Maybe you’re new to the world of self-pleasure. Or perhaps your imagination just isn’t cutting it anymore. Regardless of the reason for your abstinence from it, we’re here to help guide you through the world of pornography – for women. 

It’s not just for men…
When you think of porn, your mind might go straight to pervy guys passing around a phone flashing images of women in degrading positions. The reality of porn consumption, however, transcends a single demographic. According to the American Psychological Association, a majority of women report that they consume porn. But what exactly are they watching?

While porn in its typical modern form – online videos of sexual acts – is certainly a development of the past couple of decades, pornography, or “the depiction of erotic behavior (as in pictures or writing) intended to cause sexual excitement,” can be traced back to ancient civilizations, where art depicted oral sex, threesomes, and much, much, more. During the eighteenth century, pornography evolved to include written works and printed images, with the first full-length English pornographic novel being published in 1748. The rest is history. 

Choose your own (porn) adventure
Since evolving from the Ancient Greeks’ frescos of fellatio, three dominant forms of media have emerged, with a few innovations in the past decade. 

• Visual pornography: What might be thought of as “classic” porn. Think sites such as PornHub. Typically accessed through websites solely dedicated to explicit videos. Includes explicit pictures. 
• Written pornography: Although it’s often poked fun at (see 50 Shades of Grey), written porn continues to be a preferred medium for many women, ranging from full-length novels to “imagines” featuring your favorite fictional crush.
• Audio pornography: The newcomer to the world of porn. With creators such as Brittany Broski exploring the world of “boyfriend ASMRs” and the rise of “whimper audios,” has recently gone mainstream. This is porn you can oh-so-subtly listen to, whether on your commute to work or from the safety of your bed. 

Now, let’s cover what each medium brings to the table. 

Visual pornography
Pros: We’re hardwired to respond to visual stimuli, so this form may help you feel extra turned-on. There’s tons out there. If you’re not great at bringing scenes to life in your head, this form will leave little to the imagination.

Cons: The bulk of visual porn is made by men and for men. It’s come under much greater scrutiny for degrading portrayals of women, people of color, and other marginalized groups. Video porn has also come with a slew of controversies surrounding ethicality, with issues of revenge porn being posted to sites and abusive industry practices. Logging onto a site such as PornHub isn’t exactly beginner-friendly either, with pop-up ads galore and “barely-18” splayed across the homepage. 

Where to find it: Not all porn is created equal. Since the increasing backlash against sites such as PornHub and XVideos, more and more sites targeting female audiences have emerged. Some options include Bellesa, For Her Tube, and PornHub’s for women category.

Written pornography
Pros: You’ll be hard pressed to find the male gaze in the so-called “smut” genre. If sexual tension, foreplay, and story-building heighten your arousal, the written world is the place to get your fix. You can fall in love with a new character, or imagine yourself with a favorite fictional character (or celebrity). There’s a bountiful community of women on social media who happily post their favorite works – and often write some themselves.

Cons: Phrases like “throbbing member/core” and “glistening orbs” can be a major turn-off. As many fantastic fics there’ve been written there’s also been plenty of…*questionable* ones. Tropes can be hackneyed, and there’s a serious lack of published sapphic smut. 

Where to find it: Maybe you’re bold enough to tote around a copy of Icebreaker or Twisted Love, or maybe you’re sticking to the privacy of an incognito tag. Smut can be found at your local bookstore, or on platforms like Wattpad, Archive of Our Own (AO3), Fanfiction.net, Tumblr, and even TikTok. AO3 has developed a fanbase of its own thanks to its seemingly endless tags which can be used to find *exactly* what you’re looking for. And fanfiction sites are always free of charge. 

Audio pornography
Pros: Maybe you love dialogue. Or deep voices. Or accents. Or praise. Or hearing that your partner is really enjoying themselves. Audio porn focuses on developing a full sensory experience, often with substantial story-telling. Many creators are true professionals, will take requests, and the genre raises fewer ethical concerns, as revenge porn appears less and content is typically an entirely solo production.

Cons: Because of the novelty and solo nature of the form, a lot of audio porn is pay-to-play – literally. The major app for the industry, Quinn, requires a $4.99 monthly subscription to listen to any content, and creators of the app often use Patreon to lock down their content to paying customers. Unlike the first two forms, there’s also less audio porn out there.

Where to find it: As previously mentioned, the leading app is Quinn, created by women for women, but if you’re not willing or able to pay the subscription, other sites such as Tumblr, r/gonewildaudio, Youtube, and X (formerly known as Twitter) have a host of audio content, although often with a lower production quality. 

Some final considerations for your journey

• Your porn preferences do not necessarily indicate your IRL desires – and vice versa. Many straight women exclusively consume lesbian porn, often citing its centering of female pleasure. You may enjoy porn with a certain kink that you have zero interest in acting out in your own relationships, and that’s totally okay. BTW, porn can be a safe, risk-free way to explore potential kinks.
• Understand your own triggers. It can be difficult to prevent seeing potentially triggering content when using sites such as PornHub, which are less customizable, often free, and rarely women-centered. If you have had experiences with sexual assault, grooming, or other traumas and may be triggerred by seeing these events protrayed in porn, consider sites such as AO3 which allow you to further customize your viewing experiences. 
• Don’t be afraid to start conversations about porn with close friends (or a partner!) Exploring any aspect of your sexuality for the first time can be daunting, so it can be helpful to start conversations with friends about if they consume porn, and if they’re comfortable, what they watch or where they find content. Also, it can be fun to explore with a partner. 

Happy watching, reading, listening, scrolling ;)