research: watching porn is actually good for women and bad for men

Pornography is a male-dominated industry that primarily targets male audiences. Scenes in movies often focus on men's pleasure and depict women as objects of male lust and desire.

That makes a new finding somewhat ironic. According to a large study conducted over three years by Nicolas Sommet, a senior researcher at the LIVES Centre of the University of Lausanne, and Jacques Berent, a researcher and lecturer in social psychology at the University of Geneva, pornography leads to decreased sexual performance for men and increased sexual performance for women.

Reviewing the data, the researchers found that the more men reported watching pornography (on a vague, eight-point scale from “never” to “very often”), the lower they rated their sexual competence and their sexual functioning, as determined by factors like desire, arousal, and ability to reach orgasm. In addition, their female partners also reported decreased sexual satisfaction as men's porn use increased.

The situation was markedly reversed for women. Women who watched more pornography reported greater sexual competence and functioning compared to women who watched less.

There are a few explanations for these contrasting effects:

• For starters men actually compare themselves with the actors shown in the movies and women don't.
• Men and women may be watching different types of pornography; prior research suggested that men actually watch hardcore and fetish-related porn, whereas women watch more soft-porn and women friendly (porna) movies.
• Men also tend to watch porn more often than women; 'very often' for men could mean every day, while for women it might mean watching pornography one or two times a week.
• And at last, society tends to encourage teen boys and young men to explore their sexuality and have many sexual relationships whereas women are expected to act indifferent towards men in relation to sex. For women porn could help break these taboos, raising their self-confidence and teaching them to prioritise their own sexual pleasure.