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Voices
Porn takes up to a third of all internet traffic, so it’s very likely you have come across it at some point, purposefully or not. While watching porn can give people real pleasure - it is often filled with messages that may be potentially harmful to our understanding of what sex and respectful relationships are like in real life.
Ask yourself: “Does what I see or how I behave online reflect my values?”. Most free online porn might reflect harmful stereotypes and can lead viewers with a misunderstanding of what sex and respectful relationships look like. But is all porn the same?
Ethical porn ensures that what you are watching was made with respect to performers' working conditions and rights, and with their previous and continued consent to everything that is happening before, during, and after the shoot.
* Making ethically produced adult films also means that everyone who is involved in making them - from performers on set to interns in the office - is compensated and treated appropriately. There are many reasons why ethically produced adult content is accessible behind a paywall. Payment is needed to pay performers, crew, post-production, and all freelance collaborators fairly, and to ensure that sex work is done in a safe environment. Just as when you pay to stream music on Spotify or a series on HBO, Netflix or Disney+.
When you watch porn 'for free' on the tube sites owned by Mindgeek (Pornhub, YouPorn, RedTube, etc.), you are supporting a business model based on piracy and poor working conditions while validating a poor and narrow-minded representation of sex and sexuality, which reaffirms gender power imbalance, racism, and homo-transphobia that are still very present in society.
The production of a porn films is almost the same as any other movie production. And as in many other industries, those who have the most significant responsibility and power to drive change, especially when it comes to how porn is produced and distributed, are the consumers. Consumers and their consumer choices are ultimately part of the porn industry. That is why we need to bring the same level of ethics and sustainability that has now been normalized in the meat or clothing industry, organic agriculture, etc., to porn consumption.
Erika Lust speaks about how we should be responsible consumers and support the people that create the entertainment we enjoy. We pay Netflix for the series. We pay Spotify for music. We should also pay for the porn we enjoy.
Carol Leigh was the one who coined the term “sex work” in 1970s. As a sex worker herself and, when she experienced abuse during her work, she realized the profound injustice and double standards of a society in which, if a victim reports a crime, she is the one risking unemployment, not her aggressor. She advocated for full decriminalization of all kinds of sex work, which can include:
● Webcam work
● Escorting
● Stripping
● Street work
● Brothel work
● Pornography
Worrying about how the porn we watch is made and who are the people who make it also means validating sex work as real work and sex workers as people who deserve the same human and legal rights as anyone else.
When you pay for porn that is not rooted in exploitation, racism, misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia, you are sending the message that these are not the values you are supporting. When you seek out quality content both in terms of authentic and relatable representations and ethical production process, you are supporting sustainable porn production, distribution, and consumption, and sending the message that porn has value because the people who are behind it have it.
Ethical Porn Sites from Erika Lust (Lust Cinema, XConfessions, Else Cinema, The Store)
With the Lust crew and the fantastic adult directors that they collaborate with for XConfessions, Lust Cinema, and Else Cinema, Erika Lust wants to fill a gap and bring an alternative to what we are used to seeing in free online porn.
XConfessions is a crowdsourced project that made school among the indie porn community where people can share their anonymous fantasies to see them translated into artistic, explicit short films.
Lust Cinema, on the other hand, is a platform where the monthly subscribers can enjoy original feature films and series starring popular adult performers alongside movies by top adult studios in the US.
For those looking for a softer approach to erotica, there is Else Cinema which features non-explicit films capturing the details of what sex feels like.
Finally, The Store by Erika Lust, is a curated catalog of adult films from around the world available to buy, download, and stream.
Erika Lust is a mother, a feminist, and an award-winning erotic filmmaker. Her sex-positive adult cinema is a more inclusive and cinematic alternative to mass-produced mainstream porn.In a world where female sexuality is often dismissed, her films celebrate a wider perspective that shifts from conventional pornography and instead values diversity, inclusivity, and a safe work environment.
In 2019, she was named as one of the BBC 100 Women’s most influential women of the year and in 2022, her alternative vision of porn was featured in The New York Times.
Erika has been instrumental in promoting the benefits of the female gaze in adult cinema. In addition to filmmaking, she has written several books, and her story was featured in the Netflix documentary series ‘Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On (“Women on Top”)’, directed by Rashida Jones, and ‘Principles of Pleasure’, directed by Niharika Desai.
Erika has a strong voice that emphasizes the need for inclusive and informative sex education. The Porn Conversation is her non-profit platform, giving families and educators the tools to give ‘The Talk’ and provide comprehensive sex education to the younger generation.
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