Why is porn considered a poor predictor?

From what I understand, it's because a lot of the time the viewer is less attracted to the people in the porn than they are to another aspect of the porn. Like, a straight male may get sexual enjoyment from the taboo associated with gay porn for example. At least, that's what I understand is the reason. Someone else will probably have a better or more accurate explanation.

 

Porn for me is so fetishized it's not even funny. I get turned on by certain things in the porn, it's not like if I saw a girl in real life and thought she was hot it's like I have to be seeking something out.

 

I think that male gay porn may be a better predictor for gay men. it's really just about naked men and sex, well, at least there is a lot of that. straight porn tend to be very demeaning of women and I think reflects a lot of frustrations and angers toward women that straight men have. and girl-on-girl porn often seems more designed to play to straight men's fantasies. just my opinions, but that's my impression from what i've seen.

 

For some, porn may align with their sexual orientation. For example, one of my friends enjoys going to strip clubs and looking up porn with girl/girl or guy/girl action.

This isn't true in my case. Yes I watched gay porn but it only contained daddy/son or just purely dominant male type porn videos. To be honest, most girls don't even look for guys like that. They just look like a dominant figure, which is something that I want (not sure as transference or as a role model).

I remember constantly using "father figure" or "daddy issues" as a way to justify my gay porn usage and fantasies. That is not to say that parental issues are a leading cause in my confusion, rather the excuse of using father figures is causing me confusion. I was also sexually abused, twice, by 2 older men at separate occurrences when I was 10, and this may be also a contributing factor to my fantasies. Abuse, if let untreated, could lead to problems in adulthood, and as a young adult now, I'm starting to see the results.

 

They are wrong. It's like fantasizing about being with a same sex partner, but it's not your brain that creates the pictures, but an outside source. Both are deliberate actions, you are the one who chooses the type of fantasy/porn video, so both should tell you something about your sexuality. The people who say these thing, may have issues with their homosexuality, they watch gay/lesbian porn too and try to rationalize that they are not gay/lesbian in reality.

 

You're a woman, so porn is entirely unreliable for your gender. As women our bodies produce arousal and excitement when we see anything sexual. All women, regardless of sexuality are turned on by everything. Even child porn and rape excites us, although most of us are not pedophiles or rapists.

Why? Well when a rapist attacks a woman, the vagina will produce arousal lubricant to protect her body from sustaining permanent damage. Many rape victims physically enjoy their rape and even orgasm, but it doesn't mean rape doesn't exist nor does it make it less traumatizing; It's just female biology.

Furthermore, most women enjoy porn that is not directed toward their sexuality. Many straight women do in fact like lesbian porn for the taboo enjoyment and the fact they get a perspective on female pleasure not one-sided to the men.

Many lesbians enjoy two men getting it on in porn, in fact almost every lesbian (Though not necessarily all) prefers to watch two guys over two girls. I am one of them. Gay porn is SO popular with lesbians to the point people have made movies and jokes over it. Lesbian porn is unrealistic and offensive to many lesbians as the actors are usually ugly, display bad acting where It's obvious they don't enjoy themselves, and they usually get fucked by a guy at the end. So many lesbians ignore this and go to the guy-guy action since it is more realistic and easier for them to dissociate away from the genders as long as the scenery is good.

I'm not saying you can't be bi, and that maybe porn helps for you. But It's still not a useful indicator. Speaking as a lesbian who adores guy-on-guy and hates lesbian porn, I am not straight nor bi, nor am I even kinsey 5 or curious. I am an exclusively gay person with different porn interests.

 

Another perspective - I enjoy lesbian porn made by/for lesbian and bisexual women. Straight 'lesbian' porn doesn't do that much for me as it is less realistic - I find it harder to imagine I am in that scenario, participating. Watching actual lesbian porn for me has really helped me in the past make sense of my emerging previously hidden away sexuality. And no, the idea of watching gay porn does nothing for me.

 

It's not only the matter of your porn preferences. I think it's not negligible but you shouldn't feel obliged to like x just because you like the porn of it. What you really need to figure out, and you can only figure it out yourself, is if you can see yourself being in love with a person of the sam sex. No amount of porn can be a better indicator than that.

 

I am not sure how good of a predictor it is. At least, I would think that watching gay/lesbian porn may arouse straight people some of the time. Also, if you are a little bit bi then you would enjoy same sex porn every now and then.

For me however, I only and frequently watch gay porn. While many people find porn unsavory, this has actually helped me in the coming out process quite a bit.

 

I also think part of this has to do with the fact that some people have zero sexual attraction to strangers, so they can't fantasize about themselves being in the porn because it feels awkward or gross. Or at least that's how it is for me. That's why the genders don't matter to me, the scenery matters. I find pretty much every pornstar out there to be ugly or unattractive, so to me what makes a porn good is the scenery, sex acts and enjoyment, because then It's easy to actually ignore that the actors really exist and to replace them with people I actually like.

 

Hi Shycat,

I'm Short on time so unfortunately I haven't read all of the replies. Forgive me if I repeat anything.

Speaking as a porn addict I know first hand that porn can be a very poor indicator of ones orientation. It can lead to extreme confusion and blurs the lines between reality and fantasy. There are hundreds of articles online which explain the affect that porn addiction can have however that's not relevant here. Unless I'm mistaken, I get the impression that your porn use is very rare and if this is correct then I would argue that porn is actualy probably a pretty good indicator as you seek out your bains natural sexual desires. I must stress that being a good indicator is the best case scenario here, obviously it wont tell you anything definitive (only you can do that).

Good luck figuring things out. Give it time x

 

I totally agree! I try watching straight porn from time to time, but it just doesn't do anything for me. but some gay porn comes on, and my body is off to the races whether I want it to be or not. even artistic male nude art evokes a full body reaction for me. On the other hand, I can admire the beauty of female nudes, but it doesn't create any physical response. HunGuy is right, it is like an externally generated fantasy, that is totally connected to orientation. Generally, I think that males are more visual than females, so I can understand that not everybody will react at all.

 

I don't think porn is a good idea because it's not real. It's not exactly made for your sexual orientation but it is made for your sexual appetite and technically that can be fulfilled by anything. Porn is always about the sensations, the eroticism, the suspense and the climax. The animal nature too.

You never experience sex with someone else from the angles porn is filmed at. It's all for your brain and to imagine the sensations and for you to run away with a fantasy.

 

I don't think porn is a good idea because it's not real. It's not exactly made for your sexual orientation but it is made for your sexual appetite and technically that can be fulfilled by anything. Porn is always about the sensations, the eroticism, the suspense and the climax. The animal nature too.

You never experience sex with someone else from the angles porn is filmed at. It's all for your brain and to imagine the sensations and for you to run away with a fantasy.

 

This is only true if you're talking about men. Male genitals and psychology works differently than female genitalia does. If this statement were true, 100% of all women enjoyed being raped and there is no such thing as rape at all. Obviously you are not a woman so you have no idea how vaginas or female brains work in regard to sex (Hint: It doesn't work like a penis does).

By this logic you could also say that everyone who likes a gory horror movie is secretly a psychopathic killer and are in denial about how dangerous and bloodthirsty they are. After all why would a non-psychopath take enjoyment in innocent people being killed on screen.

You also tend to forget that porn is not designed for women anyway. Straight porn is sexist and demeaning and lesbian porn is misogynistic and homophobic, designed for straight men. Gay porn isn't perfect but the actual scenery (NOT the gender or bodies) caters to women's fantasies more.

 

this gets to the heart of the differences in responses. and its not just genitals and psychology. it's that, but it is also that men respond more to visual stimuli. women are more verbal. we are always sensitive to not generalizing, but notice that the romance novels are targeted toward women, while the porn flicks are targeted toward men. so it's kind of hard to get a consistent perspective from women and men. I can speak for myself, and for myself as a gay man I can say that my response to porn is totally consistent with my orientation. Ultimately, I guess we can only say how we each respond, rather than make a blanket statement like "porn is a poor predictor" or "porn is a good predictor" of sexual orientation.

 

It's not so much that it's a poor predictor, but some people are aroused by gay porn, but have never felt any kind of attraction to a person of the opposite sex in real life, which means that it's the porn itself that arouses them, and not members of the opposite sex :/ Porn's a pretty awkward indicator because there are so many types, it becomes difficult to properly pinpoint what it is about it that turns people on :/

---------- Post added 1st Feb 2015 at 04:38 PM ----------

This