Researchers have discovered that people’s sexual turn-ons don’t always correlate to their sexual orientation, for instance size difference porn can be appealing regardless of gender.
Research has also demonstrated that many men watch gay male porn for various reasons, such as enjoyment or as an alternative to heterosexual pornography.
It is a form of erotica
Gay pornography is an erotica form depicting sexual acts between men, which dates back to Greek antiquity. Representing itself in paintings to modern home videos and online picture sites; video on demand services (VOD/DVD); as well as magazines/e-books that depict homosexual acts are some forms of Gay Pornography that exist today.
Pornography may be commonly associated with heterosexuality, but its appeal spans across sexualities and orientations. Studies have revealed that even straight women enjoy pornography. A major pornographic site reported in 2015 that female viewers made up 33% of viewing gay male porn on its site! This result has caught researchers by surprise.
Many men, even those who aren’t gay themselves, find it appealing and comforting to observe other men’s bodies and genitalia in private. Many turn to gay porn as a safe and pleasurable way of exploring these fantasies without facing social consequences or embarrassment in public.
Porn is fiction, not reality; but that doesn’t mean it can’t be stimulating for straight-identified men. Some straight men experience sexual excitement from homosociality and patterns of male bonding (such as BDSM) contained within gay pornography; additionally they might find the fetishism alluring as well as other types of content that turns them on.
It is a form of entertainment
Gay pornography is a form of entertainment featuring sexual encounters between two men. Its long history spans all media formats. People enjoy this type of pornography for its entertainment value – viewing men get naked or masturbate for instance – while it also serves as a means of socialization and interaction between peers.
Early gay pornography tended to be mild-mannered, featuring images of men either fully or partially stripped naked wearing only G-strings and sold in physique magazines referred to as beefcake magazines for easy purchase by fitness enthusiasts.
Since the AIDS crisis of the late 1980s, health officials and activists have pressured porn companies to make safer sexual behavior standard in their films. Some producers even started mandating that their actors use condoms. With bareback pornography becoming popular during this era, most producers now request their actors wear condoms. Although such images still remain widely popular today.
While a significant percentage of those watching gay male porn are heterosexual men, women also enjoy watching homosexual pornography according to research conducted by Neville: 55% of the women she interviewed expressed an enjoyment for watching homosexual pornographic material.
But the portrayal of gay sex in pornography can often be inaccurate and harmful to its subjects. Misrepresenting the lives of its subjects should never become acceptable in society or media – people don’t deserve to be misrepresented for entertainment purposes alone.
It is a form of self-expression
Heterosexual porn can be exploitative and degrading to its viewers, with troubling gender dynamics at its heart. Women increasingly turn to gay porn for its more realistic and satisfying content – it also serves to break free of objectification tied to gender stereotypes.
Many straight men enjoy watching gay male porn for various reasons. Some find resemblance in the videos while others want to learn about sexuality. Whatever their motivation may be, Sharif Mowlabocus’ research revealed that most participants found pornography enjoyable as an outlet of self-expression.
Research was carried out in two stages – an analysis of 125 pornographic scenes, followed by seven focus group discussions with 50 men where participants discussed what types of sexual experiences they enjoyed, their feelings toward pornography in general, and how this affected their perceptions of homosexuality. Nearly all men surveyed reported viewing heterosexual or gay porn at some point in their lives; half reported ever viewing a bareback video. Interviewees reported that viewing gay pornography had made them reconsider their sexuality and changed relationships with partners, providing validation of own sex preferences and leading them to fantasize about men while watching it.
It is a form of socialization
Many viewers of gay porn watch it for reasons unrelated to sexual orientation, for instance because certain types of genitalia appeal to them and they want to see them in action; or simply curious about themselves and other body parts. Pornography also serves as a form of socialization and can encourage positive behaviors such as healthy relationships and body image enhancement; in addition, it fosters empathy between viewers as they gain a better understanding of issues which face society as a whole.
Straight men watch gay porn for another reason: aspiration. They enjoy fantasizing about same-sex couples because they do not follow traditional gender roles and can relate to them due to shared lifestyles and experiences, learning how they distribute domestic work and childcare duties from these couples.
Alter communities provide space for homosexual men to share their sexual and personal experiences through narratives that combine with pornographic content to form a sense of communal intimacy. Unlike fictional serials that have a set ending date, amateur pornography remains visible as long as it addresses underlying social issues; an example being Helix Studios performer who tweets his sexual encounters alongside updates about HIV counseling services or life events in his tweet stream.
