Shade grown organic porn?
May 23, 2010 12:45 PM Subscribe
I'm looking for "organic" kinky porn in which I know the models are not being exploited. (NSFW)
Two part question:
1. If I'm going to pay for porn, which I would be happy to do if I found the right stuff, I need to know that the women (and men!) who are performing in it are doing so willingly and happily. Can you recommend companies, either in the US or elsewhere, that have good reputations when it comes to this sort of thing?
2. If I'm looking at free porn clips on the internet, it's hard to know their provenance. This has been bothering me a lot lately, because my tastes are of the "super kinky" variety and so respecting the models in real life is particularly important to me. What are some indicators of "good" versus "bad" porn? Can you tell me what I should avoid? Are there articles or is there research I should read about how to avoid supporting exploitation?
Two part question:
1. If I'm going to pay for porn, which I would be happy to do if I found the right stuff, I need to know that the women (and men!) who are performing in it are doing so willingly and happily. Can you recommend companies, either in the US or elsewhere, that have good reputations when it comes to this sort of thing?
2. If I'm looking at free porn clips on the internet, it's hard to know their provenance. This has been bothering me a lot lately, because my tastes are of the "super kinky" variety and so respecting the models in real life is particularly important to me. What are some indicators of "good" versus "bad" porn? Can you tell me what I should avoid? Are there articles or is there research I should read about how to avoid supporting exploitation?
Kink.com's sites are probably what you need. It's at least partly run by Madison Young and her partner. She uses her profits to run a non-profit specializing in Women and Trans produced art. Her Training of O video she made with her partner is amazingly hot and I don't even really go for BDSM.
Or that's what my friend said at least.
posted by Uncle at 1:06 PM on May 23, 2010 [4 favorites]
Or that's what my friend said at least.
posted by Uncle at 1:06 PM on May 23, 2010 [4 favorites]
Kink.com and their various sub-sites (and dom-sites, I guess) make a big deal about this. Lots of videos have post-scene sit downs with the stars talking about the scene.
posted by wemayfreeze at 1:07 PM on May 23, 2010
posted by wemayfreeze at 1:07 PM on May 23, 2010
Thirding Kink.com
posted by desjardins at 1:15 PM on May 23, 2010
posted by desjardins at 1:15 PM on May 23, 2010
it's like a broken record, but kink.com is really your go-to for mainstream, kinky, responsible, non-exploitative porn. the after talks are great - but in just reading twitters and blogs and interviews - i don't think i've ever come across someone who has worked for kink.com and come away from it with anything but praise.
if you're looking to "respect the models in real life" - the only way is to know the performers, which is to say - the reason madison young gets name dropped here (and i name dropped her in another kink thread this week) is because she talks about how much she enjoys what she's doing. justine joli and isis love also fall in this category, and they also do a lot of work for kink.com. so, i guess what i'm saying is find the performers you know are in it for good reasons and look at the places they work. madison young and justine joli both led me to pink and white productions/crash pad - it's all lesbian (or trans), but it gets pretty rough, especially considering how vanilla and light "lesbian" porn usually is.
and if you're really looking for a way to not exploit - the biggest complaint from people trying to make a living in the industry is people downloading their content for free - so pay for a membership.
posted by nadawi at 1:40 PM on May 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
if you're looking to "respect the models in real life" - the only way is to know the performers, which is to say - the reason madison young gets name dropped here (and i name dropped her in another kink thread this week) is because she talks about how much she enjoys what she's doing. justine joli and isis love also fall in this category, and they also do a lot of work for kink.com. so, i guess what i'm saying is find the performers you know are in it for good reasons and look at the places they work. madison young and justine joli both led me to pink and white productions/crash pad - it's all lesbian (or trans), but it gets pretty rough, especially considering how vanilla and light "lesbian" porn usually is.
and if you're really looking for a way to not exploit - the biggest complaint from people trying to make a living in the industry is people downloading their content for free - so pay for a membership.
posted by nadawi at 1:40 PM on May 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Dave Naz and his partner Ashley Blue also do what they love, and happen to make money at it. I'd follow their work. His blog is here. NSFW!
(As a side note, I have heard bad things about Kink.com, but I'm not sure how much of that was just the general cattiness of the kink crowd, especially SF versus LA. There were a lot of rumors for a while of performers hurt by bad rigging, including dislocated shoulders, and I know that my former place of employ was pushing on getting some sort of exposé out, but I don't think anything ever came of that and since I worked for the Death Star of porn, it's not like they had an ethical leg to stand on.)
posted by klangklangston at 1:47 PM on May 23, 2010
(As a side note, I have heard bad things about Kink.com, but I'm not sure how much of that was just the general cattiness of the kink crowd, especially SF versus LA. There were a lot of rumors for a while of performers hurt by bad rigging, including dislocated shoulders, and I know that my former place of employ was pushing on getting some sort of exposé out, but I don't think anything ever came of that and since I worked for the Death Star of porn, it's not like they had an ethical leg to stand on.)
posted by klangklangston at 1:47 PM on May 23, 2010
You should be able to find lots of great stuff by checking out the winners of Good For Her's annual Feminist Porn Awards. From their description for the FPA:
posted by heatherann at 2:07 PM on May 23, 2010 [4 favorites]
As Annie Sprinkle famously said, "the answer to bad porn isn't no porn. It's more porn!" Good For Her couldn't agree more. We all know that the world is inundated with cheesy, cliche, degrading, no-budget, patronizing and stupid porn. But we also believe that erotic fantasy is powerful stuff, and that women and marginalized communities deserve to put their dreams and desires on film too. As feminists and sex-positive people, we want to showcase and honour those who are doing it right, like filmmakers who understand that people of colour are sexual beings - not sexual objects. Like performers who want to see body diversity, so they shake their ample butts in front of the camera. Like everyone who ever said "why aren't my fantasies and realities ever reflected in porn?" so they picked up a camcorder and recorded their friends getting it on.Oh, and they're definitely kink-friendly.
In order to be considered for a Feminist Porn Award, the movie/short/website/whatever! must meet at least one of the following criteria:And of course, it has to be hot!
- A woman had a hand in the production, writing, direction, etc. of the work.
- It depicts genuine female pleasure
- It expands the boundaries of sexual representation on film and challenges stereotypes that are often found in mainstream porn.
Overall, Feminist Porn Award winners tend to show movies that consider a female viewer from start to finish. This means that you are more likely to see active desire and consent, real orgasms, and women taking control of their own fantasies (even when that fantasy is to hand over that control).
posted by heatherann at 2:07 PM on May 23, 2010 [4 favorites]
take a look at the work of Shine Louise Houston, especially her Crash Pad series: http://crashpadseries.com/ - I researched this issue for an article once and, having spoken to several people who've appeared in her movies, it seemed clear to me there was no exploitation going on. They're movies made by people who care about creating something outside the plastic world of mainstream porn.
posted by acalthla at 3:11 PM on May 23, 2010
posted by acalthla at 3:11 PM on May 23, 2010
I don't know what your particular kink is, but there's lots of homemade kink on sites like submityourflicks.com and porngt.com.
Frankly, I always find homemade porn more erotic than even the most freerange of commercial stuff.
posted by Netzapper at 3:20 PM on May 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Frankly, I always find homemade porn more erotic than even the most freerange of commercial stuff.
posted by Netzapper at 3:20 PM on May 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
I've got 6 friends who work for kink.com (2 customer support, 1 graphic designer, 1 photo editor, and 2 PAs [and a friend who used to be a carpenter/metal fabricator there until he moved out of the area]) and they are all very positive and upbeat and happy about their employer.
Here are the shooting rules that all kink.com directors work under. Here are the model rights that all models sign.
posted by mollymayhem at 5:54 PM on May 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Here are the shooting rules that all kink.com directors work under. Here are the model rights that all models sign.
posted by mollymayhem at 5:54 PM on May 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
The trouble with homemade stuff is that I often find it unclear whether it's been posted with the consent of everyone in it.
I'm not calling Netzapper or anyone else a bad person for enjoying it. I'm a fan myself. But if anonymous is trying to be a real stickler for ethics, then the mere fact that a movie looks homemade may not be a good enough guarantee.
(I'd also love to be proven wrong here. If you know of a real homemade porn site that's got actual ethical standards, rather than just "Well we'll put up whatever you send us," that would be excellent news.)
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:10 PM on May 23, 2010
I'm not calling Netzapper or anyone else a bad person for enjoying it. I'm a fan myself. But if anonymous is trying to be a real stickler for ethics, then the mere fact that a movie looks homemade may not be a good enough guarantee.
(I'd also love to be proven wrong here. If you know of a real homemade porn site that's got actual ethical standards, rather than just "Well we'll put up whatever you send us," that would be excellent news.)
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:10 PM on May 23, 2010
Fetlife.com, if you subscribe (fiver a month) has videos! And they are omg hawt.
posted by By The Grace of God at 3:53 AM on May 24, 2010
posted by By The Grace of God at 3:53 AM on May 24, 2010
FuckforForest.com. Either pay $15 a month or do some porn yourself and get free access: all "actors" are volunteer and proceeds go to help save the rainforest.
posted by Lutoslawski at 10:56 AM on May 24, 2010
posted by Lutoslawski at 10:56 AM on May 24, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 12:48 PM on May 23, 2010 [1 favorite]