Episode 84 - Ethical Porn with Gender Troubles

Kyla and Kristen join Eva and Emma of team Gender Troubles to kick off their Porn Month with a chat about whether porn can be ethical, and what ethical porn looks like in practice. Gender Troubles is a podcast dedicated to debunking, demystifying and making accessible the world of academic feminism. Topics: Kristen and Kyla think Bridgerton is porn; Kyla eats a banana; what are the labour rights of folks in the porn industry; is big tech ruining porn with surveillance capitalism; how to support creators directly; legalizing the sex work industry; what policy makers should do next.

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Gender Troubles recommend: "Porn Work: Sex, Labor and Late Capitalism" by Heather Berg
They also recommend checking out their Patreon!

Want to see Kyla’s notes on the porn episode?

1.    In the context of porn, what does ethical consumption mean?

Who is benefiting from the content? Who is the porn designed for? When I was younger, the porn I was exposed to wasn’t for women. Is the porn depicting all participants as equal or is it dehumanizing or degrading to women or BIPOC performers and viewers? Was the porn made with the consent of all participants or was someone being filmed unknowingly? Were the performers treated with respect? Was everyone paid fairly? Does it show real sexual pleasure, especially for people with vaginas (bypass fake orgasms and immediate arousal)? Does it show diversity in body type, skin colour, age, sexuality, ability, and gender? Is everyone of legal age? Was performer safety prioritized?

2.    Is the ethical consumption of porn possible?
Feminist porn or fair trade porn is a good place to start. Porn should be inclusive and consensual. A great option for the budget minded might be homemade porn.

3.    What are the ethical differences between consuming mass produced porn versus independent creator porn?
Supporting the creators directly is a good way to try and bypass a company or industry contributing to abuse and exploitation. Mainstream porn focuses solely on profit to the cost of performers and viewers (what does watching porn do to young men’s expectations of sex? How does the stigma of watching porn affect someone’s sense of self-worth and identity?) The industry profits from performers’ work when performers are the ones being put at risk for shoots that don’t prioritize safety or comfort. BIPOC performers are well known to be compensated less, asked to portray stereotypes, [and] have their content tagged with racist keywords without their consent or knowledge.

4.    Obviously, one of the main anti-porn arguments is the violence that is portrayed against women. Is there an ethical way to consume more hardcore or kinky content?
Totally! Watch kinky shit that was made with consent. Support artists directly and reach out to them requesting custom content that can scratch that kinky itch. Boycotting PornHub is a tough call because a lot of creators depend on it. What we really need is for big tech to break up so folks aren’t reliant on one huge bad actor that is the only place they can go, either as performers or consumers.

I think one of the best things we can do is fully legalize sex-work and regulate it like any other industry. In the meantime, support the performers you like! I support my favourite cartoonist on Patreon, and I found a tattoo artist that I love and booked directly through her Instagram instructions. Porn is art, support the artists the same way you’d support any artist you love. If you can’t support them financially but they provide clips or images you enjoy for free, send them a compliment or a tip.

On Bellesa Plus you can find porn directed by women for anyone who wants to watch something real. There is a focus on connection and genuine pleasure; performers choose people they want to work with and communicate their likes/dislikes before the cameras roll.

Pornhub is based in Montreal! Canadian content. It is one of the most popular sites in the world (100 million daily users by one count). Content published non-consensually is practically the site’s bread and butter. Mindgeek (a monopoly of porn) owns Pornhub. A step in the right direction would be better enforcement of current laws around copyright and antitrust. Shutting down PornHub entirely would hurt self-producers, as they rely on revenue sharing and directing viewers from the site to their own sites or OnlyFans.

I polled my friends and one person said they like to go to Reddit for porn; there they find performers who post their own material to drive traffic to their OnlyFans. He described it like a community hall with a book sale or craft fair stands. You browse and buy from the artists you like best!