Straight Men Are Watching Gay Porn More Often Than We Thought
The porn tube site YouPorn recently surveyed its heterosexual-identifying users about their porn viewing habits and found that 23% of its male-identified heterosexual users view gay porn. It also found that 24% of its hetero male viewers admitted to having sex with another man. This particular straight men gay porn statistic reveals something we already knew: Sexual fluidity and bisexuality surround us more than we think, regardless of how these men self-identify.
Granted, this isn’t the first study of straight men who watch gay porn. A 2016 study of 821 gay, straight, and bisexual men revealed that 21% of straight guys watch gay porn (and 55% of gay men watch straight porn).
At the time, we assumed that straight men like watching gay porn because, like straight porn, its focus is largely on male-arousal. When you consider how much straight porn focuses on men’s penises and how much more easily accessible it is than gay porn, you’ll understand why so many gay men watch it.
But why are straight men watching gay porn?
In her controversial 2015 book Not Gay: Sex Between Straight White Men, author Jane Ward said that many straight-identified men watch gay porn and have sex with men while still identifying as straight for several reasons. Basically, as gay people have been more accepted by American society, more straight men have made gay male friends and learned that they can express physical affection with men without it threatening thier sexual identity.
“It’s not only about getting off and jerking off to porn, but also me showcasing a version of sexuality that is heterosexual, but also very heteroflexible,” Lyon wrote. “It’s me saying it’s OK for you to be engaged in these types of scenarios around women and men, and not feel your sexuality has to be threatened.”
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Straight guys who want to have gay sex without social stigma sometimes self-identify as “mostly straight” (rather than “bisexual,” which some consider “too gay”). Others just call their same-sex sexual encounters “buddy baiting” or “buddy sex.”
