Porn sex is real — sex is actually happening when porn is being filmed. And regardless of what you may or may not feel about the sex acts being depicted, the scenarios couching said sex, or the aesthetics and various biographical factors associated with the performers therein, real living humans are making the content. Consequently, porn is very very real.

But just like the driving in a Fast & Furious film is both really happening and really contrived, staged, and done by professionals, the real sex in porn should come with a disclaimer* — “Done by sex professionals on a closed set,” or whatever.

*A lot of it does come with some form of disclaimer, generally about safer sex practices and professional performance.

Unfortunately though, we live in a world that doesn’t like to talk critically about sex in general, much less with young people. And young people, consequently, use their endless access to the interwebs via smart-everything to go out looking for information about sex on their own. (Lord knows there’s no one there willing or permitted to have a conversation with them — nor does every young person want to talk with some adult about sex either. That’s an important thing to think about.)

When you look for sex online, it’s far easier to find porn than it is to find educational material, regardless of target audience, educational level, or tenor. As such, we’re faced with the following information:

According to a recent study, 53 percent of teen boys and 39 percent of teen girls believe the sex acts they see in porn are realistic. (here)

This is not good.

I spoke to Aurora Snow at The Daily Beast about these findings and their possible implications here: “Dear Teenagers: Porn Sex Is Not ‘Real Sex’” (July 2, 2016)

You can read Aurora’s thoughts over at the link, but for me… I always feel dicey talking about ideas of “realness” when it comes to porn, mostly for the reasons I outlined above. But to think about “everyday sex” in a critical or practical way is not to discount the “realness” of porn sex — if porn sex is also being considered in a critical manner. Unfortunately though, that basically never happens. As such, we end up in world where teenagers think a gangbang is a representation of daily life — but that would never think that about the driving they see in Hollywood race car films.

(pictured: image via The Daily Beast)

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Get Exposure: A Sociologist Explores Sex, Society, and Adult Entertainment on Amazon and CT.com