A – Z of Porn. ‘B’

Understanding porn without actually having to watch it. B is for BDSM, BBW, Big Boobs, Bisexual and Blowjobs.

In this series of posts I’m going through some of the main ‘categories’ in porn so you don’t have to, or if you’re confused about what you’ve already seen. I’ll be providing information, general thoughts, discussion points and generally taking all the fun out of everything.

BDSM

As you might expect, BDSM scenes feature various acts featuring bondage, discipline and sadomasochism, topping and bottoming. BDSM which is a broad umbrella term, is complex and very common, as I referenced in my article about kink. In porn, because it’s more visual, it means you’ll be seeing things which ‘look’ ‘BDSMy’. So you might expect to see things like dungeons, ropes, whips, chains, latex, leather. It might be a bit more reductive and samey than the actual experience of kink, if that makes sense.

In full length BDSM porn, made by studios who specialise in this, you’re more likely to see some of the lead up to the scene (because the psychology of it is part of it). You’re also more likely to see conversations about consent and more ‘behind the scenes’ content. (Though bear in mind that they are still at work when they are shooting those scenes. The studios are unlikely to publish interviews in public where the performers might talk about consent violations.) However, in the kinds of clips that you’ll see on free tube sites you’re more likely to just ‘cut to the action’. This is one of the problem with the abundance of free porn, you’re not seeing the whole context of a scene.

For more about why this is a problem read this about capitalism and porn and the effect that capitalism and porn has on how the porn companies treat their viewers (and staff).

BBW

BBW means Big Beautiful Woman. These are bigger than average women who many people think are very sexually attractive. There are no categories for Big Beautiful Men in straight porn (the focus of straight porn is usually on the woman). In gay porn an equivalent might be ‘bears’ (not actual bears, that’s illegal and very dangerous) who are big hairy dudes. I just checked, ‘chubby’ is now a category on the most popular gay porn tube site.

Lots of people say that porn shows unrealistic images of people. You can decide that for yourself if you want to, but think about how people are represented in non-porn media. How often do we see larger women (or men for that matter) being portrayed as desirable, or sexy or sexual on telly, in magazines or in films?

Big boobs

Many videos are categorised as featuring actors with big boobs or big bums (Americans call these ‘butts’). Remember that porn often features people with bigger than average features – boobs, bums, penises. People with big boobs either have naturally large boobs or they have boob jobs (surgery) to make their boobs look bigger. You can get this for bums now too. There is no reliable surgical procedure to increase penis size.

It’s important to remember when you watch porn that the people in it are often chosen (or become popular) in part because of what they look like – this means they are not going to look like most people. So please try not to compare yourself to them.

Read the other A-Z of Porn

Bisexual

Bisexual porn includes at least one performer who has sex with someone of the same or different gender to them. Typically it would be a woman who has sex with a man and another woman. Although porn can feature two guys getting it on with each other and a woman, or trans men and women or gender queer folk having sex.

In straight porn (porn made for people who are heterosexual) the men aren’t usually allowed to touch or have sex with each other. There is a perception that straight men watching would be turned off by seeing two men having sex. However some women would like to see this in porn, in the same way that many men like to watch two women having sex. In order to see two men having sex with each other, even with a woman involved, on most of the free ‘tube’ sites you would have to go to the ‘gay’ version of the site (most sites either have a ‘gay’ version or at least a ‘gay’ section).

Read more about sexualities

Blowjobs

Blowjobs are when someone puts a penis inside their mouth which they then lick and suck (but not actually blow). They are very popular in porn. If a porn scene has a penis, chances are that someone is going to put it in their mouth.

How popular is it?

Blowjobs (also known as oral sex or ‘fellatio’) are also very popular outside of porn. In the UK nearly 80% of people report having oral sex. It’s popular because it can feel very very pleasurable. The bell-end (or the glans) of the penis is packed with nerve endings which can feel great inside someone’s warm, wet mouth, particularly against someone’s tongue.

However it’s not for everyone. Contrary to what a lot of people think, a lot of men (or people with penises) much prefer other kinds of sexual contact. Some don’t find it gives them the stimulation they need, or don’t like their partner’s head being so far away from them or just don’t like the idea of having their penis in someone’s mouth. Also not everyone enjoys giving blowjobs either.

It’s important to remember that all sexual activity is optional. We shouldn’t feel that we have to do anything we don’t want to do just because we’ve heard that everyone else does it/enjoys it or because it’s so popular in porn. There’s so much about consent here, so check out all the consent posts if you like.

Condoms

Although the risks of getting a Sexually Transmitted Infection from oral sex are much lower than from unprotected vaginal or anal sex, there are still risks. Chlamydia, gonorrhoea, herpes, genital warts and syphilis can all be transmitted through oral sex – particularly with oral sex on a penis (particularly for the person giving oral sex). Condoms can be used to lower this risk (which is why we have flavoured condoms). However, like in porn, condom use for oral sex is not that popular.People weigh up the pros of preventing a risk of infection, with the cons of it not feeling as good without a condom. I’ve written more about this here. There’s also an interesting research paper about this here.

Ejaculating

Some people like using condoms for oral sex on a penis because they prefer the taste of a condom to someone’s penis, but also because they don’t want to taste their partner’s semen. Many people don’t like the taste of semen so they ask their partner not to ejaculate in their mouths (and ask them to give a warning about when they are going to ejaculate, if this isn’t obvious).

However in porn everyone seems to love the taste of semen. It’s important for someone giving someone a blowjob to either have the penis ejaculate in their mouth or onto their body (or something or someone else) for them to lick up afterwards. In porn semen is treated as if it’s like Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream (my favourite, if you’re buying) and not a precious drop of it can be wasted.

This is one of those ‘porn things’. Penises have to ejaculate and everyone has to love tasting it (apart from the person who actually ejaculated – at least in most straight porn anyway).

Some people might love the taste of semen, but is this as common as it seems to be in porn? Why is it important?

Read more about testicles and ejaculation

Deep Throating

In porn blow jobs something that is very common is ‘deep throating’. This is where all of the penis is taken into the mouth and into the back of the throat. Sometimes this is done quite roughly with the penis being thrust into the mouth quite hard. Sometimes the person giving a blowjob has their head held at the same time.

Not everyone can or wants to do this in real life. It can make people feel sick. It can make people feel like they are going to choke and it can make people feel unsafe. It’s important to get the consent of the person doing it and to be able to stop if it gets too much. We don’t see people giving their consent in porn very much (performers usually agree what they will do before the cameras start rolling), but it’s very important to talk about what we do and don’t want.

For someone giving a blow job it can be good to put their hand at the base of the penis so that the penis doesn’t go all the way into the mouth. Many people prefer most of the sensation from oral sex to be at the head of the penis anyway. The hand can also masturbate the penis at the same time.

Some porn can be gentle and caring but other porn can be rough and extreme. Some people prefer the former, some the latter, some a bit of both and some neither.

Hope you found this useful. Other Bs include, Blondes, Brunettes and British. I think they are pretty self explanatory.

Read the Educational Guide to Porn 

© Justin Hancock, 2026 Find out more about me and BISH here.

BISH is run by me, Justin Hancock. I’ve been a trained sex and relationships educator since 1999. I’m a member of the World Association for Sexual Health. As well as BISH I also have resources, a podcast, and a coaching service for over 18s, as well as some of the best RSE teaching resources around. Find out out about my other work at justinhancock.co.uk. My work has featured (positively) in the media, like the BBC, Financial Times, The Economist, The Guardian, Sky One, and Novara Media.

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