http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/articles/2008/02/26/1203788310716.html?page=fullpageThe traditional stereotype of a porn user is a dysfunctional middle aged man in a grubby raincoat, but that is being challenged by an unlikely newcomer to the scene, according to a new book on pornography in Australia.
That newcomer, says author Catharine Lumby, is likely to be a woman aged under 35 who lives in the suburbs, votes for a progressive party like the Greens, is in a monogamous relationship with a man and earns slightly more than average.
The book puts to bed a number of myths about who's doing pornography in Australia and what they are watching, looking at, reading and clicking on.
These include the belief that "no sane woman" would look at pornography unless she was forced to by a male partner, Lumby says.
"One of the myths (about pornography) suggests that women aren't consumers but we have very clear evidence that there's a growing proportion of porn consumers who are women,' she says.
"The statistics are so high now that that (that myth) doesn't seem correct."
The book is the result of a three-year study by Lumby and fellow academics Alan McKee and Katherine Albury, who describe it as "the first piece of serious research" carried out on pornography in Australia.
It looks at current trends in pornography consumption and production based on a survey of more than 1,000 Australians.
Lumby says men continue to outnumber women as consumers of pornography - by about four to one - and many women still consider pornography to be wrong.
However, her study and a 2003 report on Sex in Australia suggest that the difference is narrowing.
"Certainly there is evidence in our survey, and the 2003 ... survey indicates, that in the age groups under 40 we are seeing a greater proportion of women consuming X-rated material," she says.
Of the pornography consumers interviewed for The Porn Report, 17 per cent were women and 82 per cent were male (this compared to 90 per cent men in a 1996 survey). Some people did not answer the question.
Fifty-four per cent of consumers were aged 19-35, 77 per cent were heterosexual and 55 per cent were in a monogamous relationship.
Lumby says research indicates that women who consume pornography favour watching DVDs on a laptop in the privacy of their home and also like to watch porn with a partner.
Curiously, the new female porn consumer is more likely than her male counterpart to want to see idealised body types featured in pornography.
"There's strong evidence that for a lot of male consumers it's looking at 'real' looking women that turns them on," Lumby says.
"Interestingly, more women preferred 'fantasy porn', which is the glossy, Penthouse style porn, in which women are more likely to have fake breasts and toned bodies and the men are more likely to be the handsome hunk."
However, women who consume pornography share a "strong aversion" to pornography showing violence, abuse or rape.
"It's definitely fair to say from our survey and when we looked at all the other literature that there's a strong movement against violence or sexual violence," Lumby says.
Women also appear to be taking a lead from socialite Paris Hilton and embracing their inner porn star with DIY porn.
A growing number of women are using the internet to post images and videos of themselves performing sex acts, Lumby says.
She says there are two big drivers for this new interest in pornography by women: feminism and the internet.
The traditional feminist line said that all porn was bad and exploited women. But the new generation of Gen X feminists embraced an aggressive form of sexuality characterised by so-called "raunch culture" and the "Riot Grrrl" movement, an underground feminist punk movement founded in the early 1990s.
This shift championed female sexuality, bringing it into the mainstream and saying it was okay for women to indulge in a taste for porn - as long as it was on their own terms.
Technology has also opened up a new world of pornographic possibility for women, says Lumby.
"It's very clear that what's driven this is technology," she says.
"Technology has made viewing much more domesticated - you can be watching a DVD on your laptop so you can have some privacy.
"And the internet gives people access... it's allowed women, if they are interested, to do it in a comfortable setting, whereas before they had to go into some adult bookshop or a greasy cinema. Understandably a lot of women were repelled by that sort of environment."
The internet also gave women control, which may explain the popularity of DIY, she says.
"A lot of women appearing in pornography are not doing it for commercial gain, they're doing it because they're exhibitionists.
"They make material either by themselves or with partners and put it up on the internet, and there's been a huge growth in that."
Women have also influenced the sort of pornography being produced and used by men, she says.
"What we've seen since the 80s both on a commercial and amateur basis more women are involved in porn production... and those women have had a big ... impact on the ethics and the way pornography is made."
She says women have probably also had a hand in the mainstream backlash against violent and coercive pornography.
"I suspect that this is because of education by feminists and public health professionals and other people concerned about violence against women," she says.
Home
Help
Search
Login
