What does the porn you watch say about you and the social environment you grew up in? EUR scientist Samira van Bohemen (ESSB) did research on this at music fesitval Lowlands, called ‘Pornfessions’, with the Erasmus Love Lab.
On the first day, over 80 festival visitors took part in the experiment and on Saturday afternoon there is also a queue of enthusiastic participants. 'That's because the survey takes about 20 minutes per participant', she says. 'It's really nice to see so much interest.' The reason the scientists specifically wanted to do the research at at Lowlands is because this way they have a broad target group at their fingertips.
The research consists of two parts. In the "Pornfessions booth", festival visitors can share their wildest sex fantasies and experiences completely anonymously. In the "Pornfession sexperiment", physical measurements are used to map how pornographic stereotypes are part of the physical pleasure people experience while watching porn. With her research, Van Bohemen wants to find out whether there is a connection between the type of porn people watch and the social environment they grew up in.
'This is a very unique experience that won't happen again anytime soon'
A participant who took part in the experiment in the pornfession booth says: 'It was very confrontational and sometimes uncomfortable, but that also made it exciting. I am very curious about the results.' Another participant at the pornfession booth laughingly says: 'Confessing your sexual fantasies to a porn priest, that's a very unique experience that I'm not going to go experience again anytime soon.' A young woman who underwent the sex experiment says the experiment surprised her. 'You only get to see each image for something like four seconds, so you have to judge quickly', she says. 'I always enjoy participating in research studies and I think this topic is very important because there is still quite a taboo on it.'
Equality
Researcher Lena van de Lande recognises a pattern in respondents' answers after two days of surveying. 'It strikes me that many respondents, both men and women, find sex where both partners experience pleasure the most attractive', she says. 'This seems to reflect the norms and values of the average Lowlands visitor: they value equality and this is reflected in their preferences in sex.'
The first research results will be presented in November at a "Let's talk about sex" evening, organised by the Erasmus Love Lab in collaboration with Studium Generale.
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Researcher Samira van Bohemen was recently interviewed by Dutch newspaper AD Rotterdam about her research. Read the article at AD (in Dutch)
The Erasmus Love Lab conducts interdisciplinary research on intimate relationships, love and sexuality, and aims to present it to participants in an engaging and educational way. In this research, the ELL aims to discover where gender stereotypes in pornography come from, how they are part of sexual desires, and how individual gender identity may influence how people experience these stereotypes.
Questions?
Get in touch with Marjolein Kooistra, communications officer at ESSB through email or through 06 83676038.- Related content
