“Some people assume my business is sexual. It’s not. My business is sensual. I call people into a sensual space which is far more exciting than any sexual skill they can ever acquire.” – Lebo Grand
The role of the voyeur plays an important part of fantasy–witnessing love-making from a distance, whether from behind a velvet curtain or a secret camera. It is a role that many of us enjoy by using pornography to cast ourselves as watchers, catching a glimpse of the secret pleasures that occur behind closed doors.
However, much of the mainstream pornography industry ignores the fantasies and desires of women. Female roles are often degrading and dehumanising, leaving the characters disempowered and objectified. However, a new movement is attempting to turn this on its head by increasing women’s participation in pornography, both as consumers, makers and performers.
Romance, titillation, toe-curling orgasms for all participants – these are just some of the features of ethical porn. Ethical porn is realistic, contains less cheap scenography, and is more sensual, providing a respectful perspective for all genders.
Also known as feminine porn, ethical porn inverts the classic genre by placing women and their desires firmly at the centre of the medium. Women become the heroines of the story, venerated, satisfied, adored, indulged. And not only is ethical porn made consensually, it also treats performers – of all genders – with respect, paying actors and filmmakers fairly for their work on set.
Other key components of ethical porn are the depiction of real sexual pleasure – in all its messy, romantic and sticky skin-to-skin closeness – as well as showing diversity in body size, age, race, sexuality and ability. Often films are shot with real couples, rather than actors.
Leading the movement towards ethical porn is Erika Lust – an award-winning cinematographer who focuses on sex-positive stories that fulfil all the aims of traditional pornography. The company runs a number of online cinemas that range from artistic indie fantasy films to feature-length movies and series, to more suggestive and less explicit erotic viewing.
While we appreciate ethical porn, an alternative playing with authenticity is MakeLoveNotPorn, a social sex platform which allows its users to share real-life fantasy films online and features a variety of users and sexual orientations. Participants are paid and can remain anonymous if they choose.
Other sex-positive websites include Bright Desire, which focuses on “intelligent” sex stories, showing all the laughter and intimacy that real love-making entails and Afterglow which contains high-quality erotic content curated for sexual wellness.
While pornography shouldn’t be used as a substitute for sex education, it is a way of indulging our fantasies and enjoying the pleasures of erotica. And sharing the experience with a partner can be highly arousing – and extremely rewarding.
References:
https://erikalust.com/
https://makelovenotporn.tv/
https://brightdesire.com/tour/about/
https://www.xoafterglow.com
