# I don't understand porn **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 2, 2013, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-porn/670213 "2013-10-02T21:20:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-porn/670213/41 "2013-10-03T04:41:36Z")
Why do people keep making the assumption that watching porn or not is a commentary on the state of a person’s real life sexual relationship? They have nothing to do with one another. It is dead simple at least for guys. The reason you look at porn is that you feel compelled to look at as many naked chicks as possible in your lifetime. That is the reason guys like lesbian porn. It is two for the price of one with no balls to get in the way of the show. Themes, story lines and all that other crap can help you choose among the almost infinite amount of it out there according to your best preferences but that is all there is to it. Naked women = good. More = better. The end. You are sorely mistaken if you think that men with satisfying real life sex lives watch less porn than those that don’t. That is like assuming that people that are athletic don’t like watching sports on TV. The tendency is just the opposite. A higher sex drive in general makes you want to seek out more of that type of stimulation. ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-porn/670213/42 "2013-10-03T04:54:52Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > Yes, I’ve seen it, it’s awful stuff, so fake-y and embarrassing really, people doing things in a way that people in real life would NEVER do them (at least I hope not :D). People in “real life” DO enjoy sex in ways that others may find “embarrassing” or bizarre. Stating that “people in real life would NEVER do them…” is a close minded statement. How do you know what people do in the privacy of their bedrooms? To each their own, no? Porn is not solely for people who don’t have a satisfying sex life; on the contrary, often people who have a great sex life enjoy watching porn together (or alone) and find that the complete lack inhibition of the men and women performing in front of the camera IS part of the turn on. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-porn/670213/43 "2013-10-03T05:38:13Z")
For some people, sex w/o a healthy emotional connection feels hollow. And not everyone has access to a willing/available partner whom they have a healthy emotional connection with. Besides, porn is about rubbing one out so you can get on with your life and think about something else. As Doug Stanhope says, you treat it like the medical condition it is and drain it like a cyst with a 10MB video file. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-porn/670213/44 "2013-10-03T05:51:26Z")
I have a very satisfying sexual relationship with my girlfriend – we both watch porn solo and together and frankly it enhances our sex life. And modern porn is so much better than that awful stuff I watched in the 70s and 80s… I go way back. I do keep the sound turned down real low, though. Shagnasty got it right 2 posts above. I like sex. I like to do it, and I like to watch it. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-porn/670213/45 "2013-10-03T06:12:35Z")
Off topic I know, but I don’t get why people enjoy McDonald’s. I GET that lots and lots of people think it’s the cat’s meow, but why? Don’t they enjoy real food? Can’t they cook, or do they have a relationship where the food isn’t so good? (If that happened to me, I’d be out of that relationship as soon as I realized the food wasn’t going to be any good.) McDonald’s food is fatty, salty, calorie-rich but nutrition-poor, the presentation’s awful - where else would you get away with serving up dinner in a cardboard box? - it’s messily put together and hard to even eat without dripping ketchup and mayo all over yourself… And then there’s the restaurants themselves, with that horrible decor and ambience, not least the other diners who are mostly shabbily-dressed ugly loud morons. Seriously, who’d go to a McD’s when they could be eating three home-cooked meals a day like I do? ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-porn/670213/46 "2013-10-03T07:12:03Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I like average looking mature women who are uninhibited enough to masturbate in front of a camera, or perform oral or do just about anything in front of a camera, including lesbian sex. > > Why? Because of their lack of inhibitions. It’s a turn on for me to see naked women who are so completely comfortable with their bodies that they would perform on film like that. That excites me. > > Scripted, fake boob, straight bimbo porn with terrible acting does almost nothing for me. Give me a decent looking amateur woman who is enjoying what she’s doing and it’s really difficult not to enjoy watching her. I agree. I have no use for the standard issue Porn Valley blonde girl with heavy eye make-up, two pairs of false eye-lashes and aftermarket breasts. Give me an amateur who looks like she could live on my block. I’ve praised him before, but my favorite porn producer is a British guy named Lindsey Honey with the non de porn “Ben Dover”. He’s been directing all sorts of porn for years, but my favorite of his stuff is his “Housewife Fantasy” series, where perfectly normal looking women want to make a porn. He and his crew supply the penises, and fun is had by all. It is entirely possible that they are all professional actresses and are reading from a script, but I doubt it - mostly because if that’s the case, their line reading are hundreds of times better than those in any scripted porn I have ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-porn/670213/47 "2013-10-03T10:28:33Z")
Why did I and my sister and her friend read my father’s porns when we were teens? I guess it was because the bad grammar and poor writing kept us laughing. ---
**Author:** ![Mrmanface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mrmanface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrmanface)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-porn/670213/48 "2013-10-03T11:37:41Z")
It is hyper-sexualized and unrealistic. Think of it like an action movie based on war. Real war is shit, but the movie makes it look exciting. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-porn/670213/49 "2013-10-03T11:45:02Z")
> [@Mrmanface](#): > > It is hyper-sexualized and unrealistic. Think of it like an action movie based on war. > > Real war is shit, but the movie makes it look exciting. I don’t think you’re doin it right.😕 ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-porn/670213/50 "2013-10-03T14:48:44Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Besides, porn is about rubbing one out so you can get on with your life and think about something else. As Doug Stanhope says, you treat it like the medical condition it is and _ **drain it like a cyst with a 10MB video file.** _ Please, please, please, never post any of your home-made videos, ever! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-porn/670213/51 "2013-10-03T16:44:22Z")
> [@scootergirl](#): > > People in “real life” DO enjoy sex in ways that others may find “embarrassing” or bizarre. Stating that “people in real life would NEVER do them…” is a close minded statement. How do you know what people do in the privacy of their bedrooms? To each their own, no?. I think she meant literally doing things in ways others wouldn’t… that is, the sexual positions that are designed specifically to aid in the capturing of the act on video, and not for enhancing the pleasure of either participant. My boyfriend and I do all sorts of bizarre things in the bedroom, and have (and watch) massive amounts of porn, but some of the porn positions just aren’t conducive to an enjoyable sexytime. I’m sure the viewer really appreciates them, though! ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-porn/670213/52 "2013-10-03T16:59:54Z")
> [@bobkitty](#): > > I think she meant literally doing things in ways others wouldn’t… that is, the sexual positions that are designed specifically to aid in the capturing of the act on video, and not for enhancing the pleasure of either participant. My boyfriend and I do all sorts of bizarre things in the bedroom, and have (and watch) massive amounts of porn, but some of the porn positions just aren’t conducive to an enjoyable sexytime. I’m sure the viewer really appreciates them, though! Asia Carrera wrote that her contract for a shoot would specify exactly what acts she would perform, and set time limits on particularly uncomfortable and stressful positions like the “jackhammer”. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-porn/670213/53 "2013-10-03T17:00:50Z")
Have you tried it with the subtitles on? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-porn/670213/54 "2013-10-03T17:47:46Z")
Or buying the strategy guide? ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-porn/670213/55 "2013-10-03T17:55:22Z")
Your view of porn reminds me of my view of professional sports. Why would I want to _watch_ people named after an area but not from that area make millions of dollars to run around a field? To me, the turn-on of porn is the voyeuristic thrill of seeing primal mating behavior as a contrast to the polite everyday behavior of society. The wilder the better. As a poet once said, “You and me baby ain’t nothing but mammals, so let’s do it like they do on the Discovery channel.” ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-porn/670213/56 "2013-10-03T18:29:27Z")
Sex is a happy place for me. I like having sex. I like looking at porn. I don’t see the one as a detriment to the other. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-porn/670213/57 "2013-10-03T18:44:16Z")
> [@scootergirl](#): > > People in “real life” DO enjoy sex in ways that others may find “embarrassing” or bizarre. Stating that “people in real life would NEVER do them…” is a close minded statement. How do you know what people do in the privacy of their bedrooms? To each their own, no? Porn is not solely for people who don’t have a satisfying sex life; on the contrary, often people who have a great sex life enjoy watching porn together (or alone) and find that the complete lack inhibition of the men and women performing in front of the camera IS part of the turn on. I don’t know, I just can’t see real people saying things the way that people do in the porn movies, not with out cracking each other completely up, thereby ruining the mood. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-porn/670213/58 "2013-10-03T18:49:31Z")
> [@bobkitty](#): > > I think she meant literally doing things in ways others wouldn’t… that is, the sexual positions that are designed specifically to aid in the capturing of the act on video, and not for enhancing the pleasure of either participant. My boyfriend and I do all sorts of bizarre things in the bedroom, and have (and watch) massive amounts of porn, but some of the porn positions just aren’t conducive to an enjoyable sexytime. I’m sure the viewer really appreciates them, though! No, no…sorry I misunderstood her original question. I understand that there are positions or acts that some people enjoy that others don’t, that’s not what I’m questioning. When I said “in ways real people wouldn’t” I meant, LITERALLY, in the way the porn actors act it out, not the sex acts themselves. As you can see from my posts above, I haven’t seen any that were produced past the 80s, so maybe they’ve gotten better actors. But I just can’t see a normal human no matter HOW role-play-ey a sex session they were having, acting (literally acting, as in, to read lines and emote), the way the folks do in the porn videos. ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-porn/670213/59 "2013-10-03T19:31:56Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > F’sure! I’m fond of “fantasy” stuff, stuff that simply doesn’t exist in reality. Thematic porn. Superhero porn, furry porn, magical themes, monster-people images, etc. The stuff or purest fantasy. (If it really existed, it would actually be terrifying!) Even within the realm of the possible, there is often a lot that is impractical. Some guy may enjoy girls in skintight latex wearing sky-high heels–but even if his partner enjoys it as well, it’s not necessarily something that happens as a spur of the moment decision after work, with the required prep and cleanup times. But there’s plenty of porn out there for the quick fix. ---
**Author:** ![yarblek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/71e660/32.png) [@yarblek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yarblek)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-porn/670213/60 "2013-10-03T19:38:53Z")
Pornographic video content seems to bet generalized all the time, even in this thread. It’s always said to be so unrealistic and fantastic to be ridiculous. This is true for SOME but absolutely not ALL video porn. Currently the type of pornography that I watch features actual (absolutely sure it’s actual) intercourse induced orgasms\* by the female participants\*\*. This can be greatly arousing to me since I think they are enjoying the experience and not just acting. And just because there is a bunch of porn with poor actresses doesn’t mean there aren’t any good ones. I do agree that overacting/underacting tends to be a general problem when it comes to porn. The poorer the actress the more attractive they have to be in other ways, mostly appearance wise, for a scene to be good. But if they are truly enjoying the experience (as I believe some surely do) or not and I’m fooled into believing that they are (i.e. are not underacting,overacting etc.), then they they can be less attractive to a degree and I will still find it quite pleasurable to watch. Porn has come a long way from the 80s. \*This type of pornography doesn’t seem to be that common, probably due to the rarity of orgasms happening in a setup environment. I do know at least one actress that is an exception. \*\*I don’t watch lesbian or masturbation (i.e. solo) porn. I find both extremely annoying. Don’t like any violence in my porn either. Or clothing. Or Music, etc. etc… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-porn/670213.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-porn/670213.md?page=4)