Does ‘female-friendly’ porn exist?

“Female-friendly” pornography is a term that I have trouble both accepting and finding. I’m sure many Out Front readers can relate to the unbelievable let–down of what websites describe as female-friendly porn.

Size 2 models unrealistically using their oversized fingernails and faking orgasms aren’t exactly tailoring to the female audience. In fact, even when you peruse through the lesbian category, it’s just hundreds of these kinds of scenes.

The idea of “female–friendly” or lesbian porn has lately been under serious scrutiny. Davey Wavey, the YouTube video blogger responsible for “What Gay Guys Think About Vaginas,” recently released a new video entitled “REAL Lesbians React to Lesbian Porn.” Wavey portrays that there is no such thing as lesbian porn – it’s actually for straight men.

Throughout the video, the women are increasingly disgusted with the pornographic scenes and often called them out for seeming fake. One of the women remarks, “Mistake number one when making lesbian porn: Don’t use straight girls that have fake nails.”

This is the ugly truth we face on a daily basis searching for Internet porn. Videos found on fan favorites like Youporn and Pornhub are more commonly than not directed at heterosexual males.

I know that I’m in good company searching for real “female-friendly” porn. This alone leaves me with so many questions. Why the need for the fakeness in the videos? Where is the real lesbian porn?

I am reminded of a conversation about female–friendly porn with a friend a few months ago. She scoffed and said, sarcastically, “What? Porn isn’t friendly to females?”

She agreed that most lesbian porn on the market lacks a certain sense of authenticity. She told me she isn’t typically looking for the “Barbie types.” Rather, she prefers “people who look authentic and flawed.”

After discussing fake boobs and fingernails that curled two inches out, we found ourselves circling back to the main idea that all porn is aimed at men. My friend pointed out, “women – particularly women who love women – are aware of what is made and marketed for men,” and that “lesbian porn is usually made and marketed for men, or the commodified male sexuality.”

While my friend and I have come to a consensus, the question remains: why is the targeted audience for this specific type of porn men?

After endless Internet searches and conversations with both straight and gay male friends, one simple answer may lie within the male brain, or as one friend put it: “Men are more visual than women, no matter how or which way you spin it.”

Men have 20 times more testosterone in the brain and body than women, and some studies have suggested that testosterone, which some studies have suggested is strongly linked to a more visual component of erotic stimulation. The marketing departments for porn industries are cashing in using the visual stimuli of girl-on-girl porn.

While it may be hard for us to find visually–stimulating porn for us girls now, times are slowly starting to evolve. Websites like Girls Out West demonstrate that women can be just as visual as the boys. And then there are sites like Refinery 29 with their “Tasteful Guide to a Sexy Time,” with dozens of options of porn for women.

The porn industry may be male-dominated and targeted for the time being, but just keep at it, ladies. Female-friendly porn is headed our way.