"Seeing her in pleasure gives me pleasure": Pornography viewing and the sociology of pleasure

Feminist writers have long argued that women's genuine pleasure has been neglected in pornography, often suggesting that this is because most viewers are men who care only (or primarily) about men's pleasure. I examine these claims relying on interviews with more than 300 men and women from a variety of countries and cultural backgrounds who watch pornography regularly. The findings suggest that, contrary to common belief, there are many similarities between what women and men say is most important for them to see in pornography, namely representations of women's genuine pleasure. I conclude that pornography that convincingly features female performers' pleasure is therefore not merely "female-friendly"; it is "viewer-friendly." I examine viewers' explanations for these preferences and highlight the contributions of this study to the emerging sociology of pleasure subfield, as well as the sociology of positive emotions.