Porn has always been thought of as a male-dominated arena. With the rise of the Internet, however, porn is more easily accessible than ever, opening it up to a whole new audience.

Last year, a British parenting site called Netmums surveyed 4,200 women about their porn usage. They found that over three-quarters of women admitted to using porn — a 10 per cent increase from 2008.

This doesn't necessarily mean that the number of women watching porn is rising, according to Dr. Jessica O'Reilly, a Toronto-based sexologist. "It's not as much that (women have) become more interested; it's that they've been able to express that interest," she said.

The survey also found that women turn to the Internet more often than any other medium — 61 per cent, as opposed to 18 per cent who watch porn flicks and a mere five per cent that look at magazines.

Part of this increase is due to the increasing amount of porn made for women, by women. According to Dr. O'Reilly, these films generally portray female bodies more realistically than male-oriented porn, and more commonly reflect women's interests. They show a "respect for, in many cases, an anti-oppression framework," she explained.

Candida Royalle, a porn actress in the 1970s, became one of the first porn directors to create porn for women. When viewing porn films through a critical eye, she found that it had the potential to be informative and inspiring — though in its current state, it did not show what women wanted.

"I could tell women were becoming more curious and felt permission to explore their sexuality due to the woman's movement of the late '60's, early '70's," wrote Royalle on her website. "With the advent of home video they had a safe place to look, but there was nothing out there for them. I also sensed that men wanted to share the experience of watching a sexy movie with their woman and again, there was little they felt comfortable bringing home to her."

Devon Timbrell, who works at the Stag Shop on Dundas St., said she has seen first-hand that more women are buying porn. "Women's tastes are as varied as men's are, so they will purchase all different genres (of porn). As women are becoming more comfortable with their sexuality they are becoming more comfortable vocalizing what types of porn or sex toys they would enjoy instead of purchasing what their partners may want."

Above all, female porn use is widespread, common and normal — no matter what kind of porn you're watching, said O'Reilly. "It's normal to be turned on by things you wouldn't want in real life — it's fantasy. It just means that you're able to differentiate between fantasy and reality."