Porn Sucks Kissing Out of Intimacy

Pornography is changing our most intimate practices, Susan Walsh observes for Salon—and looks to have been the kiss of death for, well, kissing. “When I was growing up in the ‘70s, making out was an essential precursor to even the most casual sex,” she writes. Now, porn standbys like girl-on-girl kissing and anal sex are on the menu—whereas kissing, not so much.

Research shows that more than half of men said they would be happy to have sex without kissing, compared with 15% of women. “Because the vast majority of porn viewers are men, and because most porn is produced by men, it is not surprising that porn focuses on what men want,” she writes. And not only might young women not be able to hang onto a guy if they don’t put out, Walsh concludes, “now it appears that they may not be able to kiss him either.” (More sex stories.)