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Is Watching Porn Bad?
I’ll make a confession; I love porn, erotica, the whole thing!. I always have! As soon as I remember being sexually aware, I was curious about porn. I always had a strong imagination and I had some really ridiculous and far fetched fantasies, like being abducted by aliens and having to have sex with one. Like wtf, what 13-year-old girl is thinking these things? But I couldn’t help it. It was as if my attraction to porn and erotica was hard-wired into me, and perhaps it was.
We know that the majority of porn does a lot of harm; it has been shown to exploit actors, use victims of trafficking, enable gender-based violence, promote unrealistic body standards, and misinform young people about sex. We know the industry needs to change, however, I don't think we need to get rid of porn entirely! We can make BETTER porn. Luckily some have already started.
Watching porn does not need to be a disgusting, shameful, or harmful thing. It can be beautiful and when done correctly, it supports independent creators and actors and takes money away from exploitative porn producers.
What is Ethical Porn?
So what is ethical porn and what are the requirements? This is my personal ethical porn checklist:
Produced by women, or at the very least has a diverse range of people in the writing and production.
Pays + treats all actors, writers, producers, and general staff fairly and creates a positive and healthy work environment.
Creates porn with a diverse cast of actors to represent all types of people and sexualities.
Does not use violence as sexual activity or plotline.
The actors are fully consensual, engaged, and excited by activities.
The films promote safe sex with clear use of condoms and protection.
Female pleasure is given as much of a priority as the male actors.
Ethical Porn Recommendations?
When looking for feminist porn, you must avoid huge sites like Pornhub. They massively promote harmful and exploitative porn production and do not encourage ethical treatment or fair payment of actors. Thankfully there are some amazing websites out there, and more and more are being created each week! The more we support websites like these, the better the industry will be for sex workers and the people watching porn.
Here are my top 5 favourites that I hope you will enjoy too!
1. Ersties
I love Ersties for their natural, realistic, not-too-serious take on porn. Their team is entirely women and they create high quality, guilt free, fun videos! Their content is based in Germany and the EU, so you get away from that typical Hollywood style of video and find a diverse cast of performers. Their website is also super cute and is giving me early 2000s vibes, which is just another fun feature!
They give them the choice of who to perform with based on their own chemistry, so you're watching people genuinely enjoy themselves, which is so much hotter!!
2. Bellesa Plus
Bellesa is making waves in the ethical porn industry by pushing for more autonomy with performers. They give them the choice of who to perform with based on their own chemistry, so you're watching people genuinely enjoy themselves, which is so much hotter!! They also offer their service PAY AS YOU FEEL, which is amazing. They've set up a diversity fund to bring more BIPOC creators/performers and professionals into their team so watch this space for an even more diverse cast.
I love the Internet and how it has enabled individual creators to make beautiful things like Sounds of Pleasure. SoP is a Tumblr page filled with audio recordings of real people and couples masturbating and having sex. No more of the super fake and cheesy sex noises we hear in traditional porn! This is a great page for anyone who is sensitive to the sounds of sex and wants to be immersed in the experience. It’s also a super normal-looking webpage so you don’t have to cringe too much if you’re worried someone might walk in on you while listening!
4. PinkLabel TV
If you’re looking for something closer to the look of a porn site, with a big variety of creators and subcategories, then PinkLabel TV is for you! The porn hosting platform was created in 2013 after the creator Shine Louise Houston was inspired by porn she was at the Berlin Porn Festival. Her platform has been created for emerging and independent adult creators, to help them reach more viewers and help viewers find better-produced porn. In their own words:
“ PinkLabel TV communities comprise queer, trans, and people of color, as well as older folks and people with disabilities, so we understand first-hand that porn is broader than the stereotypical audience market.”
5. Independent Creators
We live in a world where creators can write, film and edit their own movies and content without needing to work for a big company, and that is fantastic for the future of women’s empowerment and control in the sex industry. You can find millions of independent creators online through social media, only fans, cam sites, Patreon and more! What could be better than directly supporting the individual?
Enjoy Porn without the Guilt
What are your favourite sites? Let us know in the comments below! Happy watching xxx