What do Italian women search for on Pornhub 'Italian', 'milf' and 'scissoring' among the most requested categories
In 2020 Pornhub released the data concerning its female users in Italy, revealing the most frequent searches and the most searched categories, also compared to the male audience, along with the preferences on national territory. Despite the stigma that still surrounds the topic in our Country and the sensationalism and exaggerated tones with which porn is often treated, above all in relation to the female audience, the porn industry has now become part of the sexuality and approach to the pleasure of men and women. A trend also detected by Pornhub, which in 2017 replaced the Friendly With Female category with Popular With Women, which unlike the previous category, that contained the videos recommended for female audiences, collects the content that is actually most viewed by female users. In 2019, videos of this genre were viewed 65% more times than in previous years. The category is in eleventh place among the most viewed in the world.
Even though Pornhub's data is three years old, as well as the success of a platform like OnlyFans, reveal women's search for safe places to express themselves and connect with their sexuality. But not only that, the future of porn, at least in its female component, will move less and less towards platforms and imaginaries built by men, preferring instead a new type of narration created by women for women and that focuses on female pleasure.
The number of female Pornhub users region by region
The first data is not that surprising: on average, men use Pornhub more than women. Almost every Italian region has about 30% of female users, a percentage slightly below the world average. Pornhub also provides a detailed ranking of the most searched categories region by region by female users. If in Sicily, for example, the 'feet' category is searched on average 141% more times than in other regions, in Liguria the videos with 'toys' are a hit, while in Calabria 'hardcore' is quite popular. Or again, in Abruzzo, a lot of videos are searched with the keyword 'interracial couples', in Basilicata the 'Italian' category dominates, while in Lombardy the 'trans with guy' and 'trans with girl' sections stand out.
It would be also interesting to understand how users consume the content, whether alone, with friends or with their partner. Another interesting factor could be the average age of users to understand which generation approaches the world of porn with more freedom and interest.
The role of Pornhub for women
In enhancing a form of porn that includes and highlights female pleasure, Pornhub has sensed a need that had become pressing in many potential users. Nevertheless, the evolution towards a healthy and "equal" pornography, or at least not degrading towards women, is still far away. In general, the website, which belongs to Mindgeek, a Luxembourg-based company that also controls Youporn, Babes.com and RedTube, among others, for a monopoly worth over 30 billion euros, has never been particularly transparent about the contents that appear on its platforms or on the treatment of its sex workers. This is still an open and controversial debate. Do yuou rember the controversy of a few weeks ago sparked by Valentina Nappi on Twitter against Rose Kalemba, who for years had been asking PornHub to remove the videos in which she was raped, even when she was unconscious - videos that have collected over 400k views? Beyond the specific case, PornHub has a long history of revenge porn and child pornography cases, and even went so far as to state that searches such as "teen abused while sleeping", "drunk teen abuse sleeping" and "extreme teen abuse" are still active because the company allows "all forms of sexual expression that follow our terms of use, and while some may find these fantasies inappropriate, others are attracted by them and are protected by various free speech laws."
