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"Below are some of the main premises that the pro-legalization and pro-decriminalization of prostitution movement rests upon.

"The porn industry, many agree, can be cold, hostile, and even outright dangerous for performers — especially women.

Many porn stars and other sex workers believe that violence and sexual assault is an "occupational hazard" that comes with the job.

That's why more and more women are starting their own porn production companies and creating environments that are friendlier and safer for female porn stars.

Paulita Pappel is one of these women. She runs a by-women-for-women porn site, Ersties (NSFW), that specializes in female-friendly sex.

Before shooting, Pappel makes sure the performers get to know each other a little bit, and the film crew makes sure everyone on screen is comfortable.

She said she doesn't want to have to watch an adult film and wonder, "Does that woman on screen really want to be doing that?"

n March of last year, Stoya launched a new porn website and production company called TRENCHCOATx (also NSFW) that promises high-quality content at fair prices for the consumer, as well as fair pay (and good treatment) for performers.

"When you have a huge platform [in porn], and you perpetuate this idea that as a worker in porn, as a performer, you are going to get kicked around and taken advantage of, then when the kids who are like, 15 now, seeing that — when some of them turn 18 ... and go into porn, they're not going to know that it's actually totally possible to be like, 'Here are my limits, here's what I'm willing to do ... and here are the terms that I'm willing to do it under.' They don't know that it's totally OK to do that."

Feministpornguide.com (yes, there is such a thing) lists more than 30 directors creating feminist, female-friendly, and sex-positive porn — and that's only on the one website. Many more in the industry are recognizing the need for a change — whether through experience as a performer or simply as a consumer — from a chauvinistic, dick-first approach to one that values, dare I say, female pleasure, the female viewer, and respect for women (and men) who work in porn.

That doesn't mean the end of bondage or sadism or humiliation or any other kind of kink people are into — as long as the actors and actresses are willing to do any of these things, and are treated like human beings in the process. That, I'd have to say, is the sexiest thing of all."

"Before production starts, performers send in their "Yes and No" list to producers. The list outlines which partners they would ideally like to work with, and which ones they absolutely will not. The "No" list also states what sex acts are off limits. Honoring "No" lists is one way in which producers and agents work to ensure consent. However, there are gray areas between yes and no, particularly when one performer is working with another performer for the very first time or when a performer changes their mind about what they feel comfortable with between takes.

Once on set, the director needs to ensure the performers' comfort, porn director and producer Dee Severe told the crowd. "You need to keep checking in with your performers. For the most part, it's pretty easy because our performers will call hold and say, 'that was too hard.'" Severe went on, "Every performer…knows that if they're having a problem with anything, they can stop scene." While Severe is diligent in assuring her performers' comfort, that's not necessarily the norm across the industry.

To avoid that last minute indecision, agent Mark Schechter explained that the industry tries to create certain checks and balances. "We send them a very detailed email description of what they're doing. We also give them links to the website and have them confirm they're comfortable with it…The ultimate decision clearly lies on the performer," Schechter says. "But there's a shared responsibility from the producer to properly… describe the production details, for the agent to properly inform the performer, and for the performer to give the ultimate consent."

"For Lola Jean, sex educator and mental health professional, ethical porn means porn that tries to incorporate better production practices. Ethical porn creators will try to honor performers' boundaries, give them time to physically and emotionally prepare before filming, and hire producers and writers who are more intentional and content-driven.

According to Ayesha Hussain, a sex and porn coach, porn activist, and founder of The Violet, ethical porn is made in a sex-positive way with conscious business practices. This can mean nixing harmful racial and gender stereotypes, casting a wider ranger of performers, showing consent on screen, as well as pleasure for all. But it can also look like ensuring safe working conditions, giving performers more agency in who they work with, and fair pay for performers.

Danielle Blunt, Femdom Dominatrix, independent porn producer, and tech and sex consultant agrees with Jean, noting the importance of being an intentional porn viewer. "All labor under capitalism is vulnerable to exploitation," Blunt tells Bustle. "But we can do our best to be ethical consumers."

For Blunt, being an ethical porn consumer means paying for your porn, tipping your favorite performers, and working to decriminalize sex work. "It also means funding robust sex education that talks about consent, harm reduction, and queer sex," Blunt says. "Porn is not meant to be a replacement for sex-ed."

"There are a lot of issues with mainstream porn: It tends to be totally centered on what's hot for men, can often depict women in a degrading or dehumanizing way, and isn't always made or shared in a way that's fair or respectful to the performers. So if you've been dissatisfied with most mainstream porn you've come across, ethical porn might be the answer. Here's what makes ethical porn different and where to find it.

Ethical porn (sometimes called feminist porn or fair trade porn) is pornography that is made consensually, treats performers with respect, and pays performers and filmmakers fairly for their work. There is a mutual understanding among everyone on the film set—everyone knows and feels comfortable with what's happening.

“Ethical porn validates the needs, boundaries, and curiosities of the performers," sex therapist Kamil Lewis, AMFT, tells mbg.

It also often shows more realistic depictions of sex, including people with diverse body types, queer relationships, and real female pleasure. One study found every one in four people who visit porn websites are women. Ethical porn attempts to cater to that, offering scenes that aren't solely centered around the male gaze. "Ethical porn is inclusive, creative, and consensual," Lewis says."

Personally, I am turned on by touch, verbal appreciations, quality time, playfulness, creating with someone, playing with power dynamics, and giving and receiving gifts. Also, I embody erotic intelligence.

Are you aroused by feeling cherished, or by telling your lover how precious and special they are?  Do you get turned on by sweeping your partner off their feet, or by being rescued and taken care of?  Do you enjoy surprise gifts, romantic dates, flowers, and courting rituals?

Do you love expressions of affection through soft, slow, sensual touch? Do you melt when your lover says your name softly, as they run their hands through your hair or across your cheek? Do you long to hear that you are the one, the one who has all your lovers affection and attention “forever”? Even if you know it’s not going to necessarily last forever, the idea may create a sense of safety, turn on and heat in you, if you are a romantic.  Romantic turn-on tends to be less overtly sexual and more about cherishing, safety, feeling special and chosen.

Do you get turned on by imagining you and your lover tearing each other’s clothes off with a primal hunger? In the kitchen, in the car, anywhere?

This is passionate play. Do you grin at the words, “I want you so badly, I can’t hold back, I want to eat you alive”?

You may like the thrill of transmitting, through your eyes and body, a primal hunger. Or you may crave to be a willing prey: quivering, stalked, consumed.

The lead-up to this kind of unfettered desire is often driven by primal impulse or tension built over time through limited availability or access to your lover.

Do you melt when your partner knows exactly what they want? Do you yearn to trust them enough to surrender and be taken? Or do you crave total control and the full expression of your power?

We live in a culture where dominance has caused a tremendous amount of violence, fear, and repression.  Dominance doesn’t have to be violent; in fact, it can be loving and nurturing. Mutual consent can be an empowering container.

Tension and play arises when one partner leads with desire and power (dominance) while the other feels safe to be an object of their partner’s full attention, care, desire and commanding presence (submission). This channel of turn-on can activate healing and connection through exchanging power and attunement through a safe space of play and clear consent.

Do you feel turned on by gazing into someone’s eyes and feeling the depth of their soul? Do you make love in ways that open you to a sense of yourself beyond your physical senses?  This channel is about subtle openness and awareness, remembering oneness, and experiencing cosmic love and merging through sexual expression.

Are you most turned on in the natural world?  Maybe you get aroused by the smell of warm salty air in the tropics, or by plunging in cold rivers and warming on sun-heated rocks, or by wrestling in the grass smelling the earth. Do you enjoy feeding your lover food? Does the opening of flowers make you quiver?

If so, you may be an ecosexual: one who makes loves with the Earth through your senses."

By Natasha Nice

"The pairing of ethics and pornography is a topic worthy of consideration, not only in porn circles but for anyone who is no longer satisfied with the sexual teachings of previous generations. Amongst other things, the ethicalness of porn production will determine the ethical value of porn as a whole.

I think I have visited and revisited the ethical/non-ethical question so many times at various times in various settings and from multiple angles, arguing for both sides just to get closer to a concrete answer, that I’ve reached a conclusion that is both detailed and incomplete. The ethical value of porn is the one that we give it. As a performer, I equate this value to the mutual respect between myself and others, both pro and anti-porn.

In porn, it’s about physical security. If performers aren’t physically safe then the scenario isn’t very ethical. This amongst other things is stated in the Code of Conduct and Model’s Bill of Rights. As far as the production of ethical porn goes, the question of “why” is pretty obvious. If the only other option is unethical porn, then you, whether you’re a performer or director or agent, are engaged in the unwanted physical harm or otherwise disrespect of a human being. And if you’re concerned with the representation of porn as an ethical industry – if only to avoid more regulation – then your only option is ethical porn.

—

Find Natasha Nice on Twitter at @BeNiceNatasha.

"What is ethical porn – and does it even really exist? Is this a safe road or are we just putting some glittery make-up on the same old porn industry which has been accused of gender-based violence for years? And considering that the taboo around sex entertainment drags a shadow over Google, how can we be sure that the porn we are watching isn’t hurting anyone?

As an adult filmmaker, I understand every word of munition that one might have against the porn industry. Yes, porn does have a dark history, but trying to get rid of it is like confronting an issue by closing one eye.

Meanwhile, you end up ignoring an avalanche of good things: workers who are proud of their jobs, women’s right of embracing their sexual positioning, the huge sex-ed potential that a porn movie could have. The answer to mainstream porn issues relies in bringing them to the light - with critical, detail-oriented eyes - and transforming them into something different. Something socially helpful, intellectually solid, and truly pleasant.

Besides advocating in defense of adult films (I prefer the term over ‘pornography’, as porn has a history which I don’t believe reflects the adult films I make) as a tool for women’s empowerment, I also produce them accordingly."

- Erika Lust

Links used for this episode: https://feministporn.org/a-brief-history-of-feminist-porn/

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/your-definitive-guide-how-be-ethical-porn-consumer-a6741911.html

So yet again we might have to wonder why a mistranslation was allowed to persist. Here’s a thought: Could a climate of shame have been useful to clerics who intended to be abusers?

Why should a sinful child expect to be treated well or to have boundaries and autonomy? They’re damaged, evil and judged, from birth—aren’t they? You can see how the abusive logic works.

Links:

https://www.academia.edu/31895938/Matthew_18_1-14_and_the_Exposure_and_Sexual_Abuse_of_Children_in_the_Roman_World_Biblica_98_2017_37-54_Proofs_

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/euangelion/2017/06/matthew-181-14-children/