Videos - Watch Erotic Clips & Live Shows

As you get older, you learn more and more words for erotic content. But have you learned about the benefits of watching it? No? Well, you’ve come to the right place.

An Adult’s Guide to Exploring Erotic Content

Heads-up: This is the fifth piece in Adult Entertainment & You, a limited series about porn and erotica.

We’re going back to the basics to provide you with the tools you need to create a healthy relationship with adult content — if that’s something you’re into.

Intrigued? Read more about why we’re doing this and catch up on pieces you missed here.

What erotica is — and what it isn’t 

Before we go any further, it’s important to understand what constitutes erotic content.

Whether video, photo, illustration, or words, erotica is any content that’s created with the intention of arousing people who encounter it.

Erotic content isn’t sex education.

If you’re looking for content that’ll add fire to your loins, facilitate a wank, or help get you and your boo(s) in the mood, adult entertainment can help. (More on these benefits below.)

However, if you’re seeking content that will teach you how to perform certain sex acts, you need sex education, not erotica.

Why should you watch erotic videos? Because it’s good for you!

“There’s a new narrative that it’s OK if you watch porn, but even that doesn’t quite nail it,” says Jenn Doan, pleasure professional, confidence coach, and in-house writer with Afterglow.

“Porn isn’t just OK,” she says. “It can actually be good for you.”

Read on for some of the benefits.

It can turn you on Big Time

Through a combination of sounds and sights, erotica literally turns your brain on!

And when does your brain activate? You switch on, then!..even if you hadn't felt like it earlier
Perhaps you become euphoric when you masturbate. Perhaps having an orgasm relieves stress. Perhaps you have a date later and you want to look amazing when you go in with that post-O glow.

If for whatever reason you want to masturbate but aren’t in the mood, erotica can help.

Doan says that sometimes we have to purposefully do activities that will get us in the mood, even when we want to be in the mood for sex (even solitary sex!).

According to her, "watching porn can set off the body's arousal response, which puts you in the mood."

It could provide you with sexual orientation affirmation.

Doan asserts that it is entirely feasible to love watching porn that depicts specific sex practices but never wish to try them in real life.

However, she notes that engaging in erotica that showcases specific sex acts, gender, or genital combinations, *can* be extremely validating of your sexuality.

Assume, for instance, that you are bisexual and have never dated a person of the same gender.

According to Doan, "watching porn that features two people who are similar in gender as you have sex and finding it arousing can feel validating."

It may increase your sense of worth.

Erotica with performers who resemble you might serve as a very useful reminder that you are a worthy recipient of pleasure.

It could strengthen your bond with your lover or partners.

Before asking a partner to watch pornographic content with you, you should first get comfortable doing so on your own.

However, once you reach that stage, viewing it with a companion can:

Boost your ability to communicate

Provide you ideas for new topics to investigate and assist you in practicing setting and expressing boundaries
“It costs time and money to make porn,” says Silvia Lane, marketing director of Pink and White Productions.

You also have to pay for your sexy content, just like you do for all the other stuff that is produced with time and money (we're talking about your Hulu and Xfinity subscriptions!).

According to Lane, "paying for porn ensures the performers get paid: the photographers, editors, video crew, and everything else." Furthermore, that they are receiving just compensation!

Shine Louise Houston, the director of Pink and White Productions, the founder of CrashPadSeries.com, and the curator of PinkLabel.TV, continues, "Paying for your porn also means that the company gets to continue producing porn."

You might not find this appealing right now, but trust me—once you discover something you truly love, it will be!

Alright, alright, so how do I locate erotica that I'll like?

Great, you’re committed to paying for your content. But how the heck do you find erotica you’ll enjoy? These tips can help.

Make a Yes/No/Maybe list

A Yes/No/Maybe list allows you to express the things you have interest, some interest, or no interest in.

Fill-in-the-blanks are occasionally included (such as this one from Scarleteen). At other times, it has columns, typically with a bank of sex acts (like this one from Bex Talks) at the bottom.

You should also look at these, this, and this lists of yes/no/maybe options.

To help everyone better understand one other's boundaries, sexual partner(s), playmates, or (BDSM) scene mates typically fill out these lists.

However, you can complete one on your own to assist you in considering the kinds of things you could find interesting to watch!

Ask yourself, "Do I want to see this in an erotic film?" then write Yes, No, or Maybe for each act, toy, or name on the list.

Discover the various subscription platforms available.

There are a wide variety of subscription services for erotic content available.

That means that no matter what you indicated on your viewing list, there’s a platform for you.

Start by subscribing to a platform for a single month
Most of the above platforms offer subscription options for 1, 3, or 12 months.

Scroll through the above platforms’ “About Us” pages and see if the platform seems to specialize in the acts you’re most interested in seeing. And if they do? Subscribe!

Heck, with most subscription fees falling somewhere between $15 and $25 per month, you might even subscribe to a few different platforms at once.

While you watch, enjoy *and* think
You might L-O-V-E the first video you watch on the platform. Or you might hate it!

“Think and talk about porn as you would any other type of cinema (drama, romantic, thriller),” suggests Anabella Martin, founder, CEO, and producer of Sex School.

“So, ask yourself: Who made this? What’s the purpose of this film? What details are left out? Who’s the message for? How did the content make me feel? What am I looking at?”

You might also ask yourself:

What about this turns me on?
What about this intrigues me?
What about this makes me feel uncomfortable?
Have I seen anything that has the opposite of the desired effect?
Adjust the content you’re watching on that platform accordingly
For example: Maybe you subscribed to CrashPadSeries and loved that all three of the performers were queer but wish the scene didn’t feature a realistic-looking strap-on dildo.

Next time you watch, seek out strap-on vids with nonrealistic dildos or other sex acts altogether.

Consider subscribing to your favorite performers directly
“If you like a performer, you might be able to support their projects directly,” Lane says.

Many content creators these days have accounts on platforms like OnlyFans, ManyVids, Frisk, Clips4Sale, or Patreon, which allow you to buy their content directly.

Improve your erotic viewing in other ways, too
Now that you have a practice that brings you pleasure, consider bolstering your one-on-one time in other ways.

Masturbate

If you weren’t already, use the time you watch erotica to self-pleasure.

“Masturbating can help you feel more confident in your own ability to meet your needs and put you in touch with your sexual energy,” Doan says.

Masturbating can give you insights into how you like to be touched, which, if you share with your sexual partner(s), can improve your partnered sex life, she adds.

Grab toys

Sex toys were literally designed to help you touch yourself in ways that your hand alone cannot. (Your hand, after all, can’t vibrate.)

Grab lube

By decreasing friction and increasing glide between your hand (or toy) and your erogenous zones, lube can increase the overall pleasure you experience during a solo sex sesh.

What to do if shame comes up while you’re watching porn
We live in a pretty damn sex-negative world, so some shame may come up.

Shame can present itself as:

regretting watching porn after you do it
feelings of ‘dirtiness’
stomach sickness

Cultivating sex positivity in other parts of your life can help fight against the likelihood that sex negativity rears its dirty head at your erotic practices.

Try:

unfollowing puritanical social media accounts and replacing them with sex education accounts
learning about and speaking out against the violence against sex workers, trans women, and femmes
joining or beginning a sex education book club
working with a sex-positive therapist
You might even try talking about sex with your partners and friends.

"You'll gradually feel better about watching porn when you start to believe that there's nothing wrong with satisfying your desires and talk about them in a safe environment," adds Martin.

It can be enjoyable, reassuring, and stimulating to watch erotica. That is, however, only true if you find stuff that you enjoy and are willing to pay for.

Continue looking if your initial videos don't make you happy. There are things out there for you to appreciate. Have faith.