Another installment of my Ethical Pornographer column just went up. This one features the talented and smart Essin’Em who I’ve had the pleasure of meeting.
Here’s a snippet:
GJ: How do you define ethical pornography?
SC: Ethical pornography is when everyone involved (usually the actors, but also the crew) gets their input involved, where everyone is comfortable with what is happening, and where everyone is adequately compensated for their work. This means that the actors should at least partially get to dictate who they are shooting with (at least gender/orientation), what type of sex is happening (oral, anal, vaginal, toys, kink, etc) to whom, and are given the options to discuss having barriers. It seems pretty simple, yes? Unfortunately, many companies don’t tell people who they are shooting with until the day of, or hire someone for a girl/girl scene, and then when they show up, tell them they have to do an anal scene, or they’re fired. Barriers are almost never brought up in much mainstream porn.
That said, I don’t feel ethical pornography has to have a queer or feminist bent (although much of current ethical porn happens to). Ethical means treating everyone in a fair and respectful manner. It means listening to talent, and respecting limits/needs/etc. It means not lying, half-truth-ing or purposely deceiving people. Ethical porn is hot because you know the people in it are really enjoying the sex they are having, and not solely putting on a show of pleasure.
As I’ve said before, the amazing sex-positive bloggers, directors, performers and educators out there today make me so optimistic for a future where porn is truly ethical and accessible and for as wide an audience as possible. Thanks, Garnet and Essin’Em!