters of binge-watching my favorite show on Netflix; it is almost as addictive as chocolate. (I bet you thought I was going to say binge-watching porn.)

The question you are all probably wondering is whether or not I consider porn to be one of my guilty pleasures. But the epic romance between Elena and Damon on “Vampire Diaries” or the drama on the latest episode of “Revenge” may come first before the most-viewed video on Pornhub for the day. However, porn and Prince Charming kind of go hand-in-hand. It is all about the romantic and erotic chemistry being created between the two steamy, hot characters. At the end of the day we all want a bit of fantasy in our lives.