The Encyclopedia Of Smut: L Is For Lesbian

When you handle a great deal of heterosexual pornography--as we on the straight side of Fleshbot do--you run into a lot of pictures and videos of women having sexual contact with women. You're probably thinking "Duh" right about now, but hold your duhs for later, because we want to spend some time thinking about the X-rated X-chromosome world of lesbian porn.

What is Lesbian Porn?

This might seem like a silly question, but stick with us here. There is a definite disconnect between lesbian identity and lesbian sex acts depicted in pornography; that is, we call it "lesbian" porn, but the performers are not always lesbians, and in general, this kind of porn occupies a strange territory in the world of adult entertainment. For example, girl-on-girl sexual activity is generally viewed as "less hardcore" than boy-girl sex of any sort, and it's common to see women who are new to the porn industry start off by only having sex with women, whether or not they have sex with women in their personal lives.

Of course, even the most seasoned female pornstar operates with some level of assumed bisexuality: in boy-girl-girl threesomes, you almost always see the girls engage each other, but in girl-boy-boy scenes, you never see two guys makeout while doubly penetrating one gal.

We're not saying we should do away with the term "lesbian porn," or that only pornography starring homosexual women deserves to be called lesbian porn (authenticity is a weird road to walk down), but it's important to recognize that the phrase somewhat loaded. We think girl-on-girl is more accurate than lesbian, but perhaps vagina-on-vagina is the best of all. That way we can include genderqueer performers like Jiz Lee under this umbrella; for example, their scene with Papi Coxxx in "Fuckstyles" was certainly all-vagina, but not lesbian.

[Above: Skin Diamond and Asa Akira get down to some serious smooching in "Girls Kissing Girls 9"]

Why Do Guys Like It?

This question comes up all the time: why is so much vagina-on-vagina erotica aimed at men when it depicts body parts they don't have and situations they're not invited to? Common responses include, "I don't know, it's just hot to watch girls go at it," "You don't have to deal with male pornstars getting in the way of the action," and even, "You can pretend that the girls are really horny and only having sex while they wait for a guy like you to show up."

If you subscribe to the idea that a large part of enjoying pornography is projecting your feelings and desires onto the performers, then this quote from Linda Williams's "Hard Core: Power, Pleasure, and the Frenzy of the Visible" should be illuminating:

If a "lesbian" number is constructed so that one woman gives pleasure to the other, then the woman giving the pleasure typically shows, and often also speaks, her knowledge of what pleases the other. Putting aside for the moment the question of how women might identify with and take pleasure in such action, it certainly seems possible that male viewers can identify with the active woman, with her superior knowledge of how the more passive woman feels. But perhaps we should not rule out less active forms of identification--that is, identification with the passive woman who is given pleasure and abandons herself to the control of the other. Spectatorial pleasure in such scenes may very well involve the ability to identify both ways.

[Above: Chayse Evans chokes Sasha Grey (and Sasha loves it) in "Boundaries 6"]

Our Favorite Performers

If you're looking to watch some vagina-on-vagina porn, allow us to direct you to the following vagina-owners who we think excel at what they do. This list is certainly non-exhaustive, it's just off the dome, and if any performers out there read this and get upset we didn't mention you, we apologize.

· Bobbi Starr and Belladonna - These ladies really get excited by other people who have the same equipment as them, and it shows in their work. They've both recently made films for Evil Angel that showcase their respective passions for the vagina: Bobbi has the non-stop POV wonder known as "Vicarious," and Belladonna has "Sexual Explorer," in which she drives around Los Angeles banging girls she admires.
· Jiz Lee - Just look at the scene above! We love Jiz when they're dominant, we love them when they're submissive, we just generally enjoy watching Jiz having their way with whoever. For real though, when there's a pussy in Jiz's hands, they light up with pervy energy.
· Dylan Ryan - We're not saying we like Dylan's vagina-only scenes more than her straight stuff, not at all. Then again, when we think of Dylan, we start thinking about her going down on Bobbi Starr in "Vicarious," her dominating Madison Young in "Rough Sex 2," and her taking Sovereign Syre's porn virginity in "My Sister Celine." It's just where our brains go.
· Nyomi Banxxx - Nyomi is a spectacular performer across the board, no matter who or what she's doing. Even though it's been a year since we saw "Kimberly Kane's Been Blackmaled," we can still see Nyomi's domination of Lily LaBeau playing in our heads. It's epic.

[Above: Jiz Lee getting pounded by April Flores in "Alpha Femmes"]

Our Favorite Companies

You know, it might actually be easier if we simply steer you in the direction of a few fine producers of vagina-centric cinema:

· Sweetheart Video - We often feature their stuff on Fleshbot so we won't go into too much detail. The short version is this: Nica Noelle knows how to get women together and let them go crazy on each other.
· Triangle Films - This fine purveyor of all-vagina smut is run by two fabulous and adorable women, Kathy and Shoosh. Some of our favorite films come from them, including (but not limited to) "River Rock Women's Prison" and "Intimate Pursuit." Award-winning? You bet they are.
· Girlfriends Films - Their "Women Seeking Women" series has been named AVN's Best All-Girl Series for five years in a now, and "Mother-Daughter Exchange Club 12" was Best Older Woman/Younger Girl Release of 2011! Not only are they talented producers, but they have big hearts as well: they have a charity program through which they donate $1000 to deserving organizations every month!
· Pink & White Productions - They produce the "Crash Pad" movies, a long-running series about "a clandestine San Francisco apartment where a voyeuristic landlord supplies keys to the pad's pleasure-seeking occupants so that she can observe their sexual escapades through hidden cameras." In fact, they just revamped the "Crash Pad" website, so now is the perfect time to check them out.
· Trouble Films - Really, everything Courtney Trouble does is phenomenal. Her work isn't purely vagina-on-vagina--she shoots cis- and transgendered folk, genderqueers, you name it--but we guarantee that she has what you're looking for.

[Above: Nyomi Banxxx and Kelly Divine in another edition of Girlfriends Films' award winning series, "Women Seeking Women 72." All videos courtesy of AEBN Porn Pay Per View Network and Adult Video On Demand (theater.aebn.net)]

[At top: photo by John B. Root (galleries.rebootcash.com)]