Female Patrons of Porn

Although the proportion of women who patronize sexually oriented book-video-novelty stores appears to be growing, little is known about the phenomenon generally or about male–female differences. In the only studies of “female patrons of porn,” both Hefley (2007 Hefley , Kristen . 2007 . “Stigma Management of Male and Female Customers in to Non-Urban Adult Novelty Store.” Deviant Behavior 28 : 79 – 109 .Taylor & Francis Online], Web of Science ®] , Google Scholar]) and Berkowitz (2006 Berkowitz , Dana . 2006 . “Consuming Eroticism: Gender Performances and Presentations in Pornographic Establishments.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 35 : 583 – 606 . Google Scholar]) report that half of the customers that they observed entering two stores were women. Compared to men, women were less likely to enter alone. To further investigate this phenomenon, we observed customers entering 33 stores for 162 hours over a two-year period. Whereas the observations of Hefley (2007 Hefley , Kristen . 2007 . “Stigma Management of Male and Female Customers in to Non-Urban Adult Novelty Store.” Deviant Behavior 28 : 79 – 109 .Taylor & Francis Online], Web of Science ®] , Google Scholar]) and Berkowitz (2006 Berkowitz , Dana . 2006 . “Consuming Eroticism: Gender Performances and Presentations in Pornographic Establishments.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 35 : 583 – 606 . Google Scholar]) were limited to a few of the busiest hours, our observations span all seven weekdays and all hours. Seventeen percent of the patrons who entered the stores were women. This proportion varied over time and across the 33 stores. Women prefer to shop on weekend evenings in stores that provide visible security.