Why do we watch porn? Why do you watch porn?

[BellyNel]

So I was watching my gay porn before taking a bath.

And I was wondering - why do we watch porn? And for those who have a significant other, do you still watch porn? And why?

I started watching porn back in 1998, when I discovered The Robin Byrd iShow and Men For Men in the 8th grade. The first time I saw it, and it was THE SUMMER, mind you, I was shaking and cold. I didn't know what I was watching, but I could not turn away. At that time, I was already pretty sure that I wasn't attracted to women. When the men started dancing on screen, I was hard.

Why do I watch porn? I watch it because it's great entertainment, I get hard, it's a turn on, the men are hot, and in some way, it'll teach me how to do it correctly the day I get a man.

Why do YOU watch porn?

[Bowyn Aerrow]

To learn new things.

Seriously I tend to analyze them more as if they were textbook studies than entertainment.

However there is good reason, I have only had 8 sex partners in my life. My personal experiences are very limited and to a fair degree naive. Most of my experience is vanilla - very vanilla.

My partner on the other hand... Well he has done things that up until we talked I hadn't even heard of before - let alone think of.

And yes we still watch them, occasionally. Part of couples counseling was for us to explore sex and learn new things... Well that doesn't mean go out and try on new guys. So rent a porn and see what others do.

[cloud999]

I wouldn't use professional porn to learn sex. What they do is designed for the viewer's pleasure, not the participants. Good sex often makes for bad porn, in my experience.

I rather like the homemade videos posted to video-sharing adult sites (youtube for porn). They're gritty, the people are fat/ugly/human, and they're doing it for their personal pleasure first (exhibitionism). A digital version of yesterday's bathhouses, so to speak. I'll bet that many members on this forum have an account with their homemade naughty vids on one of the sites.

I like it because it's fast for a guy who works my long hours, and far safer than craigslist or grindr hookups.

[interesting]

I would agree that the porn is just a quick way to get off, and not have to actually get another person involved. That's what I use porn for at least.

[pellaz]

i tried the googles ( for some supporting stuff ) but i read someplace the human brain has some sort of virtual function where when you are watching sports (or porn) the brain actually is extending the visual image into how it would complete the physical activity to match what you are seeing.

[pellaz]

porn, they have a team of peeps to fluff things so its totally clean and perfect. real life sex is not like that

[Pix]

Like the romance (and erotica) genre, porn is fantasy that typically shouldn't be confused with real life and that's its appeal--all the fun without the bother, mess and frustration of reality. While I suppose porn can be convenient for men to show women things they want without having to actually spell it out and sound perverted (I mean, he'd have never thought of it save that they're doing it on screen and it looks fun, or so he'll pretend) and women for giving themselves permission to be a "bad girl" (she'd have never thought to do anything like that otherwise, or so she likes to pretend) I don't think it has any practical use in sex (as opposed to masturbation).

Ok, I understand some straight male prostitutes who had sex with men found straight porn useful. And if porn seems "naughty" then it might appeal as forbidden fruit as well.

[princealbertofb]

....

Why do I watch porn? I watch it because it's great entertainment, I get hard, it's a turn on, the men are hot, and in some way, it'll teach me how to do it correctly the day I get a man.

Why do YOU watch porn?

BellyNel, you'll be in for a big surprise when you get yourself a man to have sex with. What you see in porn probably won't apply. Of course, there's the mechanics of it, the techniques etc... which may be interesting to take example from, but a lot of porn does not resemble real life sex at all.

For one thing, you'll have to get comfortable with each other, which, at times, is not all that easy, then you won't have the same visual stimuli, as, when you're in a lock with someone, you don't get to see the things that are filmed by external cameras. You'll have to rely more on your senses, which is not a bad thing. But porn is really for visual stimulation, first and foremost.

The next thing you'll have to deal with is your partner's personality. Again, unlike in porn movies where they always seem to be consenting to whatever you see, you'll have to negociate what you two can do together without anyone getting frustrated or hurt. Porn actors don't discuss that in public so much, it's all agreed on previously in their contracts, I believe. (The parts that we don't get to see).

So it is still incumbent on you to ask your partner about safer sex and whether you must wear condoms. It's still incumbent on you to make the conditions for sex as healthy and enjoyable as possible, so don't forget to buy the lube and condoms. And don't worry, if it doesn't work out immediately, wait until you are both more relaxed about the relationship. Practise a bit ahead of time. Practise putting on a condom, practise having something up there with a sex toy if necessary.

[WesHollywood]

I am 22, and I always seem to need to get off. My life partner is not always available, and three hours of uninspired conversation at a bar is more of an investment than I am willing to make.

Sometimes I have to laugh at myself.

I need to be somewhere, but I am horny. I look at the clock, and I can fit a quick tug into the next 15 minutes? Now do I want to scurry around the internet looking for something, or should I pull up my favorites, and just be done with it? At times I just get irritated about the whole thing. I have learned to go for the favorites, I hate it when I accidentally cum to the wrong picture! These are the trials of GLBT life!

[LateBloomer]

For me, porn is a total crutch.

When I feel close to someone and I'm getting laid on a regular basis, I have absolutely no need for porn.

But when I'm lonely and horny and just need to rub one out then porn just simply facilitates the fantasizing (which I could do by myself, but it's easier when confronted by hot visual images in living color).