I want to thank my good friend Mich for pointing out the above xkcd episode to me and the rant blog post it has inspired. Have you heard of these books? Porn for Women? Are you amused or insulted by them? Honestly, this ranks right up there with the idea that women have a universal mating strategy, which has been revealed in the titles of romance novel (see last week’s Science of Sex for details on that little gem). This series of books seems to imply that women are only aroused by attractive, clean cut men doing housework, changing diapers, etc. In other words, doing the house work many women do day in and day out. We don’t get off on imagery of people actually engaged in sex acts, and god forbid we’d ever actually want to look at a naked man.
It’s these kinds of stereotypes that aggravate the hell out of me. I know from long experience that I am a visual creature, and I respond strongly to erotic and sexually explicit images. My preference, being heterosexual female, is for images of nude males, and I don’t think I’m the only one. Unfortunately, the rest of the world hasn’t caught up with the idea that hetero women might want to look at pictures of actual penises, and of course the rest of the male bodies that go with them.
However, there has been some research lately that showed women’s brains responded just as strongly as men’s brains to erotic imagery. And another study funded by the Center for Behavioral Neuroscience in Atlanta has shown that men and women look at sexually explicit photos differently, but not in the way researchers might have predicted. Men were more likely to look at faces first, while women (depending on their hormonal state) focused more on genitals or contextual elements of the photographs.
Imagine that. Women might actually look at images of genitals before looking at anything else in a picture. It’s a crazy concept that’s right up there with the radical idea that women might actually want to see images of men on the covers of erotica books. Kind of blows certain stereotypes about women right out of the water, doesn’t it?
There’s even more discussion on the topic of women who watch porn here – http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/personal/07/24/o.women.watching.porn/. Take a look and tell me what you think. Oh, and if you’re looking for some sexually explicit imagery with male nudes to enjoy, I can provide that too. (Just scroll down to the “pin-ups” section of my art gallery.)
[New Post] The Science of Sex – Porn for Women? – via @twitoaster http://www.cynicalwoman.com/2010/03/26/t…
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I’ve never thought it was biological, just cultural – “Ladies” aren’t supposed to look at such things and unlike “Gentlemen” it wasn’t understood that they would want to anyway.
The laugh is that you’re proabably more interested in visual porn than I am – I get off on the written word much more.
I say – if a lady wants to look at naked, erect penises, why shouldn’t she?
Steve,
In my opinion, it’s not just biological or cultural, it’s personal. No two people are ever really going to want the same thing when it comes to sex. Yes, to a certain extent we can make generalizations because we all belong to the same species, but even so, no two brains are alike, and so no two sexual preferences can really be alike either.
I get annoyed when people assume that because I’m female I want/need/can do/can’t do/should do/shouldn’t do certain things. I defy most stereotypes about females that I know of, and yet I still identify as female. Go figure!
Oh, BTW, I will take my porn either visual or written, just so long as it’s good 😉
Helen
I got annoyed at The Science of Desire when nowhere in the entire book did they ever just ask women what turned them on. Hello? I guess that’s because women can’t be trusted to answer truthfully or are too stupid to know. That’s as bad as this one guy who told me that his wife didn’t know she was turned on until HE told her that she was wet. Talk about a guy absolutely stripping his wife of her sexuality. I told him I knew damn well when I was aroused by something. He hinted that it was because I was sexually deviant and maybe even touched my own lady bits to see if they were damp. At first, I thought he was some old guy who missed the sexual revolution, but it turned out that he was mid-40s and just that stupid. And probably a researcher. Of women’s sexuality.
Kathleen,
I’ve not read that book, and don’t think I want to now! LOL! How ridiculous, to assume a woman wouldn’t know when she’s turned on. Like men have any idea about that sort of thing.
And for the record, I don’t consider being “wet” a sure indicator of arousal. The body may respond, but arousal must also occur in the mind. If the two aren’t in synch, you got nada.