But What Exactly is Audio Porn?
To put it simply, audio porn stands for pornography that only uses audio, produced by creators that could be sex workers, but don’t necessarily have to be. The audios might range from a sexy story, guided masturbation or simply the creator’s masturbation session – aka pure moaning.
Audio porn is currently enjoying a fair bit of attention. Charis (she/they), our audio-porn expert at CHEEX, explained: “voices play an underrated role in evaluating the subjective attractiveness of a person, and people are starting to catch up on the untapped power of vocal attractiveness” (Charis Uster, 2022). Dipsea, the audio porn app, saw an 84% increase in subscriber volume when quarantine began. Co-founder Gina Gutierrez establishes that listening to porn is a valuable tool to self-soothe in times of collective anxiety (Franki Cookney, 2020).
The other self-care trend during COVID was mindfulness apps. For example, “Master” grew by 218% in 2020, and the market-favourite “Calm” had 3.9 million downloads in April 2020. Back then, everyone was locked into their own space, house, and head. The usual distractions and stress factors left all of a sudden. Silence. And then that was overwhelming, too, in its way. How to handle that silence? What to do with all this time? How to stand your partner being around 24/7, and which banana bread to bake next? Statistics show that both mindfulness
apps and audio porn helped people answer these questions and stay sane by setting the focus internally.
Fast forward to 2022 – the trend of audio porn does not deteriorate because the benefit of now enjoying its spotlight is the fantastic feature of anonymity for both – the consumer and creator. First, about the consumer: Audio porn, unlike video porn, can be consumed in a library, on a plane, during a walk or at work – with a significantly minimised risk of being caught. Fun fact: A study by the sex and lifestyle magazine sugarcookie revealed that about 60% of Brits have watched porn at work at some point, with an unsettling amount of 30% getting caught (Tommie McDonald, 2018).
Creators Face Different Challenges, but Being Recognised Is Not One of Them!
Audio porn is an attractive field for people that would like to engage in sex work without exposing their face to the public. This obviously implies in the bigger picture that this type of sex work has become more accessible and, thus, the pool of creators more diverse.
Also, GQ interviewed audio porn star Mitchell Warren, who claims that audio porn allows for more intimacy than visual porn (Tyler McCall, 2022).
Another hearing-based trend is ASMR -autonomous sensory meridian response- It has a place in audio porn, giving people so-called brain-gasms and intense physical sensations, according to the health line (Stephanie Booth, 2019).
Audio porn is so refreshing and intimate because it stimulates fantasies, specifically the part of the brain that produces imagery. Charis Uster explains: “Removing the visuals does not remove our society’s sexual imagery, stereotypes, or ideals completely, but they can help you detach from them or at least add your own spice to them. In the safety of your own mind” (Charis Uster, 2022)
The female gaze and the position of the female during sex are being discussed broadly. However, audio porn tackles something broader: everyone’s gaze.
But let’s take a close look at the cliche and stereotype of women being the target audience and main user base in audio porn. Why is it the common perception that women prefer audio porn?
Starting with the beauty standards.”Statistics have shown that 7 in 10 girls believe they are not good enough or do not measure up in some way. 74% say they are under pressure to please everyone; 98% feel immense pressure from external sources to look a certain way” (Charis Uster, 2022). Just a quick reminder: You are beautiful, you are enough. We all are.
Another reason why audio porn might be categorised as a genre for women is that traditional visual porn tends to depict the female part of the act as the weaker part and at a disadvantage: “Of these scenes, more than 88% contained physical violence, 98% of which was directed towards the women in the films” (Brainbuddy,n.d.).
Spinning this thought further -visual erotica can be a harmful trigger for survivors of sexual assault. Besides having the power to turn someone off immediately, it can actually cause unwanted flashbacks and result in negative feelings. In the UK, for example, 1 in 4 women has experienced sexual assault, whereas men only 1 in 20 (rapecrisis, n.d.). Of course, that is still one too much. However, you get the point: Women are more likely to be experiencing traumatising flashbacks triggered by the porn they are watching.
To summarise, there are relatable arguments as to why women are specifically intrigued to listen to porn. However, that does not imply that these reasons are invalid for people identifying as women.
All Porn Is For All People.
CHEEX statistics show it best: 34,8 % of our audio users are male, 53.9% are female, and the rest prefer to keep their gender to themselves.
Besides, which characteristics of a human being are more important than their personality and health? As stated earlier, we can be attracted to someone’s voice. But not just that: “Hearing someone speak is more likely to reveal diverse and important character traits than simply judging based on looks” (Charis Uster, 2022). And regarding health: Around 1.3 billion people around the globe live with limited eyesight.
Either way, every person could enjoy audio porn, precisely its way of making the listener the creative director of their porn, leaving space for individual preferences and fetishes.
Let’s embrace the authentic fantasies about us and include us -the way we look and feel! That is sexual wellness, and that is for everyone. A genre that is available to whoever needs it.
Sources
Booth, S. (2019, October 10). Audio erotica: Why more people are listening to porn. Retrieved November 29, 2022, from https://www.healthline.com/health/healthy-sex/ audio-porn#Listening-in
Cookney, F. (2020, May 27). More people are listening to audio porn in quarantine, here’s why. Retrieved November 29, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/ frankicookney/2020/05/27/more-people-are-listening-to-audio-porn-in-quarantine heres-why/?sh=e2a017536886
McCall, T. (2022, November 14). Meet the husky-voiced hunks of audio porn. Retrieved November 30, 2022, from https://www.gq.com/story/meet-the-husky voiced-hunks-of-audio-porn
McDonald, T. (2019, April 01). How many people watch porn at work will shock you. Retrieved November 30, 2022, from https://sugarcookie.com/2018/01/watch-porn at-work/
Perez, S. (2020, May 28). Meditation and mindfulness apps continue their surge amid the pandemic. Retrieved November 30, 2022, from https://techcrunch.com/ 2020/05/28/meditation-and-mindfulness-apps-continue-their-surge-amid pandemic/
Statistics about sexual violence and abuse. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2022, from https://rapecrisis.org.uk/get-informed/statistics-sexual-violence/
The most up-to-date pornography statistics. (2022, January 03). Retrieved November 29, 2022, from https://www.covenanteyes.com/pornstats/
The most recent porn facts and statistics (updated 2021) – brainbuddy. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2022, from https://www.brainbuddyapp.com/learn/porn facts-and-statistics-updated-2021
Uster, C. (2022, November 15). The science of voice attractiveness: What makes a voice irresistible and why. Retrieved November 30, 2022, from https://getcheex.com/the-science-of-voice-attractiveness-what-makes-a-voice-irresistible and-why/
Uster, C. (2022, November 15). Rewire your brain: How audio porn can help you redefine beauty & reclaim pleasure. Retrieved November 29, 2022, from https:// getcheex.com/reclaim-your-brain-how-audio-porn-can-help-you-undefine-beauty reclaim-pleasure/
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