A group of students at the University of Washington-Seattle has formed a club that aims to provide a safe haven to discuss, see, and even create independent amateur porn.
Called the Amateur Porn Club, the organization has at least one twist, according to the university student newspaper, The UV Daily: Members must subscribe to “feminist principles” and adhere to anti-sexism, anti-oppression, and pro-consent methods.
The paper said the idea for the club arose out of a friendly bet between two members of the Women’s Action Committee that UW-S would not allow a porn club on campus. One of the women, Charity Ranger, helped start the club in late 2004 with other members of the WAC. Freshman Allyson Kolan was elected the club’s first president.
"I find it hard to talk about these things within groups of friends because there are no parameters, and it can turn into a big anti-woman, sexist discussion," Ranger told The UV Daily. "If you have set parameters to talk about porn, it doesn't have to go to a place where you don't want it to."
Indeed, the club might want to make its own porn, but they have no intention of selling it, according to the paper, which said the materials would be made between consenting members in safe and private areas. But no porn will be made before the makers consult with the club advisor about legal issues concerning privacy, nudity, and “motivations behind filming,” the paper added.
University media relations executive director Norm Arkans told The UV Daily that this kind of club was a first for the university. “[A]s a result, there are no regulations for filming pornography, aside from any local laws and ordinances that might govern such behavior,” he said.
The “motivations behind filming” question helped get a California State University, Chico fraternity, Phi Kappa Tau, suspended in March, after it was learned and confirmed that the frat allowed Shane’s World to use their house as a location for the College Invasion series in December. PKT is banned from hosting parties or joining university-sanctioned events until the suspension is resolved, and the campus’s council of Greek organizations also suspended the frat over the shoot.
