The hegemonic forces that dictate our sexuality as a culture have determined that we must now collectively be into fauxcest porn. Pornhub tells us so. Once a niche subgenre, taboo enough to at least be several clicks away from the front page, brother-sister porn and sibling-themed videos now dominate the “popular” and “trending” sections of every major tube site. At the moment, in fact, four of the five videos on the top row of Pornhub mention family, with “stepmom,” “daddy” or “stepsis” in the title.
But given that these scenes have become so commonplace, they require a new twist to restore some of their lost taboo glory. And so, many of them now feature an oft-repeated phrase that aims to do exactly that: “Stepbro, I’m stuck.”
What Is Stuck Porn?
Beyond the general premise that two step-siblings are about to get it on, some scenarios include a plotline that almost breaches into non-consensual territory. For example, in one clip with more than 10 million views, Alexis Deen somehow becomes stuck attempting to climb into her house through a window. The upper half of her body is indoors, while her skirted lower half is outside. Soon, her stepbrother stumbles upon her. “Stepbro,” she calls him, as any normal family dynamic requires, “I’m stuck.”
Naturally, sex ensues, but not without some initial trepidation and disbelief on the step sister’s part. “I’m taking advantage of this,” Stepbro informs us.
Deen quickly begins to enjoy herself — or at least that’s what’s implied. But the assumption here is that she ordinarily wouldn’t have consented to such an act, and that Stepbro is taking advantage of her precarious position. Other stepsibling scenes play up this precarity in a different form, like in one where Lana Rhoades plays a young stripper who must convince her stepbrother to keep her career a secret from the rest of the family.
The ubiquity of this plot point suggests two things. The first is that the stepsibling dynamic requires this kind of cognitive disconnect, particularly from the sister. The second is that for some viewers, a breach of consent and boundaries only enhances the “forbidden” nature of the topic. Incest itself is viewed as “wrong,” and for it to have occurred somewhat unwillingly only pushes that wrongness further.
What the Fauxcest Bubble Says About Us
As my colleague Isabelle Kohn explains in her exploration of the fauxcest bubble, part of the reason why it’s so saturated in porn more broadly is that it serves as almost a Venn diagram for the average porn viewer and fetishists. Someone with a particular interest in fauxcest might seek out these plots intentionally, while someone primarily interested in seeing their favorite porn star bone can just ignore the clunky “stepbro” dialogue.
The “stuck” aspect thus seems to add a third bubble to the porno Venn diagram. Now, a mainstream adult scene can appeal to any run-of-the-mill viewer as well as those with a particular interest in incestuous themes and pseudo-nonconsent. While it may have been an attempt to reach a specific type of viewer, like with the fauxcest genre as a whole, “stuck” porn seems to be reaching normalcy. In recent months, searches related to “stepbro, I’m stuck” have hit their peak, per Google Trends.
Whether any of this is of consequence is unclear — after all, it’s just fantasy, and the majority of the scenes keep the step-sibling boundary, and eventually, enthusiastic consent is made clear. But at the very least, it does prove one thing: Whatever the porn industry wants to be a trend will eventually become one.
Your Hardest Questions About Porn, Answered
- First, check out Tasha Reign’s MEL column about porn and sex. You’ll probably learn a ton.
- Who are the big men in small penis porn?
- What’s with the enduring appeal of girl-on-girl or lesbian porn?
- What is an average flaccid penis? Here’s the truth about “grower vs. shower.”
- How do you play the Pornhub intro music?
- How is TikTok — and NSFW TikTok on Reddit — changing the porn aesthetic?
- Wait, does TikTok have a porn problem?
- Inside porn’s newest #MeToo campaign.
- Who is Nick Finch, the, um, extremely NSFW YouTube chef?
- What is Thothub?
- What is — and no, this is not a typo — porm?
- What’s up with all the bikini barista porn?
Magdalene Taylor
Magdalene Taylor is a staff writer at MEL. She covers internet culture, sex and the online adult industry. She lives in Brooklyn but is from God's Country, Western Massachusetts.
