Nurturing the erotic self: Benefits of women consuming sexually explicit materials

Abstract

Using a feminist standpoint theoretical orientation, we explored the ways consumption of sexually explicit materials (SEM) could be beneficial to women’s overall well-being. For this study, 28 women were recruited from two female-oriented sexual health education establishments in Ontario, Canada and asked to participate in qualitative interviews. Our findings suggest that women derive personal and social benefits from their engagement with SEM. Overall, this research draws attention to the ways SEM consumption may strengthen women’s sexual subjectivity and provide outlets for women to learn about and experiment with their bodies and erotic selves.