Here's a pornographic number for you.

427.

Phwaaaarrr !

here's another one.

Melbourne, Victoria, Oz has a population of approx 3 million.

1 mil women; 1 mil men; and 1 mil under 16.

It also has 60,000 prostitutes.

That is; 6 % of the women are prostitutes.

Women watch porn to please men?

I just stumbled across yet another argument to add to my "feminism and porn" files. (There isn't a file cabinet large enough, let me tell you!) Today, the Sydney Morning Herald ran an article with the headline "Why women hate porn," but, curiously, the lead paragraph explains that a recent study found an increasing number of women actually like porn. It seems the article's actual aim is to explain what the hell is up with these libidinous ladies who challenge what we think we know about women and their hatred of pornography.
The key theory mentioned in the article is that this growing interest is a "by-product of the rise of porn star as the new 'it' female profession." If it were truly the new "it" female profession, Paris Hilton would have dropped her career as a jet-setting socialite the second her wildly popular sex tape was leaked, and prime-time TV would consist of "America's Next Top Porn Star" and "So You Think You Can Screw." There's no denying that we live in a "pornographied" culture, but holy hysterical hyperbole!
To add to its X-rated exegesis, the Herald quotes Pamela Paul, the author of "Pornified: How Porn Is Ruining Our Lives, Our Relationships and Our Family." She writes, "Popular culture promotes the wild fun and whimsy of the girl who loves pornography." In the context of the Herald piece, the suggestion is that women with a predilection for pornography do not actually experience sexual satisfaction from watching it, but rather from attracting men by announcing that they are one of those X-rated "wild fun" girls. In other words: Women's porn-watching is a sexual performance, the equivalent of a faked operatic orgasm.
Is it really so difficult -- or frightening -- to consider that women watch pornography because it turns them on? So often, the explanation offered for why women enjoy triple-X fare (as if an explanation is needed in the first place) is that it's the equivalent of a strip tease -- something that turns her on only because it turns him on. This view of female sexuality as performance is in line with the mainstream view that, when it comes to a woman who watches porn (or, say, has sex with other women), it's only hot if she does it to excite men.
The Herald piece ends with another common pronouncement about porn: Most women don't enjoy it because "what we need is more foreplay, more romance, more kissing after sex and more (gasp!) story line ... now wouldn't that be porn that women would want to see ..." Am I the only woman who is sick of and offended by the assumption that women require porn with a story line, an X-rated take on a Lifetime movie of the week?
― Tracy Clark-Flory

http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/2008/07/01/porn/

Porn: It's Not Just for Men Anymore

Some people think men have far more interest in pornography than women do. While a strong case could be made for that position many years ago, the situation now appears to be different.

In her book Defending Pornography, American Civil Liberties Union president Nadine Strossen writes: "The fact that many women find much that excites or otherwise pleases them in commercial erotica is indicated by their large and growing share of the burgeoning market for such imagery. Women, either singly or as part of a couple, constitute more than 40 percent of the adult videotape rental audience. . . ." That percentage works out to over 160 million videotapes annually.

Strossen’s view is also supported by a 1987 survey of 26,000 female readers of Redbook, a women's magazine. In this study conducted by social scientists Carin Rubinstein and Carol Tavris, almost half the respondents said they regularly watch pornographic films.

Research by Columbia University anthropologist Carol Vance led her to formulate "Vance’s One-Third Rule" to describe women’s varying tastes in pornography. "Show any personally favored erotic image to a group of women," she explains, "and one-third will find it disgusting, one-third will find it ridiculous, and one-third will find it hot."

Author Sallie Tisdale gives further details about the unpredictability of women's tastes concerning pornography. "The surprise is how many . . . women prefer the old hard-core films," she reports. As for her own predilections, "Any amateur psychologist could have a field day explaining why I prefer low-brow, hard-core porn to feminine erotica."

The growing female market for erotica is a reason that an increasing number of women writers, filmmakers, and magazine editors are producing sexually explicit materials. Much of the product is aimed at a female audience.

Many of the producers consider this work to be a means of educating women about their bodies and teaching them techniques for enhancing sexual pleasure. For example, Mariana Beck co-publishes Libido: The Journal of Sex & Sensibility. She estimates the publication’s female readership at 40 percent, and says "we’re . . . depicting sex as not just something that men engage in actively while the woman somehow endures. . . ."

Linda Williams, a professor of film studies at the University of California at Berkeley, approves of similar work being done in the adult film industry. "As a feminist . . . I admire the female empowerment of the new couples' pornography as well as the woman-centered adventurousness and play of lesbian pornography. Yet personally I find both of these pornographies boring and gay male porn exciting. I won't even begin to speculate why."

Strossen notes that pornography often challenges stereotypic and constricting ideas about women's sexuality: "Many sexual materials defy traditional stereotypes of . . . women . . . by depicting females as voluntarily, joyfully participating in sexual encounters with men." Undoubtedly, this a reason why some traditionalists are so disturbed by pornography and would ban it if they could.

But civil libertarians such a Strossen view the trends as positive not only for women’s sexual fulfillment but for women’s rights generally. They know that throughout history, suppression of women's sexuality was accompanied by suppression of their other rights to equality.

And they are aware that the same problem continues today, as shown by international comparisons. Countries that ban sexually explicit materials have some of the highest levels of discrimination and violence against women. Examples include Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and China. The plight of women in those nations is deplorable.

On the other hand, nations allowing the availability of erotica have some of the lowest rates of violence against women. This is true in places such as Denmark, Sweden, Germany, and Japan.

Other research likewise shows no consistent correlation between the availability of sexually explicit materials and rates of violence and discrimination against women. In fact, the evidence often indicates an inverse relationship.

Further, many years ago sexologist Alfred Kinsey found a positive correlation between female sexual expression and women's intellectual or creative development. As former Kinsey Institute researcher William Simon said: "The women who manage to escape devoting their energies to repression seem to be the ones who have the most energy left for mental activities, and who also enjoy the most active sex lives."

No wonder Philip D. Harvey writes: "Those with active and healthy sex lives are likely to be more productive as a result rather than less so." And increased productivity promotes women's rights and opportunities for advancement in the workplace.

The large amount of energy needed for sexual repression is also likely a reason why puritanical crusaders are often fixated on sexual matters and show little interest in many extremely serious societal problems. They apparently have little energy left over for focusing on real problems.

As always, freedom and civil rights produce far better results for both men and women than censorship, paternalism, and sexism..

http://www.humanismbyjoe.com/Women_&_Porn.htm

Women who love to watch porn

by LISA SCOTT - Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Porn once meant a magazine under a mattress or videos passed between schoolboys.
Now, all you need is a computer and a credit card to view your ultimate fantasy in seconds.
As a result, increasing numbers of men admit they are compulsive users – and that their girlfriends are disgusted with their addiction.
But a new book, One For The Girls!, by Clarissa Smith, senior lecturer in media and cultural studies at the University of Sunderland, claims that not all women are repelled by porn.
In fact, it's the opposite; women, says Smith, are new consumers. 'In the past, we had access issues but today there are many more women-friendly sex shops that cater to all tastes,' she says. 'Before, we would never go to the newsagent and reach for the top shelf.'
Of course, Smith also acknowledges that today's women are a different breed:
'We have higher expectations of what we're entitled to and know that an orgasm is our right; we don't just have sex with our husband to keep him happy. We have sexual feelings and want to find means of having them.'
Members' clubs
But are women really sitting at home watching porn on their laptops and TVs?
According to analysts Nielsen NetRatings, they are. A 2006 survey found the number of women downloading Internet porn had soared to 1.4million.
A quick search on Google reveals numerous porn sites aimed at women. One offers images of 'hot men', horoscopes and romantic stories. Hardly hardcore.
But scroll down the page and you'll find a huge photo gallery of naked – and aroused – men.
Simply a visual aid
Julia, 31, from East London, admits she has recently started viewing porn: 'I bought some DVDs to watch with my boyfriend but I have started to watch them on my own.
I only do it if my flatmate is out; I'd be really embarrassed if she knew what was going on in my bedroom.
To me, they're simply a visual aid and no reflection of my sex life or my relationship.'
In Smith's book, which focuses on an erotic magazine, For Women, one woman, Jane, finds porn helps get her in the mood for her weekend:
'I often use the magazine as a turn-on for masturbation or as a prelude for sex. Sometimes, before going out for an evening, I'll look through some mags until I become excited, which can often leave me sexually aroused for hours. If my date does not go as planned, I still have them when I get home.'
Kelly, 26, from Brighton, also needs help to get in the mood:
'Most men can get an erection pretty quickly while women prefer to be seduced, romanced and, if we're lucky, even get a bit of foreplay. A quickie is good every now and again but I like to be turned on first. Porn sometimes helps.'
Anna Span, 35, is a porn director from London and has films such as Hoxton Honey and Eat Me/Keep Me under her belt.
She says that women have always had an interest in porn: 'The fact that we were so enraged about it in the first place was indicative of a certain desire for it.
I was anti-porn but then realised my anger was jealousy.
Men's sexuality was being catered for and ours wasn't.'
Porn with a plot
But regardless of desire, Span says women still expect a certain quality: 'My films are different because they feature good-looking men and I spend a lot of time auditioning for them. I use good styling and good casting. Some of the films are like soap operas because women like to hear about other people's lives.
I mix fantasy with reality and don't market my films by body type, such as “big tits”, simply because women are less likely to think like that.'
So we know what we like and don't like but is society ready for us? Probably not, says Smith: 'Women who admit to enjoying porn do feel guilty about enjoying sex without the love and romance and do worry that they're sluts.
They think they shouldn't be enjoying it so, on that basis, we still have a long way to go.' In the meantime, there's no harm in looking…
Anna Span: www.easyote.co.uk One For The Girls! The Pleasures And Practices Of Reading Women's Porn by Clarissa Smith (Intellect, £29.95)

http://www.metro.co.uk/metrosexual/a...1&in_page_id=8

""That is; 6 % of the women are prostitutes.""

that is the ones that admit it

not many wimin are charity whores and not many give their ({}) favours without some sort of price tag implicit or explicit i cash or kind

that is to say they favour the highest bidder

maybe this is why porn is a shooting star growth industy

virtual sex is not so expensive than the real thing

and virtual whores don't sue for alimony and other peonage dues in stacked Courts

Pornography: a lucrative feminist industry found, in abundance, in all Great Matriarchies.



Once again we see Whore Central, the United States of Femerica, leading the way.

That is; 6 % of the women are prostitutes.

Very interesting. Of course we all know that whoredom is the natural state of woman (a phrase which gives truth to Dick Masterson's "every woman is a cheating whore"). The potential is there, and the feminist/women's movement has always aimed to allow it expression.

The fact that a large percentage of Western woman are prostitutes in the conventional sense (and operate legally thanks to feminist legal reform and the UN) really does send it home though.

virtual sex is not so expensive than the real thing

It's still a feminist industry and function of Matriarchy, though, don't forget it!

In the huge list of Stats feckless provides, it is not specifically pointed out that all this porn has women as central.

Not 'abstract' women, but real, live ones all doing everything under the sun, for money.

Every 39 minutes: a new pornographic video is being created in the United States

Starring at least one woman; usually a bevy of them.

It isn't one woman making a killing, cornering the market. It is THOUSANDS of women, all being paid from that pool of "Every second - $3,075.64 ".

And why? Is it just the money?

Or is it more to do with women's propensity to 'display'; to be exhibishionistic?

As the woman said: "I was anti-porn but then realised my anger was jealousy."


But..... blame men, of course.

Well there's the supply...and a demand. You can't blame it all on one side or the other alone...generally, it's women providing the supply, and men supplying the demand. I wouldn't call it a "feminist industry"...most feminists are against porn. Most feminists, as most women, don't want their babies to grow up to be pole dancers, strippers, or porn actresses/actors. Neither would most men.

If either side stopped dead in their tracks - the other side would have no option but to stop (or break the law in a big way)...

Marx,

True...but what are the chances of that? And besides, if it were outlawed, it would just go underground, it wouldn't be gone. As long as money makes the world go round, there will be some people who would do just about anything for it.

Yep, I totoally agree. And for this point in time, I'm rather glad it's legal.

Well there's the supply...and a demand. You can't blame it all on one side or the other alone

Of course. But that doesn't stop women in general and feminists in particular from blaming one side only. And that is what my objection is.

Well there's the supply...and a demand.

Supply creates demand, how many times does this have to be said.

Feminism moves prostitution and pornography from the sidelines to epidemic omnipresence.