Porn has been a taboo topic since its inception, but Statista calculates that Pornhub was in the top 10 most popular websites of 2021.
With the majority of its daily traffic coming from the United States and the United Kingdom, it’s time to take a look at what our viewing says about us a society.
Pornhub insights reveals that the most searched for term of 2021 was hentai- a category that may be defined as erotic anime.
It’s no secret that users often view porn as a form of escapism, but the top search reveals a willingness to take this to the extreme.
While it may be argued that viewers watch hentai for the “storyline”, the visual appeal cannot be ignored.
With bodies, angles, and actions beyond human ability, the divide between real sex and the expectations arising from porn is thickened.
The fantastical element of hentai may be great stress relief in the short term, but long term could cause a few issues in the bedroom.
It doesn’t stop at anime either with an abundance of searches for Harley Quinn and Wonder Woman.
Despite Marvel’s recent efforts to stop the objectification of its female characters, it seems the damage has already been done by its original oversexualisation.
Moving away from comics, in 2021 more and more people were browsing under the term ‘Lesbian’, pointing to a prevalent fetishization issue linked to porn.
While some may favour lesbian porn for its focus on female pleasure, the reality often comes up short.
The sexual orientation is often used to lure viewers in to scissoring scenes or straight pornstars that don’t accurately represent the sex life of the LGBTQ+ community.
Despite the fallibility of these videos, the category ‘lesbian’ is more frequently visited by those identifying as female, especially in the Gen Z category.
However, this doesn’t exactly point to the satisfaction of these videos, but rather the lack of female-friendly-oriented porn elsewhere.
Porn is notoriously fixed on the male gaze and it can be difficult to find a video that gets you going, without feeling ashamed or uncomfortable for watching the screen.
That being said, the top trending gay searches of 2021 weren’t what I expected.
“Bromance” and “straight guys” topped the charts- suggesting a climate of toxic masculinity that still permeates porn, including gay porn.
Despite the private nature of porn, it seems some people still don’t feel comfortable using homosexual labels in their searching.
But maybe the issue isn’t with the viewer but with how porn is produced.
But that still doesn’t eradicate the part that users have to play.
Featured image credit: Pexels
20 year old queer poet and journalist 😎
You must log in to post a comment.