For HER Pleasure And Saying Goodbye To The Male Gaze: Here’s Feminist Porn You Should Be Watching

Mainstream porn culture has been developed to cater to the male gaze. It’s inherently embedded with scenes that prompt the subjugation and objectification of women who need to cater to the pleasures of men. There is also no complex or fluid queer representation or any neurodiverse representation. Instead, we have the ever-present heterosexual butch masculine man against the more demure pleasure-providing femme woman. There is a need to change normative beliefs around mainstream consumptions of porn if its reflections in real-time are to be amended. Sexual depictions need to be more nuanced and power dynamics have to be more equitable for a more diverse representation of our sexual and intimate realities, even if it’s only consumption or escapist based.

Homegrown has previously discussed how the relationship between porn and toxic masculinity can be “de rigueur for young boys to covertly swap videos and magazines in school, or for slightly skeevy comments about women to be considered perfectly normal and a part of ‘growing up’.” Though undoubtedly a dangerous fostering of toxic masculinity, it’s also a reflection of how porn contributes to the skewed male mentality and how it perpetuates and confines men to stereotypes within masculinity. The need for ethical and feminist porn is rooted in a celebration of unbias, inclusion, and equality. Making porn with actors who consent to artistically liberating sexuality rather than being blatantly exploited by a business model which lacks authentic intention or care, is the direction new-age porn should be taking. If porn is going to mirror our subconscious desires, it might as well mirror desires which are not self-destructive and are filled with emotional attention to detail and which showcases the vivid complexity of being human in an ever-increasing diverse world.

Tristan Taormino, a sex educator, defines feminist porn as “dedicated to gender equality and social justice. Feminist pornography is porn that is generated in a fair manner, signifying that performers are paid a reasonable salary and most importantly treated with care and esteem; their approval, security, and well-being are vital, and what they bring to the production is appreciated.”

Here is a list of sites you can explore feminist porn on:

I. Queer Porn

Queer porn is an inclusive website for everyone who doesn’t fall in line with the gender binary. It explores, intimately, queer erotica from a feminist standpoint. Made by queer porn stars themselves, as described on their website, the environs include “punk houses, slumber parties, and pride protests around the world, QPTV porn scenes bring you everywhere our lusty queerions want to go.”

II. CrashPad Series

Adult filmmaker Shine Louise Houston has brought to this webpage her unique cinematic direction, hailed for its honest depiction of female and queer sexuality. Crash Pad’s queer porn casts ‘real-life’ couples who identify as lesbians, femme, masculine of centre (boi, stud, tomboy, AG, and butch) and can be cis or trans women, trans men, people of colour, people of size, older queers, and people with disabilities or people who are neurodivergent. Continuing the story of a secret apartment which you need a key to enter into your wildest fantasies, CrashPad is an award-winning adult content series that centres ethical and inclusive practices of sexuality at its roots.

III. Bright Desire

Bright Desire aims to move beyond the old tropes, boundaries and negativities of standard, old-style pornography and to offer something fresh, inclusive, and intelligent. It is ethical, feminist, and showcases real connection.

IV. Pink Label

The Pink Label has an entire section on the feminist porn gaze and a multitude of women and queer-centric erotica. It also showcases a wide array of upcoming independent film-makers.

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