Group Sex
Group sex is an umbrella term to describe any partner sex activity that involves more than two people. It is common fantasy and a popular subgenre of pornographic films and erotic stories.
Because sexual attraction and sexual behavior are all distinct phenomena, deriving pleasure from a group sex fantasy fantasy or from participating in group sex can not be used as a determiner of an individual’s sexual orientation. People of any gender and sexual orientation can partake in and enjoy group sex.
Group Sex as a Common Fantasy
Multi-partner sex is one of the most popular and common sexual fantasies for people across all genders and sexual orientations.
The majority of people have flirted with the idea of threesomes or group sex. In fact, threesomes ranked as the number one fantasy among Americans according to research conducted by sex researcher Dr. Justin Lehmiller, and up to a fifth of the population surveyed in Canada and the US report having engaged in multi-partner sex at least once in their lifetime.
Group sex can be explored in many ways. This can include though is not limited to indulging in it as a fantasy via adult media or roleplay with a single party, by inviting a third person into an established relationship such as in the case of some forms of hierarchical polyamory and open relationships, through partner swapping, using virtual apps or internet groups designated for arranging group sex encounters, or by attending a group sex event.
Different Types of Group Sex
There are many ways group sex can be explored and configured. Some of the main ways a group sex fantasy or act can play out include:
Threesome: A group sex scenario involving three people.
Foursome: A group sex scenario involving four people. By some definitions, this would consider this an orgy.
Orgy: A group sex scenario involving four/five people or more.
Swingers Party: A gathering of two or more couples where attendees trade or swap partners with other couples. They may all remain in the same room while they partake in one-on-one partner activities or split up for the sexual acts. If more than two members play with each other simultaneously, it is more likely to be considered an orgy.
Sex party: Also known as a play party, an organized group gathering where multiple people are invited to attend an event with the understanding that sexual activities are a part of the night’s activities, if not central to the event. The sexual activities that guests will engage in can vary greatly and depends on the predetermined rules of the event as well the personal boundaries of all individuals involved. One cana also attend a sex party without engaging in physical sexual contact, either as a mere observer for the sake of exploration or to satisfy a voyeurism kink.
Gangbang: A sex activity involving four of more people where one member of the group is the central figure or focus of the rest of the members of the group. The central participant may receive one partner as a time in succession, be stimulated by multiple partners simultaneously, or some combination of both. It can also involve being penetrated by multiple partners at the same time.
Bukkake: A variation of a gangbang scenario that culminates with the central participant being ejaculated on by all the other members of the group. The term comes from a Japanese word, which roughly translated means “to splash with liquid” and refers to a dish where hot water is poured over cold noodles.
Daisy Chain: A now-outdated term to describe a sexual act involving three of more people where each person performs a sexual act on the person next to them to form a chain of sexual activity within the group.
Group Sex as Popular Porn Category
Group is one of the most largest categories of pornographic content available. It can include any videos or erotic stories featuring configurations such as threesome, foursome, orgy, swinger party, sex party gangbang, and bukkake.
Performer genders and sexual orientations within scenes can vary. Users can browse different tags and keywords which are used to refine one’s search for the more specifically desired elements of a group sex scene. Some of these tags and keywords are fairly consistent across mainstream porn and adult content platforms. Due to the prevalence of compusory heterosexuality (see Comphet) and limitations of binary-based search systems, these tags and terms are still quite often heteronormative in nature.
Group Sex Porn Tags
Group sex porn, and especially threesome porn, is subject to common abbreviations and tags for users to be able to search the content with greater specificity.
The most common tags are combinations of the letters F (for female) and M (for male) to identify the configuration of people involved in a given scene. The arrangement or order of the letters in abbreviated porn tags is also important, as it denotes which partners are in contact with each other during the scene.
For example, an “FFM” tag suggests a threesome with two cis women and one cis man where the women interact sexual with one another, whereas an “FMF” tag suggests a similar configuration where the women do not interact with each other but rather focus on their male partner.
Comparatively, when the threesome is two cis men and one cis woman, the “MFM” tag denotes a threesome where the men do not interact with each other explicitly but focus on their female partner, whereas an “MMF” tag tells of a scene where the two men interact with each other as well as the female talent.
FFF (all female) and MMM (all male) threesome scenes do occur though are generally less popular than mixed gender groups.
While there is certainly trans and non-binary representation in threesome and group sex adult content, this method of tagging is generally quite heteronormative and genital-centric. Use of these abbreviated tags for videos on mainstream porn sites are not always consistent with the gender of the trans and nonbinary performers featured in a threesome scene. Sometimes, it refers to the performer’s gender while in other cases, it seems to refer to their gender assigned at birth.
