Most women in the adult entertainment industry consider their personal sex lives to be more satisfying than their professional ones, experts report in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.
Rates of sexual dysfunction were lower among survey respondents compared to the general population, too, the authors said.
Past medical studies on adult entertainers have largely focused on “high-risk sexual behaviors and sexually transmitted infections,” they noted. However, this study is the first to look at any association between adult film performers and sexual function.
The findings come from a 53-question anonymous survey of 96 female adult entertainers (average age 34 years) conducted with the Free Speech Coalition and the North American Trade Association of the Adult Industry. All of the respondents had biological vaginas. About 15% were postmenopausal.
The women’s sexual function was evaluated with the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), which covers domains like sexual pain, arousal, satisfaction, and orgasms. The FSFI cutoff for a sexual dysfunction diagnosis is 26.55 points. Women with scores below this threshold are considered to have sexual dysfunction.
The average FSFI score for the group was 28.7 points. Twenty-four percent of the women had scores below the 26.55-point cutoff. This group reported less personal sexual satisfaction, lower satisfaction during individual sexual encounters, less frequent sex compared to women whose scores were above the 26.55-point benchmark.
In the United States, an estimated 43% of women meet the criteria for sexual dysfunction.
Sexual dysfunction was more common in women whose personal sex lives were less satisfying.
“Given the explosive growth of pornography production and use in the Internet age, there is an imperative to study the impact of pornography, not only on those who consume it but also on the growing population of men and women in front of the camera,” the authors wrote.
They recommended that clinicians address sexual dysfunction in their patients who work in this industry.
Resources
The Journal of Sexual Medicine
Dubin, Justin M. MD, et al.
“Evaluation of Indicators of Female Sexual Dysfunction in Adult Entertainers”
(Full-text. Published online: April 4, 2019)
https://www.jsm.jsexmed.org/article/S1743-6095(19)30425-4/fulltext