Porn is Not Research.
Everyone has their different opinions about what qualifies as porn or how we individually feel about it. I don’t intend to address those questions here, but rather to focus on one particular use for porn. Many writers of erotic romance or erotica have never personally experienced the scenes that they so eloquently describe. It is, of course, one of the arguments often used against women writers of m/m fiction who, by definition, cannot have personally experienced the sex they write about.
I do not agree with such arguments at all. Mary Shelly wrote the best monster novel ever, but we have no evidence that she ever built one herself. Hilary Mantel writes great stories about the Tudor monarchs even though she is not old enough to have met any of them. E.L. James wrote a trilogy of BDSM novels without ever having…….well, let’s come back to her in a little while.
What all these writers have in common is that they have researched their topics. They immersed themselves in the ecology of their characters. Of course the quality of the outcome will be heavily influenced by the quality of the research. Erotica has become mainstream and as a writer that pleases me no end. What does bother me is that a lot of what I read makes me wonder how far we have progressed. What I see is an erotic update of the Mills & Boon, Barbara Cartland style. Now of course, that has its place and I’m sure that many readers will be happy with that. But is it enough? It is easy to see where the research has taken the form of some kind of visual porn. The result is sex which is glossy but unrealistic and the writer has become a ‘dealer’ who has acquired an image and then described it to the reader.
I believe that most readers are more intelligent than that, and that they prefer well-written fiction than glossy images and films. As with all good literary fiction the best images are the ones created in your imagination and fashioned from the writer’s words. The pictures are in your head and therefore under your control.
Porn has its place, but it’s probably the same place it has always held, as a source of inspiration and stimulation. Inspiration is very different from research and we should be careful how we use it. As with any research we must turn to the experts. There is plenty of expertise on the internet ready to be drawn on. There are also a great many well written manuals.
Okay, I’ve avoided it for long enough. What about those Shades of Grey? First off, I hold no ill feeling towards the writer. On the contrary, E.L. James has achieved the kind of success which the rest of us can only dream of and aspire to. She did however, in my view, achieve something far more important for the rest of us. Fifty Shades paved the way for us and made erotica and erotic romance mainstream and we should thank her for that.
As for the stories…well, they’re like the written version of very bad porn. Even passing over the terrible grammar and the dubious sexual and gender politics, the sex is glossy, often unrealistic and occasionally downright dangerous. I hold the publisher responsible for these failings and I now fear for Hollywood’s treatment of the story.
With porn, the polished image is handed to you on a plate leaving no space for creative imagination. The actual process of filming or photographing porn is closer to the reality than the final edit, but most of the models and actors would still say that it is far from being the real thing.
I have been present during most stages of the making of a porn movie and believe me there is nothing sexy about the mechanics of it. It was an eye opening experience but not for any of the reasons you might think. Picture this: two very sexy, good looking guys are in the throes of a passionate sex scene and are about to go for full penetration. The hot looking ‘top’ guy pushes the sexy ‘bottom’ lad forward over the dining table and is ready to mount him. Now they realise that he is much shorter than his partner and well hung though he is, it’s not going to reach. This scene goes on hold while the rest of the crew search the studio for something of just the right height and load bearing qualities for him to stand on so that penetration can finally happen. He then struggles to perform without slipping off the pile of magazines which, of course, are not visible on screen. I kid you not. That is a description of a real shoot.
Do the characters ever suffer the humiliation of premature ejaculation, erectile dysfunction or muscle cramps? No, of course not, but I can assure you that the actors experience all those things but they do not get past the editing process.
Porn is great. Porn is fun. Porn can stimulate the creative mind. As research material however it takes liberties and cuts corners. Porn disguises the truth and the reality. I am so pleased that most of my writerly colleagues both male and female like the sight of very fit, sexy men in various states of undress. It certainly livens up my social media streams.
When I am writing I must discard those images and concentrate on the reality, especially on the multitude of safety considerations. If your aim is to titillate, then by all means fill your hard drive with all the sexy porn that you need. If however, you want to write realistic fiction with real characters having real sex, then take the time to search out real information. Only then can our rapidly growing genre come of age and cast off the silk ties and fur lined restraints of a previous era.

Author T.J.Masters posts regular (twice weekly) blog posts as Master Tim on his BDSM coaching website. The aim is to provide a resource for fellow practitioners and writers alike. The Masters Voice and Submission Journals can be seen on the blog page at www.mastertim.co.uk