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Porn for women entering a new phase?Perhaps the rash of wailing over the so-called “narrowness” of porn for women as it exists at the moment means that we’re heading into phase 2 – diversification. Let’s assume that the last 5 years or so have been all about trailblazing, or laying the groundwork. It’s been a long slow process of trying to explain a. That women actually liked porn to begin with, and b. That they wanted something a bit different to what was currently on offer So, in that process of trying to explain that women didn’t necessarily want exactly the same stuff as men, a set of “rules” came about – the “soft focus, more romantic” thing. Since about February last year, when the idea of “porn for women” hit the mainstream media and the Netratings survey became widely known, there’s been a scramble to try and cash in on this “new” market, particularly within the adult film industry - which up until recently didn’t really acknowledge women except for their dreary “couples” movies. The film people have leapt onto the “soft” idea and have run with it. This has in turn got some women’s back up. What I’m thinking now is that this shows that the women’s market is maturing, and that now instead of one monolithic “porn for women” concept, it’s time to diversify into niches, and cater to individual women’s tastes. Essentially, we may be about to see a replication (at least with websites) of the diversity we see in men’s porn. So, perhaps in the future we’ll see BDSM sites for women, “teen 18+” naked men sites, reality sites, and of course the cute, romantic stuff. Up until now, “for women” has been considered only a tiny niche within the larger porn market. I can see it opening up to cater to all the different tastes that women enjoy. The big factor will of course not be content, but the acknowledgement that it’s women who are doing the looking and the buying. The “purple dollar” is significant, much in the same way that the “pink” (gay) dollar is now much coveted by advertisers. As more and more women start to enjoy the freedom offered by internet porn, so the content on offer will diversify. So the “you’re too stereotypical” brigade should relax a bit. Yes, women are diverse, and in the future you’ll see more diverse porn for women. It’s taking a bit of time, but it’s getting there. Posted: Tuesday 25th January 2005, 11:54 PM Back to the Blog
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