When a Savvy Miss member had the following question, we turned to Dr. Patti Britton for her expert opinion.

Sometimes to get myself in the mood before masturbating, I watch soft porn or flip through magazines. Strange thing for me is that, while I’m a twenty-eight-year-old heterosexual woman, it’s the images of other women that turn me on. Is this normal? Could this mean that I’m a lesbian and just don’t know it?

Dear Playboy Preferred:

I want to begin with a sincere “Congratulations” for taking charge of your own eroticism. Wahoo! Not many women will admit that they watch porn of any kind or look at sexy images on a glossy page. But most women (like men) need some mental stimulation to get in the mood. In my work, I integrate the mind, emotions, body and spirit. What goes on in your mind, with or without “dirty pictures,” is a necessary part of your erotic curve.

Speaking of curves, liking women as fantasy may be the turn-on you need to cross over the line into your arousal zone. Why? Because maybe for you, seeing other women naked and in sexually-evocative poses gives you permission to unleash your wild side. Or maybe you, like a large number of other proclaimed heterosexual women, find the idea or the imagery of women arousing. In fact, it may be that using this as a fantasy is working just because it’s something you would never take action on. What we fantasize about is not necessarily what we want to do sexually or romantically.

Then again, if you really let yourself feel free about your turn-ons, it could also be that women ARE an erotic object in your book. If so, you may want to pursue this option either in talking with a partner about being with women, indulge in hot solo play with another woman present, or explore it in the flesh. I suggest that you watch some lesbian porn or read some of the new genre of lesbian erotica. I am the host of a DVD, “Women Loving Women,”—each segment begins with an erotic poem by Sappho, and shows two different women expressing their unique sexual patterns. You may want to see two women in action and evaluate if this turns you on even more than just gazing at still pictures on a page.