/fornicate/
Pornography plays a significant role in shaping sexual culture. In the past it has largely been tailored to the sexual desires of heterosexual men. Sometimes it seems that there is little available to serve those who don’t feel that their interests are represented in mainstream pornography. But the idea of ethically produced ‘fairtrade’ porn is gaining momentum. Well-produced pieces of art, professional and amateur work alike, are more readily available for every interest group, enjoyed even more because of the premise that all performers are fully consenting and genuinely enjoying their work. There is a focus on real connections and real pleasure; searching for something real and human rather than the overacted relationships and distorted images displayed on most mainstream porn sites.
Our popular culture has become hypersexualised, in the past decade particularly. Pornography, like many facets of the sex industry, has traditionally been created by men, for men, but there is an increased public demand for porn that caters to people outside of the male gaze, without exploiting the performers or providing unrealistic expectations of sex. ‘Female friendly’ pornography on free, mainstream sites like PornHub typically feature storyline-heavy encounters, or faux-feminist videos with titles like kiss my pussy before you fuck me.
Pandora Blake, adult performer and founder of the ‘Dreams of Spanking’ website that was shut down last year under new UK porn laws, says that it is definitely possible to ethically produce porn that could be considered mainstream. “Claiming that all porn is sexist because you’ve only seen the worst of it is like saying that all TV is sexist because you’ve only ever watched Top Gear,” she says. “PornHub and YouPorn are the lowest denominator of porn, and it’s not even up to date. They don’t represent the current state of porn, let alone the future of it”.
Rashida Jones, whose recent documentary Hot Girls Wanted explored the nature of the amateur porn industry, referred to the commodification of sex as the “peak of capitalism” in an interview with VICE. “Porn is not a taboo, marginal, subversive thing anymore – it’s front and centre,” she said. “It’s a Frankenstein of, culturally, what we want.”
Amateur porn does not have an across-the-board definition. In some circles, it is real people who choose to upload footage of their personal sexual encounters to the web for others to access and enjoy. For the girls that Jones speaks to in Hot Girls Wanted, it is more of a sub-category of professional pornography. “Everything is the same shoot – it’s always your first time” states Rachel Bernard, one of the girls in the documentary. “And it’s like ‘I’m dumb as hell, and I need five hundred dollars and I’m just going to get this random dude that I would never have sex with in real life’.” Jones explains that it appeals to the stereotype of the “innocent young girl” caught off guard by a sexual encounter, almost always with a stranger. “It feels more real, even though it isn’t,” Jones says.
This sense of realism is a big part of what makes fairtrade porn so appealing – the idea of real people having real sex, without the subconscious guilt that underage girls have been exploited for the footage that you are enjoying. A lot of ethical porn emphasises a sense of genuine connection, and focuses on the human element of sex – facial expressions, body movements, passion, laughter – rather than simply cordoning off body parts as ‘mainstream’ porn is wont to do. Fairtrade porn also tends to overlap with feminist porn, generally characterised by women-dominated production teams and a focus on female pleasure and autonomy. On mainstream sites, this usually means no anal, no dominant/submissive dynamics in which the man is dominant and no ejaculation above the neck.
However, a lack of anal and facials does not a feminist porno make. Adult films can have both those things, and more, while still being empowering to women. It is about awareness and intention, rather than the act itself. And, as with all things sexual, it comes down to personal preference. Founder of Make Love Not Porn, Cindy Gallop, says that “it’s absolutely not about judgement. Sex is the area of human experience that embraces the vastest possible range of proclivities.”
Make Love Not Porn is one of many sites dedicated to fairtrade adult films. It began as a project to dispel the damaging myths that mainstream porn perpetuates – for example, that all women enjoy having their faces ejaculated on, or that they can achieve orgasm without stimulation of either the G-spot or the clitoris – and has evolved to include videos and stories of real world sex. In a similar vein, Bright Desires creates adult films that the website describes as “smart porn” with videos of primarily heterosexual or solo acts that are “re-visioned, feminist, artistic and positive”. Barcelona-based filmmaker Erika Lust’s style is porno-meets-indie-cinema, carefully crafted erotic art for which she has won many awards. 2016 marks the tenth year of the Feminist Porn Awards, and the industry has boomed over the decade since they began, sparked by the idea that pornography could be enthusiastically produced and consumed by women and other marginalised peoples. The Crash Pad series, for example, tells the story of a secret apartment in San Francisco dedicated to hot, queer sex to which participants must have a key; the only rule is, once you’ve used your key seven times you must pass it on. The demand for adult entertainment that represents the diversity of our sexual interests as human beings is there and the industry is growing and changing in response.
The appeal for fairtrade porn is far-reaching; it makes you feel connected to the human sexual experience without the bizarre contortions or fake orgasms. Plus, there’s the knowledge that the people you are watching are genuinely enjoying themselves, rather than feeling unhappy or unsafe in their work environment. Pandora Blake’s boyfriend D sums it up simply: “you’re allowing [people] to be the nice people that they already are, and not have to compromise that to watch some porn.”