For more information:
Niki Khanna
Good Vibrations Public Relations
415-974-8985 ext 203
nikik@goodvibes.com

Surveys Find Women Watch More Porn

Women-Owned Sex Toy Store Weighs on the New Popularity of Women Watching Porn

San Francisco, CA -- August 12, 2004 -- So, you think you might be interested in watching a dirty movie, eh? You're not alone. Recent studies and surveys have shown just how much women are enjoying porn. Research by scientists at Stanford Medical University in California in December 2003 found that women become more quickly aroused by porn videos than men. And a survey in September by Nielsen Net ratings found that 1 in 3 visitors to porn sites were women - indeed, over nine million American women looked at porn sites in September alone. A study by Today's Christian Woman found that even good church-going women were peeking at the odd bit of porn. Over 34% of female respondents to an online survey said they had deliberately gone looking for porn.

A survey by the Free Speech Coalition found that stores in the United States reported a total of 686 million rentals of adult tapes per year. Typically when we think of the people who rent the videos, we think of men in raincoats and all those stereotypes -- and while that may be true for part of the population, these guys are practically extinct today. It's certainly true that the average viewer is male, but the viewership has changed over the last 25 years to include a greater percentage of women and couples of all orientations. While a 1997 study by The Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, the largest association of sex educators, researchers, and therapists in the country, concluded that most explicit books, magazines and videos were marketed to heterosexual men, the researchers noted that in recent years more material had been produced by and for heterosexual women.

Legendary women-owned sex toy, book and video retailer Good Vibrations has been selling porn to women for over 15 years. Their average porn sales each month are near 5,000 units. Says video curator Violet Blue, "If you're female, admitting to yourself that you want to watch a dirty movie may take some -- or a lot of -- forethought. One of the major obstacles that we women face is the widely held notion that women don't respond to sexual imagery as men do -- a notion that is absolutely untrue." So untrue, in fact, that Good Vibrations is about to launch a new Porn section on their website expressly geared towards women. This robust, new library of porn was chosen by women, for women and features everything from Erotic Drama, All Sex,No Plot, Sex Education, Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT), and BDSM and Fetish. Much of the new collection includes films directed and produced by women.

Ladies, here's "What You Need to Know Before You Buy Your Porn": Once you feel okay with using porn as a sex toy, there are a few things you need to know before you get started. First, keep your expectations in check -- you're not going to see films the quality of mega-budget Hollywood blockbusters. Why not? Because outside of Hollywood studios, no one has that kind of money, or those resources to throw around, especially in a film genre that's controversial.

The quality you are going to see is more like that of daytime soap operas: simple sets, standard lighting, digital cameras, and barely-there acting. Unless you go with a film from a bigger studio -- the world of porn has a studio system just like in Hollywood. The big studio films (like Vivid and VCA) have bigger budgets, better sets, actors who might have gone to acting school, writers who have writing experience, and directors who are more likely to take their craft seriously, with some even using real film stock in their movies.

Adds Dr. Carol Queen, Good Vibrations' Staff Sexologist, "Think about what expectations you're bringing to your first adult video. This will help you make a selection that won't leave you high and dry. What images or ideas turn you on -- small breasts, big butts, women in charge, realistic plots, oral sex, two guys and a gal, penetration, group sex? This may not be your list, but you get the idea. Get clear on what you want to avoid by making another list of things you don't want to see."

Visit a store you can trust when buying your first video. The staff at Good Vibrations can help enormously when selecting a tape. You can single out many of your preferences before you rent or buy, and then skip the parts you don't care for. The reviews on the Good Vibrations web site are very helpful in these matters. The reviews and ratings can also help you select videos that address finding things you don't usually see on the blue screen, such as an all-natural cast (enhancement-free), attention to cinematography and lighting, great acting and excellent plot.

Explains Violet Blue, "As a general rule, Good Vibrations never carries a film that is demeaning or abusive toward women, or includes any racist or discriminatory content -- of any kind. We make sure our tapes portray healthy sexuality, meaning that they depict positive attitudes about sex and women getting off as much as the men. There is always attention to female pleasure involved and we have excellent sex educators at our stores and our call centers who are always happy to help women make their selection."

Good Vibrations Recommends: Libido's Ecstatic Moments is a highly recommended first-time video for all persuasions. Great first-time porn films from big production houses are Veronica Hart's White Lightning and Love's Passion and Candida Royalle's Eyes of Desire 2 and One Size Fits All. Juliet Anderson's Ageless Desire is wonderful for first-time viewers over 60 who want to see folks "still doing it" in a tasteful, hot video. Classics are terrific too -- the best of the 1970s and '80s, and you can start with the legendary Opening Of Misty Beethoven.

To interview Dr. Carol Queen or Violet Blue, please contact Niki Khanna at (415) 974-8985 x203.

About Good Vibrations

Established in 1977, Good Vibrations is a worker-owned and operated cooperative comprised mostly of women, who strive to help women and men realize and celebrate their sexual health and potential. They're a group of individuals committed to making the world a place where sex and pleasure are recognized as a birthright. Good Vibrations' branches include retail stores in San Francisco and Berkeley, California; a paper catalog and call center; web site, www.goodvibes.com; a wholesale division; and an Education/Outreach department that presents educational workshops nationwide.

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