While it may not exactly be a controversial proposition within the porn industry, the idea that porn is a creative product that should be bought and sold—with hard-earned cash—like any other product has become an increasingly unfamiliar one. But this week, the women’s health and beauty magazine Self makes the case for why paying to watch porn is not only the right thing to do, it’s good for you.
“My taste in porn tends toward two general types, which sometimes, delightfully, overlap: pretty and raw. I like artful lighting, carefully framed shots, and lingering close-ups of mouths. I also like porn that feels spontaneous and orgasms I can believe in,” wrote journalist Sophie Ouellette-Howitz. “The kind of visceral, compelling performances and high-end production values I go for cost money.”
Ouellette-Howitz also argues that paying for porn is actually more important than paying for other, more mainstream forms of content, where structures for generating revenue have not been upended over the past decade or so that way the economics of porn have been affected.
“Here’s why I think the choice to pay for the porn you watch matters more than whether you pony up for an HBO subscription or search for a bootleg version of the latest release,” the Self scribe writes. “The people who create porn are already marginalized by the work they do, making it that much harder for them to get paid fairly for their labor in the first place.”
In her Self essay, Ouellette-Howitz names five porn producers she recommends patronizing with both eyeballs, and dollars: PinkLabel TV, TrenchcoatX, Kink.com, Trouble Films and Burning Angel.
“It’s absolutely worthwhile to put time and thought into finding porn you can feel good about getting off to, and supporting ethical practices by paying for porn from producers who treat and pay their performers fairly,” she writes.
The “stigma” that even today continues to surround viewing porn, the writer says, also contributes to the “marginalization” of the industry and the performers that make it go. And that stigma is far worse for women who nonetheless make up a fast-growing segment of the porn market.
“A recent study of 24,000 women who watched content on one of the largest adult video sites found that 54 percent don’t talk to their friends about their porn consumption, and 51 percent would be ashamed if their friends knew they were into it,” Ouellette-Howitz notes.
The solution, she says, involves not only paying for porn—but also talking about it. The more porn viewers are willing to discuss their enthusiasm for, and preferences in, their preferred form of entertainment, the sooner the oppressive stigma will lift.
Photo by Petar Milošević / Wikimedia Commons (Cropped)
