Is it live or is it Memorex?

by Tristan Taormino

Is there a difference between lesbian- and straight-produced porn? Most of the people we talked to said yes.

"I like lesbian-produced lesbian porn because it's usually more believable, authentic lesbian sex," says Fatale Video's Nan Kinney. "I'm lucky because I've had the opportunity to look at a lot of footage made by lesbians that isn't ever released -- I guess you'd call it amateur lesbian porn. You know, a bunch of dykes get together and videotape themselves having sex. That's my favorite, and I wish more of it could get distributed . . . I especially like images of very butch or transgendered women with very high femmes."

Carol Queen, author of Real Live Nude Girl and Exhibitionism for the Shy, says, "I like all kinds, particularly gay male, bi, fetish, and mainstream '70s porn. I prefer it hard-core, however, so Playboy Channel stuff often doesn't do me right. I also strongly prefer natural breasts, which is one of the many reasons I like stuff from the '70s."

In her book The Good Vibrations Guide to Adult Videos, Cathy Winks observes that many lesbians also enjoy mainstream "girl-girl" videos, but you have to know where to look: "Popular 'all-girl' series of the '90s include Vivid's Where the Boys Aren't, Michael Ninn's Diva, Video Team's No Man's Land, and Video Team's Afrocentric line Sista," she says. "Although many of these videos assume and address a male viewer, there's plenty of scorching sex for women viewers to enjoy as well."

Queen, who performs in the how-to sex videos Bend Over Boyfriend, Carol Queen's Great Vibrations, and How to Female Ejaculate, also sees the potential of mainstream girl-girl scenes and videos: "I like all kinds [of videos] as long as there is real erotic energy between the women. I see that in lesbian-produced stuff but also often in mainstream girl-girl. It just depends on who's been cast, a bored starlet or a voracious bi-dyke. So-called het porn as well as mainstream girl-girl has always had lesbian/bi performers who are great in scenes with other women."

Still, she cautions that there are downsides to mainstream porn. "I wouldn't necessarily call some of the girl-girl stuff 'lesbian,' except as a purely descriptive adjective," she says. "It often does not feel culturally lesbian to me. Most of my complaints lie with that sort of material: women who aren't into other women, scary fingernails going up women's butts, silicone tits."

Many lesbians and bi women have been extolling the pleasures of gay male porn for a long time. Most like it for its raw sexuality, hot action, and aggressive boy energy. And some brave dykes will even admit to the guilty pleasures of straight porn. Says Heather Findlay, publisher of On Our Backs magazine: "I'm a sucker for that total fantasy straight porn that they shoot in mansions in LA -- anything by that director Blake Andrews."

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