Being Horny Is Making A Comeback
See what I did there? ft chatting to Quinn VA BadInfluence
Back in 2022 I was on holiday in Amsterdam and absolutely heartbroken that tickets to see the internet’s favourite boyfriend - Tucker Pillsbury aka Role Model - were sold out. Partly because I love his music, but mostly because he had one of the best pieces of merch I’ve ever seen and I am truly a sucker for good merch. Please see below for said, iconic piece.
You know when you just see an item of clothing and know that if it ended up in your wardrobe you’d never part with it, well that’s how I felt about this cap. Which first of all makes absolutely no sense because I find all hats incredibly itchy, and more importantly - where am I wearing a cap that says ‘HorNY’ in massive letters across the front? To work? To the dentist? To dinner? I’ve never been one to shy away from extravagant outfits or scared to try a risqué trend, but something about this felt different. It took a while for me to realise that the reason I was hesistant to wear it was because as a society we have this weird built in shame around expressing our sexual desires or needs, especially as women.
We’re taught from a young age that it isn’t ‘proper’ to talk about sex, so god forbid I go outside wearing a hat that implies to the world how horny I am? Yet, it feels silly that I’d have reservations about appearing as a sexual being, considering I grew up in the ‘sex sells’ era of the early 2000’s where anything and everything marketing was sexual. Topless women were on page 3 of every newspaper, Britney and Madonna were making out and every new TV show had some unnecessarily scandalous promo shoot.
Aside from celebrities and marketing, teenagers in the 2000’s-2010’s were constantly exposed to sex through the early beginnings of social media. Tumblr was probably the horniest place that’s ever existed on the internet, from suggestive American Apparel ad’s to clips of actual porn - it had it all. You couldn’t step foot on that website without seeing someone naked, and realistically many of us were probably way too young to be absorbing that content on a daily basis.
However, after Miley Cyrus’ infamous 2013 VMA’s performance that seemed very shocking at the time, it felt like the world got a little less sexy. You could argue that we finally realised women were being over sexualised in every single industry and that it was time to take it back a notch, but maybe we were just overexposed to sex in general. It finally wasn’t selling, and marketing needed to go in a different direction.
The reason this has all been on my mind lately is because of everyones favourite pop princess - Sabrina Carpenter. Sabrina’s latest album Short n’ Sweet is almost completely about sex, featuring lyrics such as…“Hold me and explore me / I’m so fuckin’ horny.” and “He pins you down on the carpet / Makes paintings with his tongue.” She’s been performing these lines and many more on her recent tour, wearing nothing but bedazzled lingerie and lace stockings. She’s also recently gone viral for her ‘Juno’ pose, where each night she sings the line “Have you ever tried this one?” before getting herself into a different sex position as the heart shaped stage lifts her into the air.
Before you get the wrong idea, no I’m not a hater and there will be no Sabrina slander here. The album is perfection, and she consistently looks and sounds beautiful while performing it. I was simply discussing her career with my fiancé the other day, because I’m in shock that a young female pop star has made her whole brand about sex, yet I very rarely see anyone or even any headlines berating her for it. In fact, I’ve even seen groups of young men (who are sadly, usually the first to slut-shame) going to her tour - singing along to every word and proudly wearing merch. At 77.6 million monthly listeners on Spotify, it’s very clear that sex is selling once again.
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It makes total sense that 2023-2024 would be the years that horny-ness became an open topic of discussion again, because we know by now that trends come back into popularity at that 10 year mark. However, Short n’ Sweet wasn’t the catalyst of this trend, in-fact I think it all started with the sudden overwhelming popularity of ACOTAR.
‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’ by Sarah J. Maas, is a fantasy romance novel with many following books which all feature a healthy dose of smut. Over a few week period it was almost impossible to open any social media platform without seeing someone reading, reviewing or reacting to it. As it’s popularity rapidly grew, I noticed an increase of women sharing other, more intense romance books they’d been reading, and suddenly ‘Booktok’ was taking over my FYP. Even down to women making their husbands recreate the “Booktok lean”…example below if you aren’t chronically online and have no idea what I’m talking about.
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Around a similar time, or maybe just before, Quinn’s marketing videos started dominating my feed. If you’re a regular reader of WTF then you’ll know I’ve discussed Quinn a couple of times on here, but if you’re a newbie - then welcome!
Quinn is an audio erotica app, founded and run by women, primarily for the enjoyment and empowerment of women and non-binary individuals. Every Tuesday and Friday new audios are released on the app by independent voice actors who choose to either stay anonymous or share their faces. Alongside these audios there are also ‘Quinn Originals’, where your favourite celebrity crushes narrate a three part fictional series where all the creative direction and script is decided by the Quinn team! Most recently - Andrew Scott, Katherine Moennig (eep!) and Lucian Laviscount.
Majority of us enjoy a little self pleasure from time to time, and sometimes your imagination simply isn’t enough to quite get you to that finishing line. So, as someone who is staying away from ‘traditional’ porn (aka exploitative and unethical porn), I was very quickly drawn in by Quinn’s incredible TikTok marketing. Which typically features their socials team wearing the iconic pink headphones (IYKYK) while reacting to snippets of recent audios in a variety of public or private places.
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As women, we’re so used to hiding the fact that we masturbate or even own a vibrator, that to see a team of women so confidently promoting an audio erotica app was extremely inspiring. I’d say it took less than a week for me to take the leap and try it out for myself (7 day free trial!) and I can’t deny I was very skeptical at first. After taking my time over the seven days to explore different categories and creators - I was into it. There truly is something for everyone.
After being on the app for around a year now, the speed at which they have grown is incredible. Boasting an impressive 760k combined followers across Instagram and TikTok, while their most popular VA ‘Naudio’ recently hit 12 million plays, it’s clear they’ve built an incredibly dedicated community. This is evident by the comments on their socials and even on the app itself, which lets you leave anonymous responses underneath audios. Most likely due to the anonymity, the comments are often absolutely feral and a big part of why I love the platform so much. Here are a recent few that caught my attention…
“It’s the ‘good girls’ that do it for me. I thought my orgasms were great before but the sound of your voice takes me so far beyond. Fucking hell.”
“Edge a girl for half an hour before finishing inside her and making her come, but then you tell her she’s beautiful and everything’s supposed to be alright? OK, I’m in!!”
“The way he says ‘baby’ should be studied in a lab and I volunteer to be a research assistant”
“Not while I’m ovulating. God Help Me.”
See how much fun we can have discussing self pleasure when there isn’t a misogynistic man in our ears ruining it for us all?? The comments section feels like a giant group chat, but one where everyone actually says exactly what they’re thinking. Amongst the endless R-rated comments, you will also find many people sharing how Quinn has completely transformed their lives. In our day to day it’s rare you hear anyone opening up about troubles with their sex drive because it almost feels embarrassing to admit, but so many more of us struggle with these issues than we think. Medication such as SSRI’s can seriously dampen your libidio, or even make it disappear completely. This is one of the main reasons and I was drawn to the platform, and why I feel so passionate about it’s success.
I was taking an antidepressant for almost two years and my sex drive basically vanished, it never crossed my mind anymore and I couldn’t think of myself as sexy in any way. Getting back into that mindset felt impossible, and seeing comments on Quinn’s TikTok of others sharing similar stories and praising the app for helping them get through it, was what made me want to try it for myself. I’m not being dramatic when I say listening to the audios reignited something in my brain, they made me remember that sex is meant to be fun and not to be taken so seriously.
I dove into the Quinn subreddit where listeners discuss anything and everything to do with the app because I wanted to collect quotes from others who’ve had similar experiences. Mostly because I realise the last few paragraphs have sounded like an incognito ad for audio erotica and I can promise you it’s not! Here is the evidence…
“I went through quite a few years of absolutely no sex drive after my daughter was born and Quinn has been a big help in getting my spark back. The safe space they have created has been so amazing to explore new things about myself and then be able to share with my husband. I’m 37 and my husband and I have been together for 13 years and sex for me is now better than it’s ever been. I have Quinn to thank for that, for giving me more self confidence and a deeper understanding of my own needs. There have also been a few SFW audios that have bought me to tears. One in particular broke me a bit at a time I had a lot of other stress in my life. I did not expect a few kind words from a stranger to crack my soul open but it forced me to do some deep self reflection and now I understand more about how past traumas are still affecting me.”
“I (F30) started questioning the integrity and safety of mainstream porn, and I also noticed that I was getting used to most sexual acts and I always needed something different. I knew this wasn’t healthy, and I wanted to do the right thing. Then one day I was scrolling on TikTok, saw a post from Quinn and decided to give it a try…now I am hooked! It helped me rediscover masturbating, taking my time and not rush to the finish line and knowing that it’s all ethical and safe makes it even better. Hot girls pay for ethical porn!”
“Long story short - it’s helping me work through some trauma, fear of men, and discovering what I want/like. I basically thought I was asexual because I did not like sex the way everyone else does. I’ve realised I am not lol. I am working on being confident enough to go out and meet someone”
I also reached out to one of Quinn’s most popular creators, BadInfluence aka Milo St James, to see what he thinks of the platforms growth and the community it’s created. Milo has just hit 6.5 million plays on his audios and is extremely popular in the ‘Mdom’ category (male domination) but often dabbles in Msub (male submission), boyfriend style audios and friends to lovers. I’d personally say he’s one of the most authentic and talented creators on Quinn, and I’m sure his extremely loyal fan base would agree! I’m super grateful that he was up for chatting about this topic and that I get to share his (amazing) responses with you guys.
WTF: Being open and confident about your sexual interests and desires can often lead to being shamed by others, yet Quinn users are listening to audios anywhere from their own bedrooms, to the gym and even on public transport. Why do you think audio erotica has suddenly become so popular and normalised?
BI: I talk about this subject a lot with a close friend of mine (who does NOT get the hype behind my voice, by the way, haha. She keeps me humble), and we’re never able to settle on one answer.
I mean, here’s a quick and dirty take that I have on it - erotic audio was always going to take off. It was already gaining some traction with things like Dipsea and subreddits, and then Caroline opened a platform where it was distilled into an immersive listener-driven experience. When new forms of storytelling catch on, they spread like wildfire. What’s so great is that the brand of stories being told through that new format happens to lean into self-exploration.
That’s the short answer - but I mean, that doesn’t begin to cover the philosophy and analysis of why it caught on - why this form of adult content hits so hard with women. I have a few thoughts, but before I pass em on, I just wanna say, I’m very aware, I’m no sociologist, haha. I’m just some tired art punk who likes writing and making things. I doubt I’m gonna pose anything that isn’t already pretty well-discussed.
With that in mind, here are a couple (dis)organized observations about adult entertainment in regards to audio erotica:
1. The Status Quo
It’s not a hot take these days, but “traditional” adult audio/visual entertainment has historically disregarded, dehumanized, and belittled women. We can agree that’s pretty fucked up, right? And the ecosystem of it requires that status quo. Objectification to the point of identifying human beings as literal categorizations based on features of their appearance. Humanity just isn’t present when you consume this content.
The status quo of audio erotica by comparison, is fucking brilliant. It offers women or non-binary and even, in some audios, men a leveled ground. The listener is spoken to directly by another human. Their desires, comfort, and safety are brought to the surface. In the process, they’re empowered to indulge in fantasy without having to sacrifice those things.
2. Self Exploration
As a continuation of discussing status quos, let’s not forget the ones set in societies that were built on puritanical, patriarchal, capitalist belief systems. We live in societies that often benefit directly from our feeling ashamed or afraid to love ourselves. Whether that stems from evolutionary instincts to fear “the other” or the modern-day desire to manipulate that instinct to maintain real power over other people…
That’s a whole can of worms. But the end result is that in those systems, self-exploration and self-love are acts of rebellion. Audio erotica invites listeners to explore themselves intimately. They are asked to roleplay with creators and try on sides of themselves they may have never known before. When they do, it can be straight-up liberating. And liberation/self-love should always be normal.
3. Self-insertion
Unlike all forms of adult multimedia (that I know of), audio erotica asks the listener to participate. Instead of watching or reading about people involved in something fun, the fun revolves around whoever has the headphones on. The only body your mind has to be put in is your own. And that’s pretty great.
That fun doesn’t have to be limited to sexual role-playing, either. Audio on these platforms can be a safe space where listeners can hear affirmations they might want to hear coming from someone else. Things like how it’s okay to feel tired, how worthy they are of being loved, and how special they are just being themselves. I personally love making these audios because I firmly believe people need to hear em.
WTF: After reading probably thousands of comments on Quinn leading up to writing this piece (and simply because they are often hilarious) it’s clear that the platform and audio erotica in general has become such a life changing resource for many people. Especially for those struggling with low libido due to medication or just from the spark simply fading in their relationship. Your audios are at 6.5 million plays, how does it feel to know that your work is helping so many people benefit their sex lives? Whether it’s just with themselves or with others.
BI: From day one, commenters have been way way more clever than I could ever be, haha. It’s not surprising to me when I hear things like people making friends through Quinn, because the comments are always funny, supportive, or a combination of the two.
I’m awe-struck when I think about that number. I guess the best way to put it is lucky…which I think could be read as a “pageant” answer– but I mean it’s true. I mean, my god. That is a ridiculous number, haha.
I love thinking that my work has helped people feel more comfortable or excited in their sex lives.
WTF: If someone decided to subscribe to Quinn after reading this newsletter, which 3 of your audios would you recommend they listen to first?
BI: That is an excellent question, and it is kind of a hard one for me, haha. I have nearly 200 audios now, and after I release them, I usually don’t re-listen. I mean I couldn’t tell you a single word from my top audio, “3AM” (although I’m sure it’s pretty intense/filthy).
Personally, three that come to mind are “For First Time Listeners”, “Inked” And “Backpacking: The Train To Bruges”
I actually asked my listeners to choose their top 5 audios for new listeners recently, and put up a rotating link of their playlists on my website! Just hit the cassette labelled “for new listeners”
The popularity of Quinn is a huge step in the right direction for normalising discussions of women’s pleasure, and there’s no signs of this race slowing down in 2025. I’m sure by now we’ve all seen the trailer for ‘Babygirl’ starring Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson, which is set to release early January in the UK.
I’ll let you enjoy the above for yourself and won’t bore you with summarising the plot, but thank god we are getting sexy films again! It’s too often “older” women aren’t portrayed as sexual beings, they’re always mothers or the token responsible character. So to have a film that focuses on a more mature woman exploring new sexual desires is going to be a game-changer. Hoping and praying it doesn’t end how the ‘50 Shades’ epidemic did, which caused so much kink shaming worldwide that I think all of us decided it was easier to keep our fantasies tucked away in the back of our minds.
All things considered, I really think 2025 is shaping up to be the horniest year yet!
Here's where I struggle with Quinn...they claim that the app was started because standard porn is all coming from the male gaze perspective, yet two of the top three creators have admitted to porn addiction (Milo being one of them). So...the content is being created by guys who have a background in porn. That makes me question whether the content is truly that much of a departure.
And his comment -- "Objectification to the point of identifying human beings as literal categorizations based on features of their appearance." -- is coming from a guy who has a picture of a woman's rather plump lips with a pen clamped between her teeth on his Throne and newsletter header. I can't tell whether this is ironic or hypocritical.
There are a lot of things in media and porn (much of what you can classify as originating from a patriarchal perspective) that we are programmed to think are sexy. So my question is...do these things truly turn us on or are we simply acting from programming? Example: all of the pounding in sex...does that actually turn a woman's body on or is just the thing we've been programmed to think is sexy? Maybe it's not that women being unable to orgasm is a physical problem but more about programming.
My personal opinion about Quinn is that it's very meh at best and disempowering to women at worst. The fact that much of the community seems to be intensely focused on the male VAs as opposed to their sexual empowerment and pleasure is disturbing. I think there are many other resources for women who want to truly discover what turns their bodies on.
This is fantastic. I am a Sociologist by training - Milo is bang on. Thank you for putting this together. Being true to ones genuine self is difficult but finding and fostering a community to subvert the status quo is the only way to evolve as a society. I'm so proud to be a part of it even in a small part. Milo is a gem! I like to think VAs like him are doing a lot to help change men's viewpoints as well.