I don't know about you, but I love a good gay male porn.

Many women do.

Your mom. Your step-sister. Your girlfriend Tammy. Far more of us than you'd expect slide an expectant hand south-bound under our pants at the thought of gay men caressing each other's man bodies.

In fact, according to Pornhub, gay male porn is the second most-watched category by females, and a growing subculture of women just like me ascribe to the notion that there's really nothing hotter than watching two hot guys fuck.

Why? I have some theories.

1. Men have no idea how to fuck. Watching a guy try to erase a girl's clit off her body with his un-lubed finger is about as painful as watching childbirth or a tuna sandwich eating contest. That's why lesbian porn is the #1 most-watched porn category for women. We'd rather just watch people who know what they're doing.

2. Gay male porn is educational. Want to learn how to blow a dude? Want to know how to eat your boyfriend's ass? Curious how to touch him in a way that considers his own delicate male anatomy? Gay porn it up. Gay porn is like the National Geographic of things that make you wet — anything you want to learn, it'll teach you, in graphic, luscious detail.

3. The men in straight porn are god awful. If I wanted to watch a bald dude wearing sunglasses with tribal dragon tattoos going "ARRRGGGH" as he thrusts his shitty dick in and out of some poor girl who just needs $500, I wouldn't. Gay porn men, on the other hand, are certifiably Grade A dreamy. Their bodies are insane, their faces are faces I'd let fuck me, and they have actual hair on their heads … often styled with aplomb! I mean they look like they'd have really great taste in shoes, and that makes my ovaries really enthusiastic about life.

There's a reason why men's faces are cut out of most porn shots. It's the same reason why James Deen was the much-masturbated-to idol of women everywhere … you know, before the rape scandal. He's not even attractive, but he was attractive for a porn guy.

That's what we women have to work with: a meh rapist. Two hot dudes blowing each other is the diametric opposite of that.

4. Female sexuality is far more nuanced than anyone could have previously imagined. A good metric for that comes in the form of ladies' porn habits, which show time and time again that not only are women kinkier than men, but we're turned on by sexual acts no one gives us credit for being into … like men fucking each other. We love that shit because we're just as sexually devious as men.

5. We love dicks. Dicks, dicks, dicks. Show us the dick. Dicks!

According to how women are socialized, none of this should be true. We should turned on by the nasty men trying to please us, and we should want to picture ourselves as the women we see in porn … the ones being told to "Get jiggy with them titties" by men who are probably your uncle.

In reality, we're so much more creative than that; so much more ferociously sexual that we simply cannot relegate ourselves to the so-called normal sex portrayed in porn. Gay male porn gives us an escape from that, a place to be our freaky little selves and dive head-first into a world of dick we can't find anywhere else.

As Andy Medhurst, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sussex Centre for the Study of Sexual Dissidence said to Telegraph, “There's a long history of women being fascinated by aspects of gay male sexuality, ranging from speculating about which pop stars might be gay to the curious corners of slash fiction. Some gay men might find this problematic, but for me, it's all part of the flexibility and creativity of female desire."

But … that's just my experience. Plenty of women have wildly different reasons for jacking off to gay men, and I selfishly interviewed them about it … at least so I could have some other women to commiserate with about my love for gay cock and my fascination with masculine sexuality.

Many of the women I spoke to told me that the pleasure of watching gay porn was both voyeuristic and educational, but they also surprised me with some left-field reasons I wasn't expecting …

Megan, (Bi, 23)

"There's a reason why many women love gay men and have gay best friends. They're men that we can actually hang out with, men who won't try to fuck us or hit us with some premeditated gender role social script that minimizes our potential. They're fun, and hilarious, and creative. We can get to know them better than we can straight men. That's why I love gay porn. I feel like I actually know the people having sex because I have so many gay friends who I love. It's not that I want to date or fuck them, it's the feeling of having an intimate relationship with the people on screen … like these are people I give a shit about, which I find really draws me in."

Zora, (Straight, 24)

"Women are great, but I'm not really turned on by them. I'm really into men, and the hyper-masculinity of gay porn is something I find incredibly arousing. It's like everything that makes me wet, squared. In straight porn, you can sometimes tell the guy is fucking the girl to get her off and not really doing what he wants to be doing, but there are no holds barred in gay porn. It seems like each guy really gets what he wants and they can kind of lose themselves in the sex and fuck with abandon, which I think is really beautiful to see. They seem really fucking turned on, which turns me on.

I also watch a lot of romantic gay porn, and seeing the emotional, more delicate side of men really humanizes them and makes me connect with the actors on the screen more. So often, men are taught to have no feelings and that comes across in hetero porn like you wouldn't believe … it doesn't feel romantic or intimate, it feels forced and cold and boring. Gay couples seem a lot freer showing the passion between them, and I love seeing that played out when I'm masturbating because you don't see it a lot in real life."

Alisa (Bi, 30)

“Most male/female porn focuses on the woman — her ass, her tits, her pussy. Those things are all beautiful and I love them, but sometimes, straight porn's focus on those things feels objectifying to me. I love the power reversal thrill of objectifying men in gay porn. It allows you, as the woman, to sit back and selfishly focus on the body parts that turn you on like cock and a man's chest and lips. I don't think women are given enough credit for their ability to objectify men in the same way men objectify women, and gay porn feels like a really fun outlet for that. Especially because they guys are usually hot. It seems like they're actually attracted to each other and they want to be there. Seeing two people that into each other really turns me on."

Sadie, (Straight, 26)

“I like that the porn is penis-focused. That’s where the hot guys are. It's also introduced me to more creative sexual positions and ways of touch that I might not have thought of otherwise. I find it extremely useful and educational, and when I end up using the techniques I see in gay porn on the men I sleep with, they really work. The sexual prowess gay porn gives me actually turns me on further because I feel more confident and intuitive, like I know what I'm doing."

Nicole (Lesbian, 24)

"I love gay porn because if offers gender exploration in fantasy. You get to see how the other half lives."

Mikayla (Bi, 28)

"It's just unusual and taboo. It's something I don't get to see very often, so it feels both novel and a little voyeuristic, especially since it's not really made for me. I'm seeing something I shouldn't be and I really like that. Also, straight porn is just tired. It's all exactly the same, predictable. Gay porn gives me a surprise. It's a breath of fresh air."

Suriya (Straight, 26)

"Straight porn makes me feel kind of shitty about myself. I don't have big tits, my labia isn't clipped and tucked, I have body fat, I get razor burn, and my makeup definitely doesn't stay intact like porn stars' does when I'm choking on a dick. Watching men fuck, I don't have that problem. I can loose myself in the intensity without having to imagine the reality of my body getting jack-hammered by some heinous dude.

I also just really love penis."

—

Ah, nothing beats the power of penis.

Talking to these women, I found myself genuinely delighted that they were exploring what turns them on, rather than what they think, or have been told, is sexy. There's nothing more fascinating than a person who feels comfortable being themselves sexually, and it's clear that more and more women are feeling empowered to express that side of their desires.

It's also clear that women are uniquely aroused by many qualities gay men embody that straight men don't: the capacity for emotional intimacy, concern for appearance, an interest in mutually satisfying sex … maybe straight men could learn a little about what women want from watching gay porn, too?

And as for what gay men think of all this?

I asked my best guy friend and his boyfriend how they felt about women masturbating to homosexual sex, and they just shrugged.

"Whatever, you do you," said my friend.

"If men can jack of to lesbian women, women should be able to jack of to me," said his boyfriend.

Couldn't have put it better myself.