1. The vast majority of porn is made by men, for men, so don't presume that your girlfriend will think it is a great idea. If she puts her foot down, try cajoling her with Porn for Women, by the Cambridge Women's Pornography Co-operative, a picture book featuring good-looking guys doing housework, with captions such as “Well, I can't offer you any solutions, but I am a good listener.”

2. If she agrees to give it a go, but gets upset at the sight of you deriving sexual pleasure from the nubile porn star on screen, turn it off immediately.

3. Her greatest fear is that watching porn will deaden your appetite for cellulite that won't shift and breasts that don't float, so keep both eyes on her, not the porn, while you are having sex.

4. Don't use porn as a way of communicating. If you want to try something different, ask her. Watching it will not persuade her to do it.

5. Instruction DVDs such as Tristan Taormino's Expert Guide To Fellatio will be taken as an insult, unless accompanied by her Expert Guide to Cunnilingus.

6. Statements such as “ I bet you could do that way better than her” will be interpreted as manipulative.

7. The moral debate about female exploitation in the porn industry has never been settled. Men argue that women are not being exploited because they choose to do it, but it is a choice that educated women rarely make. Women argue that even if an actress has consented to taking part in hardcore porn, women exposed to that imagery feel violated.

8. Some women believe it is possible to reconcile feminist beliefs with porn. The porn for women network (www.pornforwomen.net) declares itself to be pro-sex and pro-women, and says that “women are sexual beings, who can be visually stimulated, and who are entitled to seek pleasure in their lives”. Its film site (www.pornmoviesforwomen.com) recommends porn by female directors. This month's tip is Five Hot Stories For Her, a compilation of short films by Erika Lust, which won Movie of The Year at the Feminist Porn Awards 2008.

9. Still, it's one of the few industries - maybe the only one - in which women can earn more than men. They are paid up to $300 (£170) a scene, depending on the content, and men earn on average 50 per cent less. According to Forbes magazine, the porn star Jenna Jameson, and star of Zombie Strippers, made more than $30 million in 2005.

10. Porn and philanthropy may make strange bedfellows. The adult entertainment company Adam & Eve (www.adameve.com) invests in non-profit organisations that address issues such as population growth, disease control and sex education in developing countries.

Explore Women

• Fashion

• Beauty

• Diet & Fitness

• Relationships

• Families

• Celebrity

• The Way We Live

• Horoscopes

Times recommends

• How I lost the gift of joy for a while
• How to get Coleen Rooney's post-baby body
• The A-Z of winter style rules