Let’s address the elephant in the room: Sometimes, mainstream video porn can be uncomfortable, or even disturbing for women. And when you’re in the mood, using that valuable brain power to read erotica just can feel like it requires too much energy.
Enter: erotic audio, and the Quinn app.
If traditional visual porn and written erotica had a lovechild, it would be audio erotica. It has the narrative fantasies of smut and the sensory experience of produced porn, but minus the visuals. Audio erotica can be anything from smut audiobooks, guided masturbation, pont-of-view fantasies, or just straight-up sex noises.
As a film school brat, I’m very picky when it comes to the visual porn I consume. I don’t like when the lighting is bad, or when I notice a boom mic or stray wire hanging out in the back of the frame. But it’s not just the aesthetics that upset me. It’s the fact that some of the most powerful figures in the porn industry are men. And as a result, a lot of the free porn on the internet is shot and created through the male gaze (not to mention there’s a concerning link between pornography and sex trafficking). While sites like Bellesa, a female-run and curated porn website, offer free consumption of ethical porn, I still get sensory overload when it comes to watching porn. Where’s the mystery? The romance? The fantasy? When it comes to visual porn, there’s nothing left to the imagination.
Needless to say that when I came across audio erotica, I instantly felt the need to try it out. What, you mean I can get the auditory sensations of video porn along with the rampant imagination of my favorite Wattpad smut? Say less.
After researching some great places to listen to audio porn, I decided to try out the up-and-coming, self-described “Forbidden Spotify” app, Quinn. In 2019, then 22-year old college senior Caroline Spiegel decided to try her hand in ethical porn — but with a twist. Instead of the traditional library of visual porn, Quinn features strictly audio erotica: sexy stories, point of views, role plays… everything you can find on a site like Bellesa, but minus the video aspect. Best of all? Quinn’s team is also composed entirely of women.
So, the last time I felt the urge to give myself a ‘lil love, I decided to give audio erotica a shot. Here’s what I learned.
You might have to pay, but it’s worth it
In this day and age, free porn is all over the internet. And that includes audio erotica. But Quinn is different: while downloading the app itself is free, after a week-long free trial, you’ll have to shell out $4.99/month for exclusive access to Quinn’s entire audio library.
And if you’re anything like me and still living on your parents’ AppleID, those purchases can easily show up on your parents’ subscription records (talk about awkward). So, I finally girlbossed and grew up: I created my very own AppleID and linked my PayPal in case I wanted to continue with Quinn after my free trial (which I marked the ending of in my calendar: pro tip).
While I was apprehensive about the price at first, I soon realized that the unlimited library is vast. Quinn doesn’t skimp on content. You’ll have access to porn that caters to all the kinks you could possibly imagine: voyeurism, daddy (mommy, too), phone sex, rough POV, BSDM, “butt-stuff…” really anything you can think of.
Not only does paying for porn open the door to more content, but it also helps the people in the sex work industry to get paid fairly. The money you give to Quinn will be given to the creators that record content for the app along with helping to fund the small, all-women team behind it. And, if you think about it, $4.99 is just one less Starbucks drink a month.
There’s content for all kinds of kinks
After downloading the app, I took a deeper dive into the category page and found content for almost every (ethical) kink I could think of. They had different paces of porn (gentle, passionate, rough), a variety of fantasy scenarios (boyfriend/girlfriend, vacation, friends to lovers, overheard sex), and even a wide range of kink-centric files to let those fantasies fly (DDLG, BDSM, dirty talk, strong language, praise).
Not only are there a ton of great, kinky categories on Quinn, there’s also a ton of options within these categories for your listening pleasure. Under each category, I found a well of audio files to try out. None of that one-video-per-category B.S that’s all too common on porn sites — on Quinn, I could potentially listen to kink-centric content for weeks.
Using Your imagination is key
Without the visual aspect, getting into audio porn can feel a little different. I was a bit rusty at getting into the mood by using the visual part of my imagination. Especially with it being months since I had had sex, I found it quite hard to visualize a situation in that way. It was like reading a book without pictures, except the book was porn.
Regardless, once I was able to dive into my once-neglected sexual imagination, I really understood the appeal of audio porn. I could place myself in specific places and scenarios (and even with specific people *wink*). It made some of my sexual fantasies come to life in a way that couldn’t be achieved with watching two random actors in some weird Airbnb on a screen. Instead of thinking about the physical act of sex, I found myself fantasizing about my desires and the way those desires made me feel. It felt liberating, validating, and really, really great.
Audio porn made masturbating less scary
As someone who was raised Catholic, masturbating wasn’t exactly encouraged in my household. While I’ve grown more comfortable expressing and acting on my sexuality (I mean, I’m literally writing about my masturbation journey right now), even masturbating can feel shameful and uncomfortable, especially to visual porn. But I’m not alone in this: A 2021 study with Volonté and Dr. Ian Kerner — the creator of Coral, an app designed to teach people how to have better sex — found that in comparison to the 25% of men who reported masturbating daily, only 8.7% of women engaged in daily masturbation. Furthermore, only 24% of women said they masturbated two to three times daily, versus 35% of men. Women shouldn’t have to feel weird about masturbating or learning how to make themselves feel good, and Quinn knows that.
Quinn even had a category dedicated to guided masturbation. In these audio files, I could choose a voice that told me exactly what to do, and how to do it. And while this could totally be a submissive kink, I felt myself learning more about my body and what it enjoys in terms of sex and touch. It gave me a chance to explore my body in a more intimate way that I never had before — and that felt awesome.
While I had some hiccups using audio porn (for instance, giggling thinking about how the person recording was probably kissing their hand to make sex noises), I found it to be a new and fresh way to get my groove goin’. If visual porn and smut aren’t exactly your thing, maybe it’s time to try out an app like Quinn to explore a new way of masturbating. And if you’re looking for a new way to experiment sexually, give audio erotica a go. Who knows? You might just give yourself the best sesh of your life.
Study Referenced:
Mark, K. “The Masturbation Gap – What Women Can Learn from Men’s Masturbation Habits.” Volonté & Dr. Ian Kerner’s Good In Bed Project.