“Gay porn offers a convenient, discreet way to look at what other people are packing,” she explained. Related: Age checks for watching online porn to be delayedĪlix Fox agrees. Straight men also find solace in fantasising about being with another man even if they aren’t gay, because of the curiosity derived from the close platonic bonds between men.ĭr Sam Miles told PinkNews: “Gay porn tends be based on a narrative of hypermasculinity – often very ‘manly’, muscular men – and this might appeal to straight men as an intriguing and different kind of sexual relationship to what they normally see in their regular porn.”
Straight men watch gay porn to see what other male bodies look like “Watching a variety of porn can be a healthy way for people to explore fantasies without or before they explore something in real life,” notes Ruby.Īlix Fox, sexual health expert for BBC Radio 1 and ambassador for ONE condoms and Brook young people’s sexual health charity, told PinkNews: “I’ve lost count of the number of queries I’ve received from straight-identifying men who’ve been watching gay porn and are confused about the implications that may have regarding their sexuality”. “There’s such a huge variety of porn available that it’s no wonder consumers are switching up their viewing habits and watching a variety of content”.Īccording to Ruby, straight men watch gay porn because they are simply being inquisitive. “It is important to note that the type of porn you watch doesn’t determine your sexuality,” insisted Ruby Stevenson, education and wellbeing coordinator at Brook. “Some heterosexual-identified men may experience sexual arousal from the homosociality or patterns of male bonding (including BDSM) inherent to gay male pornography”. “One’s sexual identity does not always reflect his or her sexual attractions and experiences,” he said. Downing, a research scientist for Public Health Solutions, also reckons straight-identifying men watch gay porn to switch things up. “Gay porn tends to have a less obvious power imbalance between actors” and offers a fresh perspective.ĭoctor Martin J. Related: Study shows that women really like watching gay men have sexĪ wider tide of openness and acceptance, coupled with the #MeToo movement also means “some straight men might find the way that women are treated in straight porn demoralising”, says Doctor Sam Miles. It stands to reason that some of these men want a different ‘flavour’ sometimes”. Some gay men watch straight porn, so it should not come as a surprise that the reverse can also be true. However, he reasoned: “If you think about it, there’s no reason why they wouldn’t. “It’s interesting that a significant number of straight men watch gay porn because it seems so unlikely,” explains Doctor Sam Miles, social science researcher at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. “Individuals in same-sex couples generally are more equitable in the ways in which they allocate domestic work, including childcare,” say Francisco Perales and Janeen Baxter from the University of Queensland. One argument is that same-sex relationships are aspirational as they don’t abide by traditional gender stereotypes. Turns out there are three main reasons… 1. So why might straight men watch gay porn? We asked Radio 1’s resident sexpert, Alix Fox, alongside a raft of health professionals, ranging from doctors to wellbeing coordinators, for their thoughts. Perhaps more confusingly, 24 percent of “straight” men have actually had gay sex, while 36 percent of “straight” women have had sex with another woman, according to the survey.