Women's Pornography

Porn for women, women's porn or women's pornography is pornography aimed specifically at the female market, and often produced by women. It rejects the view that pornography is only for men, and seeks to make porn that women enjoy watching instead of what is being offered in male-centric mainstream pornography.

Characteristics

In the 1980s, writer Susie Bright criticised 'the tamer kinds of "erotica"', and instead proposed that the kind of pornography that ''On Our Backs'' was producing should be called "women's pornography", admitting however that this "is a contradiction in terms for many people, so convinced are they that pornography represents the darker, gutter side of lust." In 2015, scholar and director Ingrid Ryberg said that feminist pornography is defined "less by specific content or style and more by the ways in which it is based on a political critique of and challenge to dominant notions of gender and sexuality and aims to empower women sexually."

The main purpose of women's pornography is creating pornography specifically for women. As a result, the focus emphasizes women as subjects of pleasure reaching real orgasms. Women's pornography audio emphasizes what is being felt; the use of the female voice to display pleasure enhances the performance of orgasms. The camera shots, such as close-ups of the face, also emphasize pleasure and emotion. Other camera shots that are sometimes used include angles that display the faces of the male performers, rather than just their penises, in attempt to eroticize the male body more. Showing more of the male bodies negates the objectification of the female body in typical porn.

Women's pornography pays special attention to the care of performers by ensuring their comfort and consent with their performance and performance partners. Director Erika Lust says mainstream porn is fake and "crappy", and she wants to show "real sex". One aim of producing pornography for women is to remove the portrayal of men slandering and disrespecting women during sex. The portrayals instead convey real connections and pleasure.

Producers and directors

Erika Lust

Erika Lust is a feminist pornography director, producer, and screenplay writer. She is also the founder of Erika Lust Films. Lust got her start in directing and producing feminist adult films because she found mainstream porn "unrelatable, unimaginative, and unattractive", so she wanted to do something about it. In 2005, she began to film her series called XConfessions. Lust Productions subscribers submitted their fantasies to her and she picked two each month to film for her new series. She wants the viewer to see realistic scenarios, real characters, and real pleasure. Lust says an important component in feminist porn is consent and respect. She makes sure the actors want to participate and that they want to experience sexual arousal. Her films aim to demonstrate real passion and connection between the actors. Lust says, "We make love, not porn. And we do all this with a feminine, aesthetic and innovative approach."

Angie Rowntree

Angie Rowntree is a director, writer and producer of women's pornography who got her start in the 1990s, launching her flagship site, Sssh.com, in 1999. Of female porn directors, Rowntree says, "There may not be a lot of us, but we're passionate about what we do, and we're working hard every day to provide women with porn that does appeal to them." Rowntree said Sssh's mission is straightforward: "We want to create movies that our customers want to see and enjoy watching. The only real difference between what I do and what producers of 'typical' porn do is that I'm serving a different audience, and instead of assuming we know what they want to see, we ask them what they want to see."

Jacky St. James

Jacky St. James is a writer, producer, and director who has worked with Bellesa Films. She directed films for Bellesa House, an imprint of Bellesa Films where performers are allowed to choose their partners and clothing and perform without a script and without makeup. The project is open to anyone who is willing to perform, regardless of prior experience in the porn industry, gender, body type, race, or age. Real-life couples are also welcome to perform. Bellesa House was created with the intent to film passionate sex and to develop engaging storylines in pornographic film. St. James believes it is important to make female performers feel comfortable. She speaks out against the restrictiveness of free porn.

Tristan Taormino

Tristan Taormino is a writer, educator, speaker, pornographer and activist. She currently runs her own production company Smart Ass Productions, and previously worked with Vivid Entertainment

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