PornHub’s 2022 Year in Review report found that searches for trans porn are on the rise globally – despite trans rights being under threat in many countries
Back in December 2022, PornHub dropped its Year in Review report, which delves into the site’s data on emerging trends and top searches. The findings have been doing the rounds again after cultural theorist Matt Klein posted a thread about the data earlier this month. “PornHub’s Global Year in Review report could be one of the most fascinating and overlooked glimpses into the collective psyche,” he wrote. “If we’re to understand our moment and mind, we’ve got to be comfortable with the uncomfortable.”
There were several interesting findings. We’re apparently witnessing the BeRealification of porn, with the ‘reality’ category growing by 169 per cent to become one of the Top 20 categories. “Our statisticians theorise that as more amateur models have become full-time performers, the quality of their videos has improved, but visitors are still seeking a real homemade porn experience,” the report reads. Additionally, “after a few years of Covid quarantine, people were ready to get out there in 2022” with the ‘outdoor’ category growing by 121 per cent.
Perhaps most notably, the ‘transgender’ category grew by a sizable 75 per cent, to become the seventh most popular category worldwide. ‘Transgender’ was the most viewed porn category in Brazil, and third most popular in the United States and Italy. “FTM” (female to male) searches were eight times more popular than “MTF” (male to female), with “transgender threesome” among the top search terms. Men view transgender porn videos 22 per cent more than women, while women view the “trans male transgender” sub-category 115 per cent more than men.
As PornHub observed this trend at a time when trans rights are being suppressed or rolled back in many countries across the globe, such as the US, UK, and Mexico, it begs the question: is there a reason why the popularity of trans porn is rising in tandem with anti-trans sentiments more broadly?
Annalisa Anzani is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Milan, with expertise in LGBTQ+ health. “There is a growing – and sometimes intrusive – curiosity about transgender people’s bodies and sex lives due to their greater visibility,” she explains. “These identities represent a threat to many people’s personal, familial, and social beliefs [...] The backlash in the face of this threat to values frequently provokes intense and emotional reactions. Political discourse often rides the wave of this emotionality, suppressing diversity.”
“Trans identities thus assume a transgressive quality and stand for the freedom that some individuals only give themselves in front of computer screens when watching pornography, the opportunity to diverge from the expectations that we as a society place on ourselves,” she continues. “Therefore, on the one hand, we feel a threat to our values; we condemn or judge trans people and their sexual and romantic partners. On the other hand, it is possible that deep down we are drawn to their freedom embodied in their diverse bodies and expressions. This, in my opinion, is what causes what seems to be a disparity between two social phenomena that appear to be moving in different directions: an increase in attraction and a corresponding condemnation of diversity.”
It’s also worth noting that there’s a link between conservatism and searching for trans porn. Research published in 2022 found that Republican states were more likely to search for trans porn, with Texas emerging as the state which searched for trans porn most frequently. Separately, a Republican lawmaker who voted to criminalise doctors who provide trans youth with gender-affirming healthcare was caught liking trans porn on Twitter. “In this instance, I believe we are discussing a different aspect of the issue,” Anzani says. “That is the one of domination and power.”
According to Anzani, research has demonstrated that perceived threats to masculinity can make cisgender men more “rigid” over the expression of their masculinity, and impacts how they treat other social groups. “In this situation, I believe that the ‘threat’ to one’s social status as a man triggers off a process wherein the cisgender man – typically straight and white too – tries to assert his dominance over the other person, in order to reestablish it,” she explains. “We are aware that pornography frequently accommodates the masculine gaze – as a result, it could be a way for someone to express their urge to restore their endangered masculinity and dominance.”