A Brief History of Sex Education Porn
Depending on who you are and where you live, it’s pretty likely that you used porn to learn about sex. The average age a child watches porn for the first time is 11, meanwhile the average age a young person has sex in America is 17. Pair this with a lack of sex ed—less than half of U.S. states require their schools to have a sex-ed program—and it’s easy to see how and why porn has become the de facto sex educator.
Although porn varies greatly, a lot of it isn’t a great sex education tool. A typical porn movie usually presents a polished version of sex. It’s made for the camera, edited down, and a lot of the more technical or awkward moments are removed.
Safer sex practices such as condoms and dental dams are rarely shown. Plus, awkward acrobatic sex positions are performed for the camera to show the viewer closeups of genitals, and viewers often don’t see the consent conversations that come before and during sex.
It’s not all bad though, porn can teach us great things too.
Women who watch porn say they feel more comfortable being nude and report greater self-esteem. Men who watch also report greater self-esteem and feel more satisfied with their bodies. You can also learn what you like in a safe environment, learn about your body and which areas give you pleasure, and be validated by seeing bodies that look like yours. Porn consumers tend to have more accurate knowledge of sexual anatomy and physiology.
At the end of the day, some porn is better at educating viewers about sex than others.
Enter, sex education porn
Porn performers and directors have been creating adult films for educational purposes for years. Realizing the depth of their knowledge and the opportunity they have to teach valuable skills in an explicit format, they have created valuable resources for adults wanting to have better sex.
After all, sex workers know a lot more about sex than most people, so why shouldn’t they teach it?
Sex education porn differs from standard porn by showing the bits in between the sex too. You can see lube being applied, condoms being used, and how communication during sex works. The videos also usually offer more detailed explanations to the camera of specific sex acts and techniques, teaching the viewer in the process.
Sex ed shouldn’t just be about STIs and unwanted pregnancies. It should include conversations about what feels good, how to have better sex, and experience bigger orgasms. Porn performers know a lot about this.
Read next: What is an Eduporn? The Explicit Sex Ed You Need
History of educational porn & the women that led the way
These are just some of our favorite women in porn that led the way for educational movies.
1980s: Anne Sprinkle
From 1980-94, artist, sex positivity educator, porn star, and sex worker, Annie Sprinkle, ran the Sprinkle Salon. It was a center for sex activists, sex education, and filmmaking that she ran from her apartment in New York. From women’s sexual empowerment classes and explicit sex education sessions, to porn support groups and sex worker rights groups, Sprinkle was at the center of a new type of sexual liberation that showed how there was more to the adult industry than entertainment.
1990s: Nina Hartley
With a background in nursing, the series combines Hartley’s passion for sex and sexual freedom with her nursing training. To date, the 40 titles in her series have sold almost a million copies.
Speaking about the series, Hartley told Mel Magazine, “I combine a nurse’s complete comfort with what bodies want and need to do with a veteran adult performer’s comfort with nudity, show business and sex, as well as my non-judgmental attitude. The Hartley Guides […] are explicit and work as “porn-porn,” but they’re also designed to give factual, useful information to the consumer in an explicit manner that elicits feelings of comfort, security and confidence.”
2000s: Tristan Taormino
In 2006, Tristan Taormino created Vivid-Ed to produce sex ed videos. From anal sex and G-spot stimulation to fellatio and bondage, the videos coveed a range of topics in human sexuality. The instructional movies are sex-positive, and aim to inspire viewers to explore, experiment, and deepen the intimacy of their relationships.
2010s: jessica drake and more
In the early 2010s Wicked Pictures paired up with adult performer jessica drake on the Guide to Wicked Sex, an enlightening and enriching series of erotic educational films. She brings her topics to life through intimate demonstrations performed by some of the most popular adult performers. Her videos have her narration throughout and interviews with the performers. Plus, of course two or three hardcore demonstrative scenes to highlight the practical applications of the information conveyed.
Towards the end of the decade explicit sex education saw a boom with the likes of Kenneth Play, Lola Jean, and Sex School Hub all launching their own take on explicit educational series.
2020s: afterglow eduporn
In 2020, afterglow launched eduporn – a new series that bridges the gap between what you’re taught about sex and your lived experience of it. Each educational video contains a mix of theory and explicit demonstration with an adult performer, or two.
With the aim to teach you while you get turned on – we believe that sex is fun, so learning about it should be too. When you’re aroused your “ick factor” goes down, so it’s a great time to learn new things. Plus, having fun and being excited about learning increases oxytocin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, which improve learning and memory.
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From Annie Sprinkle to jessica drake, these trailblazers have paved the way for explicit sex ed. We hope to see even more adult content creators sharing their knowledge to have a more informed society when it comes to sex and sexuality.
Read next: The Ultimate Guide to Porn for Couples.
60% of women are dissatisfied with their sex life. We’re on a mission to change that.
What if you didn’t have to search to find a body that looks like yours, a sex act that turns you on, or a guided exercise that helps you tell your partner exactly what you’ve been craving?
What if YOUR pleasure came first?