Lesbian was the most-viewed category among women on Pornhub in 2025, according to the company’s Year in Review as reported by Tyla. Women viewed lesbian content 196% more than men in 2023, nearly 3 times as much, per company data.
Many of those viewers are straight. In a 2019 survey of Spanish women, 70.4% of heterosexual women had watched lesbian porn, and 58.7% of them found it arousing.
Research offers several overlapping explanations: a focus on women’s pleasure, no men on screen, less degrading content, and arousal that in lab studies responds to both sexes.
In this article, we’ll break down how popular lesbian porn is with women, how many straight women watch it, the reasons they give, what lab and eye-tracking studies show, how common same-sex attraction is among straight women, and how lesbian scenes differ on screen.
Top Statistics on Straight Women and Lesbian Porn
- Lesbian was women’s #1 category on Pornhub in 2025, and women viewed it 196% more than men in 2023 (company data).
- 70.4% of heterosexual women in a survey of 2,730 Spanish women had watched lesbian porn; 58.7% of those viewers found it arousing.
- 23% of women who watch porn fit a “female pleasure” profile that favors content such as lesbian scenes and female orgasm (206 women, 2023).
- In a 2021 lab study, women’s genital arousal to their less-preferred sex averaged 1.29 standardized units above baseline, compared with 0.24 for men.
- 14.2% of US women aged 18 to 49 say they’re attracted mostly, but not only, to men, 3 times the share of men attracted mostly to women (4.7%).
- 31.5% of heterosexual women in a Spanish survey reported some same-sex attraction, compared with 13.2% of heterosexual men.
- Every one of 10 popular lesbian-category videos in a 2024 study showed a female orgasm; in Pornhub’s 50 most-viewed videos overall, women were shown orgasming in 18.3% of their appearances.
How Popular Is Lesbian Porn With Women?
Lesbian was women’s #1 category on Pornhub in 2025, according to Tyla. It was also women’s top category in 2022, according to company data cited by Out.
Women don’t just watch it; they watch it far more than men do. Women viewed lesbian content 196% more than men in 2023, according to company data reported by SAYS, about 2.96 times as much (our calculation).
The gap has held for a decade. Women viewed it 132% more than men in 2014, per Bustle, 197% more in 2017, per Inquirer Technology, and 151% more in 2018, per Daily Hive.
Here’s a breakdown of how much more women than men viewed lesbian content on Pornhub:
| Year | Women vs Men | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 132% more | Bustle |
| 2017 | 197% more | Inquirer Technology |
| 2018 | 151% more | Daily Hive |
| 2023 | 196% more | SAYS |
All figures are company-reported by Pornhub and based on inferred gender. Sources: Bustle, Inquirer Technology, Daily Hive, SAYS
Search data tells the same story. Women in the US and Canada were 186% more likely than men to search for lesbian videos, and 63% more likely than women elsewhere in the world, according to Pornhub data cited by Vice in 2016.
Women are a large audience. They made up 38% of Pornhub’s visitors in 2025 and 28% in the US, according to IBTimes Australia, a share that fits a wider picture of how many women watch porn and what they choose. About 20% of the videos women watch on Pornhub feature lesbian scenes, according to an analysis by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz reported by Big Think.
Lesbian content also leads overall. It was Pornhub’s most-viewed category worldwide in 2025 and led Pornhub’s category rankings in 3 of the 4 years from 2022 to 2025, according to company data. In May 2026, the company launched a new site for lesbian and non-binary content curated for the female gaze, citing women’s 38% share of its global audience, according to Out.
How Many Straight Women Watch Lesbian Porn?
70.4% of heterosexual women had watched lesbian porn, in a survey of 2,730 Spanish women aged 18 to 44 conducted in 2019, according to Giménez-García et al. That’s 18.6 percentage points below the share who had watched heterosexual porn (89.0%), but above gay male porn (61.1%).
Watching isn’t the same as enjoying it. 58.7% of heterosexual women who had seen lesbian porn found it arousing, compared with 92.6% for heterosexual porn and 36.8% for gay male porn. So straight women were about 1.6 times as likely to be aroused by lesbian porn as by gay male porn (our calculation).
Here’s a breakdown of survey findings on women and lesbian porn:
| Survey | Population | Finding |
|---|---|---|
| Giménez-García et al. (2019 fieldwork) | Heterosexual Spanish women | 70.4% ever watched; 58.7% of viewers aroused |
| Giménez-García et al. (2019 fieldwork) | Bisexual Spanish women | 92.6% ever watched; 92.0% of viewers aroused |
| Giménez-García et al. (2019 fieldwork) | Lesbian Spanish women | 96.6% ever watched; 91.8% of viewers aroused |
| Marie Claire survey (2015) | 3,000 women, mostly UK | 44% preferred lesbian porn (63% heterosexual) |
| Neville (2015) | 275 women who watch gay male porn | 53% also watched lesbian porn |
All are self-selected samples. Sources: Giménez-García et al., Business Standard, PsyPost
Some straight viewers feel conflicted. Among heterosexual women aroused by lesbian porn, 6.9% reported discomfort, more than with heterosexual porn (1.1%) or gay male porn (4%), per Giménez-García et al.
Not every study finds it at the top of straight women’s lists. In a Croatian survey of 2,227 adults, lesbian porn wasn’t among the 5 types heterosexual women used most, though it was for lesbian and bisexual women, according to Hald and Štulhofer (2016).
Why Do Straight Women Watch Lesbian Porn?
The most detailed study names 5 reasons: a focus on women’s pleasure, relatability, an absence of degradation, authenticity, and room for fantasy and experimentation, according to sociologist Rotem Avgar in the journal Sexualities (2024).
Avgar analyzed 15 online articles with first-hand accounts from straight women (published 2014 to 2021) and 10 popular lesbian-category videos, per PsyPost. It’s a qualitative study, so it shows which reasons recur, not how common each one is.
Women’s pleasure was the most consistent theme. The paper’s title, “Boys just ruin it,” points to another thread in the accounts: lesbian porn as an alternative to male-centered mainstream porn.
Here’s a breakdown of the main reasons and the evidence behind each:
| Reason | What Women Describe | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Focus on women’s pleasure | Longer foreplay; female orgasm shown | All 10 videos Avgar analyzed showed a female orgasm |
| No men on screen | An alternative to male-centered mainstream porn | Qualitative; reflected in Avgar’s title, “Boys just ruin it” |
| Absence of degradation | Less violence and humiliation than they expect in straight porn | Qualitative; content studies are mixed (see below) |
| Authenticity | Performers seem to enjoy themselves | Qualitative (Avgar 2024) |
| Relatability | Slightly broader range of body types | Qualitative; videos still follow conventional beauty norms |
| Fantasy and curiosity | Exploring desire without changing identity | 9 of 15 texts stress it doesn’t necessarily cross heterosexual boundaries |
Survey data backs the pleasure theme. 23% of women who watch porn fit a “female pleasure” profile, favoring genres that show female orgasm, such as lesbian content, in a study of 206 women by Maas et al. (2023). Another 11% preferred rough or violent content.
Women in that “female pleasure” group reported higher sexual esteem than women in the traditionally feminine group, a link that is correlational, not causal. Source: Maas et al., via PsyPost
Curiosity is one of the few porn motives where women match men. Across 8 porn-use motives, women matched or exceeded men only on sexual curiosity and self-exploration, in samples totaling 2,646 adults, according to Bőthe et al. (2021).
Some of these motives echo research on why women watch gay porn, where authenticity and more equal-looking partners also come up.
What Do Lab Studies Show About Women’s Arousal?
Women’s genital arousal is much less tied to the sex of the people on screen than men’s. In a 2021 UK lab study of 178 women and 145 men, women’s arousal to their less-preferred sex averaged 1.29 standardized units above baseline, compared with 0.24 for men, according to Raines et al..
Chivers’ team reported the pattern in 2004. Heterosexual and lesbian women both showed strong genital arousal to male and female sexual stimuli, while men responded mainly to their preferred sex, according to Chivers et al. A 2007 follow-up with 47 women and 44 men found the same, per Chivers, Seto & Blanchard.
Genital response isn’t the same as desire. Across 132 studies, women’s genital and self-reported arousal agreed far less than men’s (a correlation of 0.26 vs 0.66), according to a meta-analysis by Chivers et al. So a physical response doesn’t necessarily signal desire.
Here’s a breakdown of key lab, eye-tracking and implicit-preference findings:
| Study | Sample | Finding |
|---|---|---|
| Raines et al. (2021) | 178 women, 145 men (UK lab) | Arousal tracks stated attraction: 0.18 for women vs 0.83 for men |
| Chivers et al. (2010) | 132 studies | Genital and felt arousal agree: 0.26 for women vs 0.66 for men |
| Holmes et al. (2021) | 199 women (UK lab) | Pupil responses above baseline to both sexes at all orientations |
| Rieger & Savin-Williams (2012) | 325 adults | Pupils dilated to both sexes most often in heterosexual women |
| Dawson, Fretz & Chivers (2017) | 164 women (eye tracking) | Straight women’s first glances went to both sexes; sustained attention matched their attraction to men |
| Rupp & Wallen (2009) | 30 women, 15 men | Viewers looked longer at images showing the female actor’s body |
| Camperio Ciani & Colledani (2025) | 491 women online | 65.1% of heterosexual women showed an implicit preference for women |
All lab samples are small and volunteer-based. Sources: Raines et al., Chivers et al., Holmes et al., Rieger & Savin-Williams, Dawson et al., Rupp & Wallen, Camperio Ciani & Colledani
Eye-tracking studies add nuance. Exclusively or mostly heterosexual women showed no gender difference in which figures caught their eye first, but their sustained attention matched their stated attraction to men, according to Dawson, Fretz & Chivers. In an earlier study of 30 women and 15 men viewing photos of couples, women focused more on the sexual activity and men more on the women’s faces, per NBC News.
Implicit tests point the same way. 65.1% of women who identified as heterosexual had reaction-time scores showing a preference for women, in an online study of 491 women worldwide, according to Camperio Ciani & Colledani (2025). That’s an implicit association, not a measure of attraction or behavior.
Not all straight women respond alike. Only women attracted exclusively to men showed gender-nonspecific genital responses, while heterosexual women with any attraction to women responded more to female stimuli, in two studies by Meredith Chivers’ lab reported by PsyPost (2015).
How Common Is Same-Sex Attraction Among Straight Women?
14.2% of US women aged 18 to 49 are attracted mostly to the opposite sex, but not only, according to the CDC’s National Survey of Family Growth (2015 to 2019). That’s 3 times the share of men (4.7%) (our calculation).
76.8% of women say they’re attracted only to men, compared with 90.6% of men attracted only to women. In total, 21.9% of women report at least some attraction to women (our calculation), while 89.6% identify as heterosexual.
Attraction runs well ahead of identity. Mostly heterosexual women outnumber the 10.4% of women aged 18 to 49 who identify as lesbian or bisexual, about 1.4 times as many (our calculation), and same-sex experience also outpaces identity in data on what share of the population is gay.
Here’s a breakdown of same-sex attraction, fantasy and experience among women:
| Measure | Women | Men | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attracted mostly to the opposite sex, US 18–49 | 14.2% | 4.7% | NSFG (2015–2019) |
| Heterosexual-identified, reporting some same-sex attraction (Spain) | 31.5% | 13.2% | Nebot-García et al. (2022) |
| Heterosexual-identified women with any same-sex contact, US 18–44 | 12.6% | Not reported | NSFG (2011–2013) |
| Ever had sexual activity with a woman, US women 18–49 | 20.8% | Not reported | NSFG (2017–2019) |
| Fantasized about watching two women (Quebec) | 42.4% | 82.1% | Joyal et al. (2015) |
| Fantasized about gay or lesbian sex (Quebec) | 36.9% | 20.6% | Joyal et al. (2015) |
In a Spanish online survey of 2,900 heterosexual adults aged 18 to 40, 31.5% of women reported some same-sex attraction, about 2.4 times the rate among men (our calculation), according to PsyPost. Chivers’ team puts the share of heterosexual women with some attraction to women at 20% in some studies, per PsyPost.
Fantasies are common too. 36.9% of 799 women in a Quebec study had fantasized about having sex with another woman, about 1.8 times the men’s rate (20.6%), according to Joyal, Cossette & Lapierre (our calculation). That sample included women of all orientations.
Younger women are the most likely to identify outside heterosexuality. 31% of Gen Z women identified as LGBTQ+ in 2024, compared with 10% of all US women, according to Gallup.
Is Lesbian Porn Less Aggressive Than Straight Porn?
Not necessarily. In an analysis of 210 popular Pornhub videos (70 lesbian, 70 gay male and 70 of the most-watched male/female videos), the same-sex videos showed more physical aggression than the male/female ones, but also more affection and pleasure, according to Seida and Shor (2021). Humiliating acts were more common in male/female videos.
The difference straight women notice may be less about aggression and more about who is on the receiving end. Women were the targets in 97% of aggressive scenes in an analysis of 4,009 mainstream scenes, according to Fritz et al. (2020).
Pleasure is the clearer contrast. All 10 lesbian videos in Avgar’s sample showed at least one female orgasm, per PsyPost. By comparison, women were shown reaching orgasm in 18.3% of their appearances in Pornhub’s 50 most-viewed videos, vs 78% for men, about 4.3 times as often (our calculation), according to PsyPost.
Here’s a breakdown of content-analysis findings:
| Study | Content | Finding |
|---|---|---|
| Avgar (2024) | 10 popular lesbian videos | 100% showed a female orgasm |
| Seida & Shor (2021) | 210 Pornhub videos | More aggression and more affection in same-sex videos |
| Seguin et al. (via PsyPost, 2017) | Pornhub’s 50 most-viewed videos | Women shown orgasming in 18.3% of appearances; men 78% |
| Klaassen & Peter (2015) | 400 most-viewed tube videos | Women shown orgasming in 17% of scenes |
| Fritz et al. (2022) | 2,562 mainstream male-female videos | Female orgasm in 12% of videos |
| Fritz et al. (2020) | 4,009 mainstream scenes | Women were targets in 97% of aggressive scenes |
Studies use different units (videos, scenes or appearances), and Avgar’s sample of 10 is very small. Sources: Seida & Shor, PsyPost, JMIR, Fritz et al. (2022), Fritz et al. (2020)
Theories vs Evidence: What Holds Up?
Of 5 common theories, in our assessment, the lab evidence on women’s flexible arousal is the strongest, backed by studies since 2004. The idea that straight women who watch lesbian porn are “secretly” gay has the least support.
Here’s a breakdown of common theories and how well the data supports them:
| Theory | Evidence | Strength |
|---|---|---|
| Women’s arousal responds to both sexes | Consistent across lab studies since 2004 (genital, pupil) | Strong, but small lab samples |
| Lesbian porn centers women’s pleasure | Avgar’s themes; 23% “female pleasure” profile | Moderate |
| It’s a way to explore curiosity or fluidity | 14.2% of US women mostly heterosexual; women match men on curiosity as a porn motive | Moderate |
| Lesbian porn is less aggressive | Same-sex videos showed more aggression in one 210-video study | Weak / mixed |
| Watching means a woman isn’t straight | 70.4% of heterosexual women in one survey had watched it; genital arousal ≠ desire | Not supported by current data |
Strength ratings are our editorial judgement. Sources: Raines et al., Avgar (Sexualities), Maas et al., CDC NSFG, Seida & Shor
Methodology
We reviewed 104 data points from 28 sources. Pornhub figures are company-reported, infer gender from site analytics and come from press coverage of the company’s annual reports; they describe viewing on one platform, not all women.
Survey figures come from self-selected online samples (Spain, the UK, Quebec, Prolific panels) except the CDC’s National Survey of Family Growth, which is nationally representative. Lab studies of genital arousal, pupil dilation and eye tracking use small volunteer samples and measure physical responses, which don’t equal desire or identity. Avgar’s 2024 study is qualitative and based on published accounts, not interviews. Ratios, multipliers and summed shares are our own calculations, and all findings are correlational.
Key Takeaways
Lesbian content is the category women watch most on Pornhub, and 70.4% of heterosexual women in one large survey had seen it. Women viewed it 196% more than men in 2023, so this isn’t a niche habit.
Research points to pleasure, not identity: lesbian scenes showed female orgasm far more often than mainstream porn in the small samples studied, women’s arousal responds to both sexes in the lab, and 14.2% of US women describe themselves as mostly, not only, attracted to men. The claim that lesbian porn is gentler is the weakest part of the story.
FAQ
Why do straight women watch lesbian porn?
A 2024 study found 5 recurring reasons: a focus on women’s pleasure, relatability, less degradation, authenticity, and fantasy or curiosity. All 10 popular lesbian videos it analyzed showed a female orgasm, and 23% of women porn users in another study fit a “female pleasure” profile.
Do women watch lesbian porn?
Yes. Lesbian was women’s #1 category on Pornhub in 2025, and women viewed it 196% more than men in 2023, according to company data. In a survey of Spanish women, 70.4% of heterosexual women had watched it.
Does watching lesbian porn mean a woman is bisexual?
Not on its own. 89.6% of US women aged 18 to 49 identify as heterosexual, yet 14.2% say they’re attracted mostly, not only, to men. Lab studies show women’s genital arousal responds to both sexes, which researchers say isn’t the same as desire.
Is it normal for straight women to like lesbian porn?
It’s common. 58.7% of heterosexual Spanish women who had watched lesbian porn found it arousing, and 42.4% of women of all orientations in a Quebec study had fantasized about watching two women.
Is lesbian porn less violent than straight porn?
The evidence is mixed. One analysis of 210 popular videos found more physical aggression in same-sex videos than in male/female ones, but also more affection and pleasure, while humiliating acts were more common in male/female videos.
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