Ms Naughty Porn for Women Blog

I remember when I stopped reading Cosmopolitan in my first year of university. It was one of the best things I ever did. The endless fashion, diets and super-skinny models always left me feeling bad about myself so I decided that it would be best if I just disengaged from that aspect of “women’s culture.”

It’s 20 years on and Cosmo hasn’t changed. Still, it’s a hugely popular magazine that many women do enjoy and when they come up with a sex survey, I can’t help but be a little curious. If you can get past the very first question which reveals that absolutely none of the respondents identified as gay, there’s some interesting titbits in there.

Naturally I leapt on this statistic:

Have you ever watched porn?
37% said yes, I love it
23% said yes, but only with a boyfriend
15% said yes, once – but I didn’t like it
14% said no, but I’d be open to it
8% said no, I hate the idea.
3% said no, because it’s exploitative

That’s statistically larger than a lot of other surveys suggest. The average figure seems to be 30% (a la Nielsen Netratings) but UK Cosmo women are keener on their porn – whether enjoying it by themselves or using it as a tool within their sexual relationship. That’s 60% right there. Add the other 14% who didn’t have a problem with the idea and you’re pretty much saying that 75% of Cosmo readers are OK with porn. Quite the impressive statistic.

Also, I think I’ll gloat a bit that not a lot of Cosmo chicks are into Dworkinesque anti-porn feminism – a measly 3%. Seems the Stop Porn Coalition have a long way to go to win over your average woman into their “all porn is bad” campaign.

OK, so this was an online self-selected survey done by a commercial women’s magazine. The page doesn’t say exactly how many women did the survey (beyond “thousands”) or what the demographics were, so it’s not the most scientific bit of research out there. Nonetheless, if we consider the sheer numbers of women who do read Cosmopolitan, it certainly suggests that more and more women are openly enjoying porn.

Just to give an idea of some of the other trends, based on what was most popular:
Your average Cosmo woman has sex 2-3 times a week in the missionary position, doesn’t have an orgasm as often as she would like and rarely has an orgasm from penetrative sex alone (oral sex or manual stimulation is better). She will still fake orgasms occasionally, will rarely have sex on the first date and prefers men who make her laugh.

This is too amusing to not blog about: figures from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research show that more assaults, thefts and sexual assaults occurred in churches than in adult entertainment premises in Australia in 2008.

A breakdown of the figures showed that 85 people were assaulted in places of worship, compared to 66 at an adult entertainment premises.

According to the report, places of worship include churches, synagogues, monasteries, mosques, convents, cathedrals and chapels.

Premises listed under adult entertainment included strip clubs, sex shops, brothels, massage parlours, homosexual clubs, gaming houses as well as gambling clubs.

Places of worship were also ahead on sexual offences (16), theft from motor vehicles (33), resisting arrest (7) and liquor offences (10).

Harassment and threatening behaviour at places of worship (30) was more than double that of adult entertainment (13).

Funnier still, 20 people were charged with possession of marijuana in a church in 2007.

I’m looking at these figures and wonder whether our current laws have it right after all; you can’t have a strip club within 500m of a church. Maybe because it’s so dangerous in them thar churches and may cause offense to strip club patrons.

Women are watching more porn than ever. At least, that’s the conclusion if you read The Sun’s latest survey (and I will admit, The Sun must be taken far less seriously than other newspapers).

Around 76 per cent of women now admit* to using porn – a ten per cent rise on the two-thirds of girls who admitted to watching porn with their partners in a survey last year.

The most popular format is online porn, which is watched by 61 per cent of couples. Just one couple in 20 looks at magazines, while 18 per cent get their kicks watching porn DVDs on the telly.

The survey of 4,200 women also revealed four in five women like to dress up for their other halves and indulge in role play.

The most popular outfit is a French maid, used by 42 per cent, followed by nurses, chosen by a quarter of women.

The survey was actually by a site called Netmums which gives you an idea of the demographics. Apparently women have a lot less time and energy for sex at the moment but they’re putting more effort into it when they get the chance.

* I hate how newspaper use the word “admit” like porn use is a crime. It casts the whole thing into a negative light. Thankfully the article includes interviews with (and photos of) three typical porn-loving women. This is a really positive thing to include because it shows that women who like a bit of porn are just everyday, normal chicks who want to enjoy their sex lives using whatever tools are available to them.

Thanks to Ell I’ve been reading an amazing article at Libertus called Statistics Laundering: False and Fantastic Figures. It carefully and comprehensively dismantles the myth of an “explosion” of child porn on the internet.

Essentially, it’s saying that the vast majority of child porn statistics quoted in the media and elsewhere are either inaccurate, wildly exaggerated or simply made up. The author has taken the standard figures quoted by politicians and drilled down to find the original source of the statistics. In far too many cases, the statistics are just plain wrong.

“it is estimated that 100,000 commercial websites offer child pornography”
This 100,000 number originated in 2000 and has often been attributed to “Canadian Police”. However, in April 2005 the officer-in-charge of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s National Child Exploitation Coordination Center said it is not their estimate and that they obtained it from a January 2002 magazine article which attributed the 100,000 number to the U.S. Bureau of Customs. Further, the alleged U.S. Custom’s estimate did not include the words “commercial” or “offer”. Considerably more recent estimates/statistics (2007-2008) place the number of commercial websites between 150 and 2,204, most of which remain ‘live’ for less than 50 days.

“child pornography is one of the fastest growing online businesses generating approximately $US3 billion ($3.43 billion) each year”
This ‘$US3 billion’ figure has no credibility and even if it had credibility in 2008, then it could be regarded as ‘good news’ because it would mean (based on previously promulgated ’statistics’) that there had been no increase at all in the five years to 2008, therefore ‘child pornography’ could not be “one of the fastest growing online businesses”. The ‘$US3 billion’ figure has been promulgated far and wide since at least mid 2003, when Jerry Ropelato, a Utah-based anti-pornography crusader and content filtering software promoter, commenced publishing it on his web site InternetFilterReview.com, without citing a source for that or many of the other scary numbers he promulgates.

It’s quite a shocking thing to read, especially when you consider that child abuse and child porn are the premiere cause of sex panics in Western society.

Now let me say that, in posting about this, I am not for a minute saying that child porn isn’t a problem or that it doesn’t exist.

What I do want to say is that these inaccurate statistics are being used by politicians to whip up fear in people’s minds, beyond the scope of any real danger. And that fear is then being used to push censorship and encroachment on civil liberties.

Thus, you get the Australian government planning to censor the entire internet and labelling anyone who disagrees as a child pornographer.

By the way, I’ll say it again, like I did in this post. I hate writing about this subject on my blog and I also hate the idea of using the dreaded “CP” phrase which is anathema to most people who make adult websites because of the negative traffic it might attract. But I’ve got to post this up. People need to know this stuff.

Every time I hear of some guy arrested for CP “and police found 500,000 images on his computer” I always wonder if it’s the truth. Were there really 500,000 CP images? Or were there only a couple and the rest were just legal porn pics? It won’t make him any less guilty of course, but why does the media feel the need to exaggerate the numbers?

Child abuse is a problem in our society and we all want to work together to prevent it. Unfortunately exaggerating figures is counterproductive in the long run. I’ll end with a quote from the article:

The writer is of the view that public policy should be evidence-based, not based on myth, fiction, fantasy, exaggeration, or misrepresentation of academic research findings, promulgated by advocacy organisations (whether overseas-based or Australian-based) no matter how well intentioned any such organisations may be.

I’ve accumulated a number of interesting links regarding Australian censorship, statistics and hot websites so I thought I’d cheat and just whack them all in one post.

Firstly, Catharine Lumby, one of the authors of The Porn Report, has given a fascinating talk about the history of censorship and porn to the Sydney Institute. You can find a video of the event here.

While despairingly contemplating the state of Australia when it comes to censorship and moral panic, I found Somebody Think Of The Children, an excellent pro-free speech blog. Writer Mike Meloni casts a wide net. At the moment he’s discussing the crazy censorship of computer games and the looming threat of government ISP filtering. Worth checking out.

While the politicians and conservatives outdo each other to protect us from ourselves, a poll reveals – once again – that Aussies love their porn. A Newspoll survey found that 70% of Australians want bans on X rated films overturned. This figure rises to 82% of 18-24 year olds. Interestingly, 80% of people with children are in favour of legalisation compared to 69% of those without. I’m wondering if priests were included in the latter group.

Meanwhile, Sexpo has just finished in Sydney, attracting 50,000 or so visitors. The organisers say nobody is shocked by it anymore, Australians are really relaxed about sex.

Given this information, I’m now speculating on the previously mentioned plan to place mandatory filters on ISPs to block porn. I’ve seen a suggestion that this scheme will be even worse than first thought. The plan is that if you want to look at porn, you give your name to the government to “opt out.” That’s unappealing enough, but what if the “unfiltered” feed only allows access to very small number Australian R-rated sex sites pre-approved by the OFLC?

Cue the revolution, perhaps? Because I think if you do try and take away unfettered internet porn from Australians, they’re not going to be as apathetic as they have been in the past. Either that or I’m moving to Amsterdam. Perhaps both.

So, here’s a couple of examples of sites that don’t have the government’s tick of approval and may be filtered out.

Fancies and Fuckeries blog offers the personal musings of a rather sexy Melbourne guy plus plenty of cock pics. The author starred in Anna Brownfield’s upcoming erotica film The Band and he also does a bit of nude modelling on the side. Nice.

He led me to Aaryon, a truly delightful nude art photography site. There’s not a lot of info about who’s behind it, but the pics are glorious.

Just wanted to add a further post about the recent survey of the sex lives of Australian women (previous post here)

News.com.au has an article unfortunately titled “The sad sexual secrets of women” which is rather misleading since the survey has plenty of positive aspects to it, including an increase in masturbation, a desire for more consideration from male partners and a general urge to explore one’s sexuality.

I wanted to quote this part of the article, which hearkens back to the various discussions about “why women hate porn”.

But, overwhelmingly, we’re bored in the bedroom, causing many of us to stray in search of sexual thrills – which might explain why more of us are watching pornography to spice up our sex lives.

One respondent was so disappointed with the quality of porn movies available, she starred in her own.

“A lot of women described how porn is OK, but they would like it a lot better if it was made by women for women and then they would like to look at it with their partners and use it as a stimulant,” Sauers said.

On the downside porn, while titillating, had added “a whole new level of anxiety, not just about the body but about performance”, Sauers said.

She said that, while porn does carry risks because a small percentage of men become addicted, “to dismiss porn out of hand as an enemy of sexuality and an enemy of relationships is a mistake”.

I found it refreshing to read a relatively pro-porn comment like that in a News Ltd media outlet.

The aforementioned sad aspect of women’s sex lives is that one in three women have experienced some form of sexual assault.

Another day, another book, another news item and survey that says that women like porn.

A book called The Sex Lives of Australian Women says that 1 in 4 Aussie chicks will look at porn at least once a month. The book is based on a survey of 2000 self-selected internet participants.

Naturally, I’m not surprised at this 1-in-4 statistic, which seems to be the similar to the 27-30% figure that pops up regularly in most research.

One in five have also had a go at making their own sex tape, according to the report here. I liked this quote:

“It was fine, but to tell you the truth … watching it again was hilarious … not erotic … my arse was NOT ever meant to be on a tape,” responded a 33-year-old mother from Western Australia.

The Courier Mail article is also rather stunned that more women have orgasms via masturbation than any other method. This piece of information is always treated as if it’s an affront to men, somehow, and I’m a bit sick of that attitude. Of course you’re going to orgasm easily when masturbating! That’s the whole point. It’s a purely selfish activity aimed at creating an orgasm. Sex with a partner has a lot of other things going on, not least of which is the ongoing misconception that the penis should create an orgasm by moving in and out of the relatively non-sensitive vagina!

OK, just had to get that off my chest.

Meanwhile, in other unrelated statistical news, I’ve just realised I’ve now passed 700 posts on the Wordpress version of this blog (not counting the old blog). I installed WP in January 2006 so it’s taken me 2 and a half years to reach this point. Hurrah.

I’m still not sure if I should move the blog to a new domain. One of my tweaks seems to have worked with Google, a bit. I have a couple of other things planned to see if it helps.

Another statistic to add to my collection. A survey of Swedish women by “yummy mummy” magazine Mama says that 28% of them have looked at online porn. This tallies with numerous other surveys which seem to always conclude that around a third of all women like to indulge in a little smut occasionally.

The survey also found that just because women become mothers, it doesn’t mean that they’re not also keen on sex.

43 percent of mums under the age of 29 own a dildo… 31 percent of those surveyed think their man’s freshly showered body is the greatest turn-on… 39 percent of the Swedish mums surveyed have had anal sex and 23 percent fantasize about other men or women during sexual intercourse. 37 percent of the younger mums (under age 29) have had lesbian fantasies. 2 percent have had group sex and 23 percent of mums under the age of 29 use handcuffs as part of sex play.

Ah, the freshness of Scandanavia! Cue the numerous cliches about blondes and jacuzzis and saunas and such.

The Porn Report seems to be making waves at the moment, with most newspapers giving the story a relatively positive spin. The Courier Mail, for example, gives Alan McKee plenty of column space here, with only lip service paid to the conservatives who argue against porn, albeit without any proof, by the sounds of it. I think that’s the cool thing about this book – it offers good, well researched statistics that can be used to counter all the usual hysterical arguments against porn.

The Australian has an excerpt from the book here.

The authors have also set up a site for the book, including a blog by Kath Albury that is already making for great reading. I’m going to include it in my blogroll because I think Kath has a lot of really worthwhile and intelligent things to say on the topic.

I’m a bit late with this but it’s worth blogging about anyway. Three Australian researchers have released The Porn Report, the result of several years of research and surveys. The finding that the media have jumped on is that – gasp! – women like porn.

17% of those interviewed for the book were women and the authors say that women make up an increasing percentage of the porn market.

That newcomer, says author Catharine Lumby, is likely to be a woman aged under 35 who lives in the suburbs, votes for a progressive party like the Greens, is in a monogamous relationship with a man and earns slightly more than average.

Lumby says research indicates that women who consume pornography favour watching DVDs on a laptop in the privacy of their home and also like to watch porn with a partner.

I actually participated in that survey and I’m pleased to see the book is finally out. I hope their findings are useful in reducing the stigma surrounding porn in this country and that it can be used to remove the ridiculous censorship laws in place here.

There’s a blog post and numerous comments on the topic here.

Most porn films these days (and I’m not talking about the frightening XXX types which are just wrong) seem to make the women’s needs as important as the man’s. (NB men). There is a big difference between the hardcore porn that could only possibly do things for dirty, disgusting pervs, but more the soft porn variety, which is not as, um, intrusive.

That’s probably one of the reasons more women are embracing it these days. It’s about having the choice and realising that porn comes in lots of different forms, from movies, to books, to even the naughty text message.

Nice to see a positive comment on porn in a News Ltd publication.