Part II – Reviews 101: Porn for Women

Reviews 101: Porn For Women

I know it's been awhile since we ran one of our Reviews 101 articles but the last series got so much attention that it seemed like a good time to assign reviewer Don Houston to write up a short bit to help our female readers find porn they might appreciate more than the male-oriented titles most companies seem to focus their efforts on. Surprisingly, he came in with a more comprehensive look of modern porn made by females, for females, that forced us to reevaluate some of the misconceptions foisted upon the public by well meaning but relatively naïve wannabe leaders of the genre. Here's what our professor of porn came up with:
Having been reviewing online for a number of years and watching porn with ladies far longer, I've come to the conclusion that most men are clueless as to the kind of porn that women really appreciate. The flip side of this is that most women in the industry are just as clueless in this regard, given the types of porn they make in the name of providing women-friendly titles. I know these are bold statements to make and I'll do my best to explain my reasoning below, so please keep an open mind and feel free to email me with your comments and concerns after reading my piece.

Okay, at this writing, females make up about 51% of the population and out of over 13,500 porn titles being made each year, you'd think that few of them are buying porn according to industry sources. I've heard all the arguments that porn is a visual medium and men are far more driven by watching others have sex then women but the reality is that this generalization is so lame as to defy all the studies that show lots of women like adult entertainment too. The amusing thing is that there are those who would tell you that not only do few women watch porn, but those that do watch, only watch the lightest of erotica as though they were fragile and couldn't handle the harder types of porn that are increasingly popular these days. Well, all fantasies of knowing what women, as a group, like in their porn aside, my experience is that women are much like men in how they like all sorts of sexual conduct and relegating them to a narrowly driven niche is akin to binding their feet and forcing them into a role that they didn't agree to.

Having interviewed and admired the lovely performer-turned-director Candida Royalle a few years back, I was impressed by the strength of her fortitude at providing a true alternative to the scores of titles that have littered the landscape over the last two decades that she has been directing. Her titles sell consistently over time rather than the initial big sell followed by a trickle as most releases seem to do (and have done for the last three decades). Part of this is because she is willing to address a part of the market that doesn't focus on facial pop shots, picture perfect ladies, and formulaic sex that provides the majority of porn the public has access to. Even Candida admitted that tastes in such things vary greatly among women, with her works catering to a loyal but narrow niche that others have disregarded. As entry level material for women and couples to experiment with though, I have to hand it to her for bringing home the bacon and doing what many of her wannabe peers have been unwilling to do; provide sexual content that doesn't come across as barely modified porn, and giving women a real choice to pick from.

Another woman in the field that has been successful in offering sexual material well worth the time it takes to discover it would be Veronica Hart; a classy lady that started out as a contemporary of Candida and took a different approach to her directing efforts while at VCA. The sex in her movies is more explicit than what you'll find in Candida's movies but also manages to provide some of the best acting you'll find in porn, contrary to those who say it can't be done. A quick look at Love & Bullets, complete with audio commentary, will tell fans that they've hit a vein of gold in terms of porn that couples and women can enjoy as entertainment as well as something to pleasure themselves with; without relying on taming down the sex or losing the story in the process. Veronica also has a number of other excellent titles to her credit but this was one that continues to stand out on my mind as one that I personally observed women getting into as recently as a few months ago (proving it stood the test of time more than most contemporary titles).

The roots of porn made for women now addressed, I have noticed a trend that suggests women can ONLY enjoy such titles, as the harder material is too discomforting, hardcore, or upsetting to the delicate mental state of women. Well, whoever promotes this fantasy must have been living in a cave in Iraq for the last five years because some of the hardest porn available (and not available at all online stores) has been made by women with the idea of dispelling such silly ideas including gals like Nikki Hunter, Mason, Kami Andrews, Kylie Ireland, and the queen of extreme porn herself, Jewel De'Nyle, leading the pack (and until recently, owning a major stake in one of the biggest gonzo production companies in the business). Each of these fine ladies has repeatedly commented that they and many of their friends get off to something different than what most men would tell them they should get off to; and any of you that watch the behind the scenes features or listen to the audio commentaries the ladies have been on will know exactly what they think of those who'd tell them otherwise. Just like with men, they prove that porn is about what works for individuals, not marketing groups so neatly offered up by self proclaimed experts.

Does that mean that there is no place for the kind of Erotica offered up by talented female directors such as Celeste, Skye Blue, or Kelly Holland? Of course not, but the automatic assumption that just because something provides a certain style, certain special effects, or is otherwise considered tame by many regular aficionados of porn means it is female friendly or designed with the majority of women in mind is as offensive as saying that abuse porn is what all men want (we all have individual tastes that vary from day to day; anyone trying to tell you differently probably is trying to sell you on their brand of kink instead of letting you figure out for yourself what you like). As lead female porn reviewer Ravyn puts it; "a lot of titles that are supposed to be for women are BORING and are lacking in romance, sensuality and extra touches that could be better" for women.

So ladies, whatever trips your trigger in the form of adult entertainment (we're talking porn here), don't let the narrow minded people try to sell you a bill of goods as to what you should like and get off to. There are numerous examples of all sorts of porn made for a female audience that don't fall into the neat little categories, some of it made by women and others made by men, though if you appreciate the finer examples of erotica, less explicit sex, and features with some decent production values, there are a few companies you'll want to investigate more thoroughly including Wicked Pictures, Digital Playground, Vivid Entertainment, Adam & Eve, and Ninn Worx. Our reviews are designed to assist you in finding porn that you can appreciate, either by yourself or with a loved one, but keep in mind that each reviewer has their own set of individual tastes and your mileage may vary so read between the lines (especially if a review seems too gushing or full of praise) to find some excellent choices that'll work for you.

Ravyn and Don Houston