Women’s pleasure is obviously not what most mainstream porn is about. It’s pretty clear that your typical video is made by men for men – something which has been backed up by research.
There are the degrading scenes, like when a man ejaculates in a woman’s face. And it’s often not clear if the female performers are comfortable doing what they’re doing, let alone enjoying it. Chances are good that the woman you see moaning with pleasure is faking her orgasm, whereas there’s no doubt as to whether the male performer is enjoying the experience. After all, he’s got to stay hard and come up with that ‘money shot’ at the end.
Everybody’s sexy
Feminist porn approaches things from a different perspective, Canadian researcher Olga Marques told Love Matters.
“The central message of feminist pornography is that everybody and every body is desirable and capable of being desired,” Marques explained. “In this aspect, feminist pornographers seek to empower both the performers as well as the viewers.”
It’s also ethical. Performers are paid fair salaries and they’re treated well on set. If you’re watching a feminist porn video, you can be sure that the actors have chosen to be there and are willing to perform all of the sexual acts you see on screen. That’s an idea that can make the scenes sizzle for both female and male viewers.
Every kind of sex act
But what kind of sex do women actually watch? Romantic storylines and soft focus embraces? That’s not at all what Marques’ found in her research into the kinds of sexually explicit material women use for their sexual pleasure. If you think feminist porn is all cheesy romantic scenes you’re mistaken.
“Feminist porn is sex positive,” Marques says. “Whatever you can find in mainstream pornography, can be found in feminist pornography… from the tender lovemaking all the way to domination style BDSM, and everything in between.” The difference, she explains, “Lies not in the acts, but the underlying philosophy.”
Every kind of body
There’s also the topic of body type. In most soft-core porn videos and men’s magazines the women look the same – they’re thin, and have large breasts, long hair, and fake nails. And there’s the media, advertising, and fashion magazines, where women are photoshopped into the stereotypical ‘perfect’ female body.
In feminist porn, you’ll be sure to see performers with different body types, racial and ethnic backgrounds, physical abilities, sexual expressions, and/or gender identities.
In fact, seeing different body types as being sexually desirable is one of the positive things the women in Marques’ own research get out of watching porn. These women watched mainstream hard-core videos (most of them didn’t know where to find feminist porn), where it’s uncommon to see female performers with a variety of shapes and sizes. Many of the women Marques interviewed said that the videos made them feel good about themselves and felt that it validated their body types.
Where to find feminist porn
For more info on feminist porn, check out the following sites:
Marques also recommends these educational feminist porn series:
- Tristan Taormino – Vivid-Ed movies
- Nina Hartley – Adam and Eve guides
- Carol Queen – Good Releasing series