In a recent study for The Journal of Sex Research, researchers sought to find out if the “damaged goods” hypothesis, or the idea that female porn stars are more likely to from self-esteem issues and other damaging past experiences, is true. By surveying 177 porn stars and as many regular women (matched on age, ethnicity, and marital status), they were able to learn about the real differences between your girlfriend and the chick you jerk it to.

Interestingly, they found that although opponents of pornography claim that it objectifies the female porn star and likely damages their self-worth, the porn stars surveyed reported higher “self-esteem, positive feelings, social support, sexual satisfaction, and spirituality” than their matched non-porn star participants. SAY WHAAAA? So maybe participating in, enjoying, and embracing sexuality isn’t the demoralizing, mentally and emotionally-debilitating practice that some people have always believed it to be (I’m looking at you, Zombie Robertson)!

Of course, there is always the chance on self-reported surveys that the results aren’t 100% honest. Those actresses whose orgasms are clearly fake might be BSing on this too. However, they honestly answered that they were concerned about contracting STDs, reported that they had higher incidences of drug use, had sex at a younger age, and were more likely to be bisexual. So if they were faking their answers, they went in a weird direction with it.

Although we wouldn’t say that all women should take their clothes off and get boned on camera (if you do though, please comment with an easy to access URL) (for research), it doesn’t seem far-fetched to extrapolate the results and conclude that women who are more open about their sexuality and maintain a healthy, active sex life would be more happy, and have higher self-esteem.

In conclusion:

GO SEX SOMEONE. FOR YOUR SOUL.