Since the days of sneaky erotic audios on Tumblr (if you know, you know), audio porn and apps have surged over the last few years especially since the start of the COVID pandemic, and it's here to stay. This is a hill I'm prepared to die on.
At its most base level, audio porn is exactly what it sounds like - audio recordings of explicit content. This can be in the form of creators narrating an erotic story, creators simply moaning and groaning while they simulate a sexual experience, and even guided masturbation meditations. There is a whole new world of content that you can find online and it's so damn exciting.
There are many, many reasons why folks are flocking to audio porn over mainstream visual porn from the more ethical standpoint to being able to listen in public to learning more about what turns us on. Audio porn provides this powerful space for a deeper and more integrated and embodied sexuality, especially for women. Research has found that women's arousal and desire tends to respond better to explicit audio content, and men's tend to respond better to visual content. At this point, I haven't been able to find any research on which sense non-binary and gender diverse folks better respond to, but stay tuned.
Let's dive into some of the most common reasons why audio porn tops visual porn in my biased, though informed, opinion:
Reason 1: The most common complaint against mainstream visual porn is that it feels disconnected and disembodied. It's the equivalent of listening to a podcast or watching TV where you're not part of the experience. You're just a bystander getting off to someone else's experience.
Audio porn's response: Audio porn is different because it's immersive and a more sensory experience. It simultaneously relies and fuels your imagination and psychogenic arousal, which is arousal that starts in the mind.
Reason 2: Another complaint is that mainstream visual porn often blurs the lines of what is a realistic and pleasurable sexual experience. Whether due to great editing or lack of literacy, it feels less clear what is real. Many of us rely on porn as a form of sex education and in doing so, we can start to expect that's how our sex should look like.
Audio porn's response: With audio, it often feels more clear that this is fantasy because it's dictated by your imagination and there's often a story to follow along with. You know on a cognitive level that it isn't real.
Reason 3: Mainstream visual porn is often felt to be aggressive, violent and in-your-face. It can be more about how can we create the most high impact video in the least amount of time. There's also a lot of burgeoning advocacy and research done on the rise of strangulation in mainstream porn and how non-consensual strangulation is becoming increasing normalised amongst young people (check out It's Time We Talked campaign).
Audio porn's response: With audio porn, it's centred on your pleasure and organically building arousal rather than forcing it. In most audios, you're at the centre of the experience and no one's strangling you without your consent, which is always a plus.
Reason 4: Mainstream visual porn is often limited in communication. This is especially problematic surrounding consent and the inherent negotiating of desires that come with partnered sexual experiences. The focus in mainstream visual porn is only on the sexual acts and genitals jack-hammering into each other, so it relies on a lot of unspoken assumptions.
Audio porn's response: Because it is immersive, it is a great way to learn or experiment with new skills like dirty talk or types of touch. It models how to talk during sex and you often have narrators explicitly explaining how they are touching you or vice versa. I often have clients report back to me that it's been really helpful and educational for them to have these prompts and scripts laid out for them.
Reason 5: The nagging voice of comparison is often a lot louder when watching visual porn. As they don't often feature bodies that look like our own real and beautifully messy bods, and this is on top of a wider society that already has a complicated relationship with bodies, this lack of representation can leave us feeling worse after consuming content.
Audio porn's response: Because there is no visual, there is no physical body to compare to. You can imagine bodies of diverse sizes, genders, abilities and appearances. You can also explore different parts of your identity like queerness or kinkiness.
Reason 6: For many, there is now a hangover-like guilt or shame attached to watching mainstream porn and knowingly contributing to unethical areas of the industry or exploitation. It's now a challenge to our ethics and morals, which can be very unsexy when we're trying to masturbate.
Have I sold you on audio porn yet?
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