Why are women so horny for Heated Rivalry?
There is no doubt that Hudson Williams (Shane) and Connor Storrie (Ilya) are both attractive men. Who wouldn't want to see two gorgeous people together? But men who look like them could easily be typecast as simple hulking brutes, players with no regard for feelings. Instead, we witness their vulnerability together, their gentle touches, their playful banter.“Desire in gay porn is explored in a more attentive and emotional way, which leads to attraction between those involved becoming less about performance and much more about genuine connection,” Richards continues.This isn't the first MLM romance to steal the internet's attention, like 2022's adaptation of Alice Oseman’s popular 2016 webcomic Heartstopper, about two British schoolboys who fall in love. Then, a year later, Amazon dropped Red, White and Royal Blue, a feature film about an affair between a president’s son and a British royal. But both were PG for sure, while Heated Rivalry bares all — pun very much intended.It includes full nudity, extended sex scenes, depictions of oral and penetrative intercourse, as well as mutual masturbation. But it also features hand acting to rival Pride & Prejudice, romantic moments, and a getaway to a cottage. Not to mention the toe touches. Tell me something is female gaze through literal grazes of shoes.Read MoreWarning: may cause screen fogging.It offers a safe spaceRachel Reid, the author of Heated Rivalry and various other MLM hockey romances, has theories as to why women are so drawn to her material. “A lot of my female readers prefer not to have a woman in the book because of their own, usually dark pasts with sex with men,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “They prefer to get lost in a fantasy where there’s nobody there that they can relate to directly. They don’t want to insert themselves into these sex scenes. It just feels safer.”The World Health Organisation estimates that one in three women has been subjected to physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime. Many of these women will become readers and watchers of romance, and yes, smutty romance. Many of them will seek to experience sexual pleasure and porn, and they need to find a way to do so that doesn't take them back to their worst experiences. Perhaps the mere act of not having any skin in the game, aka watching two men, is enough to allow them to indulge in their own sexual pleasure while remaining safe.Creator Jacob Tierney chimed in on the discussion as well: “I think that women are also, in real life and in culture, endlessly exposed to sexual violence. Seeing things like this, that are depictions ultimately of male vulnerability, can be very refreshing."“From what I’ve heard, from the women who have written to me and Rachel and the boys, there’s a safety in seeing a woman being removed from the conversation,” he continued. "So you’re watching something happen between two men, and there is no fear of violence. There is no fear of things turning into stuff that women have to deal with too much in real life, and don’t want to deal with in their fantasies, and ultimately, this is a romantic fantasy.”Are we fetishising gay men?When women have shared that gay porn turns them on, they’re often met with criticism and accused of fetishising gay men. It’s an interesting double standard, given that lesbian porn is widely accepted — even expected — to be consumed by both straight men and women, with far less scrutiny.
