Ethics in the Adult Entertainment Industry
The adult entertainment industry has always been a taboo topic in popular culture, but the problems surrounding it have increased with the arrival of online pornography, which provides access to an infinite repertoire of free adult videos and movies. Free explicit sexual content is always just a few clicks away, and with the overwhelming supply of it that exists on the internet today, it can become extremely difficult to know exactly what goes on behind the scenes of it all. Are the actors consenting to performing those sexual acts, or even to being filmed in the first place? Are they being equitably paid for their work? Is the content diverse, realistic, and focused on pleasure? These are all questions you should be asking yourself before you engage with pornographic content. In this article, I’m going to explore the possibility of thoughtful and ethical consumption of pornography.
The Dark Side of the Industry
Pornography often gets a bad name and it’s no surprise; mainstream adult entertainment platforms are often the hosts of problematic and even illegal content, which goes under the radar because of the constant and vast influx of videos being uploaded. Whenever you’re browsing these platforms, keep in mind that pornography is not real life sex, and the individuals on screen are usually actors who do this as their job. Pornography is staged, scripted, and edited with a target audience in mind. Sex in real life takes so many different forms - it can be spontaneous, slow, messy, vulnerable, and the list goes on.
Mainstream pornography is problematic in many ways, but many critics of the industry call attention to the male gaze through which it is produced. Instead of focusing on the pleasurable experience of sex for everyone, it focuses mostly on soliciting men’s arousal, and more specifically white, heterosexual, cisgendered men. It positions women as objects, or accessories, who are solely present to serve the “main character”, who most often, is a man. It is extremely rare to see gender non-binary or genderfluid individuals featured in scenes on most free websites because pornography videos are so catered to the heterosexual, cisgendered man. Pornography also often depicts male aggression towards women, which can normalize those behaviours and desensitize viewers to real-life instances of sexual violence. The harmful lens of the male gaze in adult entertainment has played a role in what categories of porn are being consumed and by who. PornHub’s analytics recently revealed that the key word most searched up by women on the website was “lesbian”, by far surpassing any other searches. This can be understood as a response to the rampant misogyny within the context of heterosexual pornography - women would rather watch women have sex with each other, because the spotlight is no longer on men. Despite girl-on-girl videos being the preferred category for female viewers, it’s still important to acknowledge that even those are created as a performance for the male gaze, as cisgendered, heterosexual men remain the primary demographic for adult entertainment.
In addition to conveying misogynistic messages, there are also substantial racial inequalities within the industry. In fact, there is an especially large racial wage gap among female performers, with the average female actor of colour making as little as half what the average white female actor makes. Furthermore, many tropes in pornography perpetuate harmful racial stereotypes and overt fetishization of people of colour. At Sex and Self’s “Facing the Facts” event series, Jet Setting Jasmine and King Noire, co-owners of Royal Fetish Films, discussed the harmful trope of “police porn”, which romanticizes and fetishization the reality of Black individuals and communities affected by mass incarceration and systemic racism in policing. Constantly increasing in popularity is also the genre of interracial porn, which usually features a white woman having sex with one or many Black men. These types of scenes, as well as general racial fetishization, are some of the most lucrative for the white female actors involved, whereas the men featured in interracial porn do not profit nearly as much from participating in them. Aside from the financial implications, interracial pornography plays into damaging racial prejudices held against Black men and continues to maintain them in a setting that benefits and glorifies white women.
Another issue with mainstream porn is that of consent, because it’s often unclear if these actors are agreeing to or are being coerced into the acts they’re performing and whether boundaries were established before filming. A common misconception is that adult actors have to agree to everything they’re asked to do on camera, but this is false. Many performers set personal limits for what they’re comfortable for and sign contracts before filming to ensure these are being respected. Therefore, even though consent is usually not portrayed in pornographic scenes, it’s expected to be established before the cameras are rolling. This makes it difficult to distinguish a consensual porn scene from a nonconsensual one, an ambiguity that can be dangerous for actors and viewers, which is why paying for pornography is extremely important. Another incertitude when consuming mainstream pornography is the actors’ ages. Underaged actors, particularly women, are often pulled into the adult entertainment industry because there is a high demand for what is called “barely legal porn” - whereby viewers search for the youngest performers possible, without falling under the category of child pornography, sometimes resulting in illegal practices.
What is ethical pornography?
Now that I’ve pointed out some of the problems within the mainstream porn industry (and I’m only scratching the surface here), let’s talk ethical pornography. So what exactly does “fair trade porn” involve?
First, the most essential component of ethical adult entertainment is consent. In addition to agreeing beforehand to the sexual acts being performed in their scenes, actors’ consent should be ongoing and informed. This may even be reflected within the scripts, with characters asking for consent during scenes (“Is this okay?”, “How do you like this?”, “Should I go slower or faster?”). This type of representation helps educate consumers on what healthy sexual relations can look like.
Second, a good indicator of ethical porn is diversity. This includes showcasing different skin colors, body types, and even ages (as long as they’re of legal age, of course), without encouraging fetishization. Fair trade pornography providers should also be paying their actors equitably regardless of gender or race.
Third, ethically conscious adult entertainment puts an emphasis on representing pleasure above anything else. Very often, it uses more of a female perspective on sex as many of the producers behind ethical porn are women. Instead of objectifying actors, they seek to empower them and celebrate their pleasure in a way that humanizes and respects them.
Fourth but not least, ethical porn companies place a lot of importance on safety. All actors are required to get frequent STI screenings to protect their partners. With the pandemic, COVID-19 testing should also be required for every crew member before going on set.
There are also some easy ways to verify that the content you’re consuming is ethical. You can research the company online, find their performer consent policy, browse the website for more information about the actors, including their age, or find them on social media. Another secure way to ensure that your porn is ethical in conjunction with the checklist above is to pay for it; most of the time, when websites require a payment, you can almost guarantee that money is going towards paying the performers equitably. Keep in mind that despite being ethical, pornography is still a form of entertainment, rather than a source for educational content. Therefore, it will always be performative, regardless of ethics, which is something that everyone should be educated on from a young age. That being said, in order to counter harmful and unethical practices, it is encouraged to pay for pornography, just like you would with any other form of entertainment.
Ethical Porn Sources
Finally, I’m going to leave you with a few suggestions of trustworthy ethical porn websites for your enjoyment:
Bellesa.co (free) - Described as “made by women, for anyone of any gender who wants to watch something real”, Bellesa is a great go-to feminist website for pornography, erotica, sex toys, and more.
Royal Fetish Films ($) - Jet Setting Jasmine and her partner King Noire saw a need for better representation of Black and brown sexuality in the adult entertainment industry, so they created a safe space for not only performers but also viewers to feel more comfortable experimenting and exploring their sexualities while challenging harmful narratives in mainstream pornography.
MVTube (free) - MVTube, a subsection of ManyVids, offers free content which creators have agreed to be featured. Performers are paid per views and the platform allows them to gain exposure and find potential long-term customers.
XConfessions ($) - The creator, Erika Lust, is a feminist adult filmmaker. The concept behind XConfessions is to turn viewer submissions into erotic short films, so it makes for genuine and always exciting storylines.
Make Love Not Porn ($) - Their focus is authentic, real sex - challenging traditional tropes and scripts in pornography, Make Love Not Porn wants to provide “#RealWorldSex in all its glorious, silly, beautiful, messy, reassuring humanness”.
OnlyFans ($) - Because content is self-produced, OnlyFans is a great source for mature content consumption on the creators’ terms. Performers set their own prices and only go as far as they’re comfortable going.
The porn industry can be a dark place, but through our consumption, we get to decide where we want to put our views and our money. By encouraging ethical pornography companies, we can contribute to a better future for adult entertainers and encourage more diversity, safety and equitable standards within such a complex industry. Enjoy your guilt-free viewing!
Edits and Contributions by: Amrita Sandhu
