AUSTIN, Texas—Adult industry producers Lilly Sparks, Bree Mills, Inka Winter and Erika Lust have published the Ultimate Guide to Ethical Porn, aimed at answering questions about consent, workplace environment and more.
The three-page guide is available on xoafterglow.com, the women-led erotic sexual wellness site that features ethical porn, guided masturbations and partner exercises designed to help people have better, more playful, more fulfilled relationships with sex.
To read the guide, click here.
The guide submits that ethical porn producers tend to be more concerned with consent, fair pay, on-set diversity and bodily autonomy than mainstream porn producers, though it acknowledges that there isn’t just one definition of ethical. The guide also encourages people who want to consume ethical porn to know how their porn is distributed, support diverse casting and pay for their porn.
“If you want to support performers with good wages, pay for your porn,” the guide says.
Readers will also find a list of producers where consumers can find ethical porn, including such sites as afterglow, Lust Cinema and ForPlay Films, as well as industry organizations like FairPorn and BIPOC-AIC.
The guide also debunks seven common myths about the porn industry: porn creates body image issues, it’s problematic to watch porn, racism and fetishization is prevalent in porn, and women in porn are frequently exploited, to name a few. “Conflating sex work (including porn) with abuse hurts sex workers and other people in the porn industry, many of whom are women,” it says.
“There are a lot of benefits to watching porn,” the guide says. “It can re-kindle your sex life, help you discover and share kinks or fantasies, and even reduce stress.”
Lust, the creative director of Lust Cinema and an ethical porn supporter, said, “We’ve made great strides in normalising ethical standards in adult production over the last 20 years. Ethical porn platforms are blooming and growing in the sex positive space, showing that more and more people want porn to change—and that’s fantastic! Now it’s the time for sustainable porn consumption; we need to normalise our curiosity for sex and stop dehumanizing sex workers. People who watch porn have the greatest power to change the industry for the better.”
Bree Mills, chief creative officer of streaming platform Adult Time, said, “Being an ethical producer has nothing to do with your own gender or sexual preference. It's about investing as much energy into how you produce as what you produce. Ensuring the experience is professional, progressive and, most importantly, as positive as possible for everyone involved. This counts from the moment the project is initiated through to well after it has wrapped."
Lilly Sparks, founder and chief executive officer of afterglow, agreed, saying, “Porn isn't bad like most people think. What's bad is the shame and lack of resources around sex in our society. Afterglow is here to change that, and we're starting with this guide to ethical porn.”
