A 2004 study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience proved this theory, showing brain activity indicated males are more interested in and responsive to visual sexually arousing stimuli. The researchers recruited 14 male and 14 female participants to view several types of sexual and social interaction images for 30 minutes. The fMRI scans revealed the amygdala (controls emotion and motivation) and hypothalamus are more strongly activated in males compared to females, even when both sexes expressed similar assessments of their arousal levels after viewing the images.
So why exactly do women experience less activation than men in these areas of the brain?
In a 2012 study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, Dutch researchers scanned the brains of 12 female participants between the ages of 18 and 47 to observe the activity in brain areas linked to sexual arousal. The scan results revealed out of three videos shown — one neutral, and the other two “women-friendly” erotica (one low-intensity and the other high-intensity) — the high-intensity erotic video resulted in far less blood being sent out of the primary visual cortex. This suggests women’s brains are focusing on sexual arousal as more important than visual processing during these erotic scenes.
However, in Walfish’s clinical experience, she’s found although men tend to be more visually stimulated creatures compared to women, both are equally likely to initiate a sex tape. “It is balanced, but in most cases that I’ve seen, when one wants to do a sex tape, the other is resistant,” Walfish told Medical Daily.
That resistance may stem from wrestling the idea of a sex tape versus a porno.
3. Sex Tape Vs. Porno: What’s The Difference?
Celebrity sex tapes may be borderline pornography because they feature real sex and other imagery with the intent to arouse the viewer. However, there are differences between what constitutes a sex tape and a porno. One clear distinction between the two is “the paycheck,” according to Masini.
Initially, sex tapes are amateur videos shot by a person or a couple without the intention for later distribution or sale. Whereas in pornos, they are filmed by a third party, multi-angled, and contain professional adult film stars with extreme close-up shots of their genitals.
Although the consumption of the two is done in a similar fashion, there’s a clear distinction when we’re watching strangers versus when we’re watching ourselves.
“The boundary lines are very clear with porno and they’re extremely smeared when you’re making a sex tape. It’s like going over the line with incest. There is no separation between you and the other. You are in it. It is you,” Walfish said.
4. Exhibitionist or Voyeuristic? Watching The Sex Tape
Watching our own sex type can resemble certain characteristics of paraphilic disorders, a DSM-V umbrella term that includes exhibitionism disorder and voyeurism disorder. However, labeling couples who want to do their own sex tape as exhibitionists or voyeurs may not be accurate.
Voyeurism has more to do with watching other people’s sex tapes than it does watching your own, or making your own, according to Masini. Whereas, exhibitionism really depends on the level of needing to show off for the camera that a person in a sex tape requires.
Meanwhile, people who send tapes and pictures to their significant others may be considered exhibitionists.
“I would apply the term to individuals who send tapes and pictures to their significant others. Especially if they were not requested and/or the sender gets some gratification from knowing they are being seen,” Eboni Harris, a relationship therapist, educator, and podcaster told Medical Daily.