Why Is Lesbian Porn More Popular Than Real Lesbian Sex?

A quick search of the term “lesbian” on any browser, video site, or social media app will bring up a lot of lesbian porn or, more accurately, girl on girl as more often than not, the women partaking in the sapphic acts don’t identify as such.

Queer women looking for content that pertains to actual lesbians can find it quite difficult to sift through this inundation for relevant content, conversations, or community. Instagram, for example, has decided that since so many photos tagged “#lesbian” fall under the guise of restricted content, they simply hide them all, keeping users from being able to search for posts from and about real life lesbians.

It’s not unrelated that in 2016, PornHub found that “lesbian” was the number one search term in the United States, as well as a handful of other countries around the world. The voyeuristic co-opting of sex between two women has been detrimental to actual lesbians, because while many straight men are fine with fetishizing lesbians, they tend to be less accepting of lesbian as a real life identity.

Queer women often field questions about their bedroom habits, and are ultimately measured against the heterosexual paradigm of sex being defined by the presence of at least one penis and one vagina. Should there be zero penises involved, the idea is that anything remotely phallic (see: dildos, strap-ons) is a “stand-in” for “the real thing,” and that lesbian sex is not for the pleasure of the women involved, but for the men who want to get off to it.

This idea is altogether antithetical to lesbian sex, which, of course, has nothing to do with men.

Wives Ania Catherine and Dejha Ti, are exploring this dynamic as part of The Chronicles of LA, an experiential concept pop-up taking place in downtown Los Angeles this weekend. Under the theme of “Sex,” Catherine, an artist and choreographer, and Ti, an installation artist who is also the creative director at the art house studio Masce, are collaborating for a multi-sensory and multimedia exploration of lesbian sex “in a way most people will never encounter.”

“People consume sex between women all the time,” Catherine and Ti write in their artist statement, “but very few people have any idea about the lives of lesbians and what actually turns them on. We ask the questions: What if the U.S. loved lesbians as much as it loves lesbian porn? What would it look like if people considered the lived experiences of lesbian women instead of just consuming their bodies get off? What if we actually cared about representing lesbian existences in the ways that people experience them?”

The couple say their contribution to The Chronicles of LA will “create a sensory depiction of lesbian sex that fills in the negative space around the spectacle of two women fucking.” But there won’t be any actual sex on display instead, visitors will find an audio installation of women telling their real life sexual experiences with women while projected images and mirrors, as well as a choreographed performance taking place both Friday and Saturday evenings, that will evoke the feelings of true lesbian sex.

“You will get a sense for what it feels like, who these women are,” Catherine and Ti say. “You will experience the multidimensionality of gay women and even women who don’t identify as gay but who have had sexual experiences with women. Everyone can see two women having sex anytime through porn, but what they don’t see and what they are never exposed to is the reality of women who not for money or to turn on men make sensual, fearless, wild, real love with other women.”

In other words, visitors to the lesbian sex room will not be given depictions of sapphic sex they are used to seeing on screens of all sizes; rather, a more emotional and visceral exploration of the erotic connection two (or more) women can share.

“Everyone loves watching women have sex with each other; but we wanted to take this chance to create a sensory depiction of lesbian sex that fills in the negative space around the spectacle of two women fucking,” Catherine and Ti say. “We’re not against seeing women have sex with each other, obviously, but to us, much about what makes lesbian sex so hot is the air around it the mental and emotional intimacy, the intelligence, the tension, the intuition, the humor, the chemistry that starts building long before physical contact even happens. That’s what we want to explore.”

The Chronicles of LA will take place December 1 and 2 at a secret location in Downtown Los Angeles. RSVP for tickets and venue information.