What's wrong with this picture video?
I read her post yesterday and didn't have time to post about it. Luckily a number of other bloggers have picked up on it. Still, it bears repeating.
Rollertrain of her eponymous blog has a horrifying/hopeful post about women's orgasms in industrial porn.
"What's awesome?" I ask. Isabelle turns up the sound. "Watch," she says, and I listen. Sativa, movie-sized tribute to blessed Pussy, fills up all forty-two inches of Isabelle's TV. Her face starts to look far away. She bites her lip and her cheeks flush. Her moaning falls into short pants of air and whimpering. The vibrator is working. Sativa's entire vagina contracts six or seven times, like a giant heartbeat. Her pussy is shimmering. Sativa is clearly having an orgasm.
"I think that's the first time I've actually seen a girl really cum in a porno," says Isabelle.
It's tragic that she's probably right. The elusive clitoral orgasm is not built for most mainstream porno. I'd bet that 85% of all female porngasms are fake. You'll spot a genuine one here and there, and vibrators are usually involved. But it's rarely incorporated purposefully into a scene, and almost never used as a selling point, unless the orgasms are of the squirting ilk. This, like fake tits and entirely shaved male performers, is one of those porno mysteries I'll never understand. Isabelle is correct: Watching Sativa cum is awesome.
I could say more (ok, a lot more) but Rollertrain's summed it up pretty nicely. I've mentioned previously how weird the whole "money shot" thing in porn is: In real life what guy wants to stop at the best part, pull out of somewhere warm and friendly, to do something he's been able to do any time he's been alone in your bedroom since you were 14? But men's orgasms are about as routine in porn as baggy pants. And while it's not true that all men can have an orgasm on demand, with anybody, under any circumstance they're still unquestionably easy enough to produce to be, well, unremarkably boring. I mean, you don't see 10,000 semi-fashion magazine articles promising "100 ways to make sure he has an orgasm."
That said, though, it's not exactly rocket science for women to have orgasms either. Or for their partners to help them. Even if their partners are blow-dried, coffin-tanned, gold-chain-wearing cutouts from the SoCal stiffie factory.
What's interesting about the Sativa video is that it appears to be the first time anyone at a porn factory has bothered to try it. I dunno. If I ever went into porn it's the first thing I'd want to try. It's certainly one of the first things I'd want to watch. I mean, think about it. At least in the pre-Viagra days high-volume porn factories employed off-screen "fluffers" who spent sometimes considerable time helping male actors get or maintain erections. Would it be that difficult to do the same for actresses? Evidently so.
I'm not likely ever to produce pornography, industrial or otherwise. But untill we start seeing a little equal time it's unlikely I'm going to go back to consuming it either.
One more point. To the extent I'm successful at all it's because I'm so often land right in the middle of opinion. Yeah, I try to be discerning, try to be self aware, but I tend to have everyday interests, not extravagant ones. I'm rarely an outlier. I could be an exception on this point but I don't think so. Let me know. Is it really so weird to want to see women getting to enjoy themselves as much as the men are?
It's not wierd at all. It's one of my problems with mainstream porn. It's right up there with the fake boobs. And as far as the men enjoying themselves, I don't think they are either, actually... not *really* enjoying themselves. Sure, there is the ever-present money shot, but how many of them actually look like they're enjoying it rather than just doing their job? It's why the cafe scene in When Harry Met Sally works so well. Would it work as well if women's orgasms were portrayed realistically in porn? Nope. It would be a good idea, and if they marketed it right, there's a WHOLE lotta women who would buy porn.
[No, I don't think the actors are particularly enjoying themselves either but *on screen* they're supposed to have real orgasms. (Real enough to ejaculate anyway, though that's not necessarily the best metric or an enjoyable orgasm.) Thanks, DN. --fl]
I didn't think porn was for women per se... We might enjoy it, but it was not designed with us in mind...
[And I wasn't even talking about the middle of the curve for all men and women! Even for the middle of all *men* I'd think there'd be more interest. I happen to think there are ways to make very appealing porn for women, but I don't think they're even making it appealing for men! Thanks, LushlyMe. --fl]
The most interesting part of the article to me was the part about how men didn't want to see women come, they want to see them get fucked. Sums up the attitude of porn well. And like you, that's why I'm not into it.
[I guess. Maybe it's just quibbling over semantics but it just seems more fun to watch someone fucking than getting fucked. Remind me to link to Steff's excellent post on the difference. Thanks BareLace. --fl]
A lot of men may not care whether a woman comes or not, but a lot do care to the point that women will fake it to satisfy their egos. Why bother with having a woman act out a fake orgasm in porn?
I think men may be filling in the blanks where women are discouraged from expressing their true sexual selves.
Unfettered female sexuality scares the crap out of a lot of guys. I've scared some, even scared myself! I enjoy porn sometimes, but only if there is real heat onscreen. It has to look like it FEELS good. Written porn is much better.
Hetero porn with female orgasms, vibrators and all, would be awesome. It's not rocket science, but it is often harder for women than it is for men to attain. Women who think they can't come (like I used to) might learn a thing or two!
[I keep hearing that men or women are intimidated by this or that but it's only intimidating if you're, well, ignorant or inexperienced. You can't always fix inexperience but ignorance? And one way to deal with it would be what? Exposure? What a concept! :-) If the only exposure we get is to Jessica Simpson in red boots popping cheesy bits into a 13-year-old boy's mouth (as a current Pizza Hut ad has it... eww!) we're going to stay ignorant *and* very likely inexperienced as well. Thanks Tina. --fl]
Speaking for myself, I often find myself quite satisfied at the sight (and touch and hearing) of my wife coming, even if what follows is rolling over and both of us going to sleep. I think you have correctly nailed why most "industrial porn" does little for me. Watching someone (or someones) actually in the throes of pleasure is arousing. To me, the "money shot" is not.
[As Tina said, above, it would be a lot more fun if people looked as though they were actually enjoying themselves instead of going through the motions. Thanks, Birdman. --fl]
You're right, of course - plenty of guys even fantasize about female orgasms, causing them or otherwise, and will pay to hear or cause them, judging from my callers.
Guessing or assuming what the market wants makes so much less sense than actually finding out the hard way, or listening to what they're flat out asking you for.
Some sex workers like to keep their work sex and their non-work sex pretty separate, and for a lot of women that line lies in not coming or allowing themselves to feel real heat (infamously in escorting, but even in camming and phone sex). I don't know how much of that goes for porn, since there are plenty of ladies who shamelessly enjoy the sex in sex work, but it's something else to think about.
[I'd like to reverse that a little bit and ask why actresses shouldn't be asked to do it when actors are expected to do it, under equally awkward circumstances, every time. Belive me when I say I appreciate that awkwardness but is it fair to ask anyone it's not fair to ask everyone? As to your first point, you're dead right that customers of other sex-workers want or at least wish for genuine enjoyment so it's not like there's no interest. I get the feeling that the industrial pornographers are just to cheap, lazy, and hidebound to bring themselves into the 21st Century. Thanks, Sabrina. --fl]
With actors I think it just comes down to visual evidence. A lot of guys into squirting porn like it because there's "proof" the actress came.
Personally I do try to keep mine genuine, but the more the caller questions my genuineness the harder it is to maintain, as weird as that sounds.
[It doesn't sound weird at all, Sabrina, but it's kind of a bummer, eh? Seems like it's all insecurity driven too -- a lot of people are anxious that they can't give their partners a good time and it's easy to get obsessed with even oddball clues like porno "squirting" and "money shots." (Which in the context of porn *are* weird.) Thanks. --fl]
I so agree with you. I am bored when I watch porn. But watching a woman cum is incredible. I found a site called Beautiful Agony that shows video of just the head and shoulders of folks that masturbate and I was amazed at how much this was arousing when I stumbled on the site. I think it is just that the expression on a face when someone comes is an incredible thing.
Keep up the good writing on your blog!
[Yeah, Beautiful Agony's just amazing isn't it? They have tons of subscribers and never show more than someone's face (they request face-only submissions so they aren't cropping images out of larger videos.) Seems to me that's people really putting their money where my mouth is. (Eww, not like that.) Thanks, Enigma. --fl]
This is where I wanna say, "I don't know about porn, but I know what I like." What I like is seeing real passion... Nothing is hotter for me than really believing that all the parties involved in a film are deeply into it.
Believing that a woman in porno is really climaxing does a lot more for me than the usual money shot.
[Yup. I wish the industrials would put a little more effort into it. (Or maybe not. When was the last time I bothered watching industrial porn?) Thanks, BadAss. --fl]
I agree with BadAss. I look for real passion in a woman's face. When that's going on, forget the money shot.
I can count on one hand, the number of scenes I have found where the woman is unquestionably "into it". And they are HOT!!!
[Thanks, Bioqubit. --fl]