Middle East Internet Porn Habits: Reflections of Culture?

Porn habits say a lot about a person.

Thanks to website pornmd.com, we can now peruse an entire demographics’ porn habits at the click of a button. And much of it is quite unsettling–in a sort of fascinating way.

Some of the number one search items in the region are ridiculous; Syria is ‘aunt.’ Lebanon is ‘sleeping girl.’ Iran is straight to the point: pussy. Palestine is even weirder–their number one searched item is ‘family.’

Other countries like India and Turkey have ‘rape’ (warranting a huge WTF) in their top 10 most searched porn fetish. Many other Arab countries have ‘gay’, ‘futunaria’ (the anime term for shemale), ‘mom’ and even ‘hijab’ in their top phrases.

Compared with the U.S, who’s top three most common terms are ‘milf’, ‘teen’, and ‘college’ (though the east coast seems to have an obsession with Asian porn), it seems that most Arab countries have a lot more gay or family related searches. Which, to some extent, is a direct reflection of our homophobic and family-oriented culture.

Keep in mind that unlike the U.S and many European countries, porn is still not regarded as even a remotely acceptable activity. Coupling that with our culture of relative sexual repression, it’s not at all surprising to see oddities or homosexual references in our porn searches.

Yet the trouble with the Middle East’s stigmatized use of porn–and indeed, all over the world–is that it creates a distorted idea of the “perfect female”, using degrading and often disgusting videos to debase and dominate women. How can Arab men be expected to treat their girlfriends or wives with respect if they constantly view women in degrading situations? And what did this say about porn usage as a reflection of society?

Just for kicks: Israel’s top searched term is ‘prostate.’ Lol.