Porn Perspectives

Careful, Porn Makes you Gay!

I had hoped to simply skip over this news item, but people keep asking me about it. I can't justify the time it'd take to write out my response, so I'll leave it to Jon Stewart to speak for both of us:

Women Moving In

While the porn industry suffers from the same recessionary trends impacting the rest of the country, many porn companies who once could count on easy profits are having a tough time. Sales are down, and customers are turning to free content available online.

Some argue that this downturn will result in a return to quality in porn. Customers can get junky content for free online, so why would they pay for it? Instead, producers will need to present a product worth paying for. I've argued that women in particular understand this market for quality content. Supporting this claim, Good Releasing, sister to novelty toy company Good Vibrations (started in the 1970s and oriented towards female consumers), has announced a three new video production lines: Reel Queer Productions, HeartCore Productions and the PleasureEd Series.

According to Good Vibrations COO Jackie Strano, Good Releasing will feature quality content and leverage the expertise of legend Carol Queen, PhD. According to Strano:

“Good Releasing's titles showcase authentic and hot adult entertainment full of helpful information, lustful and unabashed sexualities, unapologetic desire, genuine pleasure, and screen burning chemistry.”

She added:

"Our films will offer viewers’ a unique selection of wide-ranging topics that provide open-minded information for a diverse audience, with special emphasis placed on mutual respect, enthusiastic participation and pleasure.”

I wouldn't be surprised if we saw more women using the economic downtown as an opportunity to launch new ventures and introduce novel, high-quality content to the market. Now's a great time to get started.

Microsoft Stays Away from Porn

Microsoft: We do not have relations with that word...

A stir rippled through the blogosphere in response to a TechCrunch article stating that ads for Microsoft's Bing search engine appeared when people Googled the word "pornography," implying that Microsoft had purchased the word for advertising purposes.

Microsoft denies this, saying they did NOT buy pornography, the ad appeared because of key words "free videos", porn is evil, yadda yadda.

In one nice aside, according to CNet, Bing has a great video search engine which is perfect for finding porn. Nice tip!

Turning to Sexwork to Pay the Bills

According to Salon, women are increasingly turning to sex in order to make end's meet during the recession. While the idea of a hardworking woman stripping to pay off student loans or put food on the table is titillating, the reality isn't so cheery.

My hunch is that a lot of women who might consider dipping their toes into sex work will retreat quickly once they realize that this isn't for them. Some may have a tougher time getting out. Others may realize they've found their calling.

The dynamic of exploring porn during times of desperation underscores one of my central concerns around pornography. The industry is a "last resort" for some young women who run out of options. It's a way for a woman with few skills, no prospects, or no education to make decent money. As a result, it tends to attract women with few skills, no prospects, and no education. This in itself is not necessarily a problem.

There is a problem, however. Pornography does not create the situation women find themselves in, but it can worsen the situation for unsavvy ladies. Young women who may not have the life experience or perspective to understand what it means to indelibly document herself in a sexual context are given the opportunity to do just that. And there's no going back. This is where self-advocacy and mentorship within the industry are crucial. Knowledge is power!