Tag Archives: mainstream

What Makes Us Do Porn?

This video is a trailer for an upcoming documentary called Aroused about porn actresses in the mainstream. This actually looks like it could be quite interesting. Asides from the fact that it looks like there was actual thought put into the cinematography, they’ve styled everyone in very simple, stylish, glamorous implied nudes, at least for the promo. It’s a very different look than the more typical porn appearance, and I think this is a nice way to strip everything down and allow them to just be.

It’s hard to tell exactly how this film will take shape, but the responses in the trailer alone are enough to make me think that we’ll get a really good insight into how they all feel about the work they do, why they do it and how they got started. There’s such a stigma that transfers from big porn valley stars to people making their own content… Why would a nice/smart/pretty girl like you do porn? Hopefully this film will get the answer out there to the mainstream: there are many reasons, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s anything wrong with us at all. Maybe we just love sex, love sharing this side of ourselves and feel good having this be such a big part of our lives.

There are also mentions about the difference between “porno sex” and “home sex”, about being fearless about sex and about how it is not always a positive or negative experience… I think that filmmaker Deborah Anderson seems like she handled all of this in a pretty delicate and thoughtful way. I hope it comes out online, because I think this would be a very interesting look at the way these women navigate porn in their own words.

What do you think? Would you be intrigued to see what mainstream female porn performers are thinking and feeling about what they do?

Magic of Makeup

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Camille Crimson's makeup kit

What’s that? Oh. It’s an old shot of my makeup kit. This is to say that, a lot of the time, I’m wearing some form of makeup in my videos. Not always, but often enough. When I take candid shots or walk around the city, I’m often wearing little or no makeup. It’s important to give your skin a chance to breathe, and I’m definitely comfortable with and happy about the way I look.

Why am I bringing this up? Well, recently there was a viral post with lots and lots of pornstars before and after makeup. It seems like not all of them consented to having their pictures put up, and they’re definitely not taken in the most flattering of lights. Then, of course, people are commenting on it and saying things about how they don’t look nearly as pretty without makeup, which is very subjective. I think that lots of them look fresh-faced and have a much more natural, girl next door appeal. Sure, some of them have skin issues, but that’s what happens when you’re slathered in makeup day in, day out.

The main thing that I find interesting about this is that it’s a real representation of our misunderstanding of porn in general. We expect all women to look like pornstars and certainly for pornstars to look like pornstars. We expect all sex to look like porn sex. And then people get some mix of angry and disappointed when it’s not what they expect. They feel duped and can’t see the loveliness in the more natural look and experience sometimes.

This doesn’t mean that the fantasy of mainstream porn or the fantasy of fake eyelashes should go away, just that we should have lots of options to choose from so we can see what sex looks like in various different modes… Just as we should understand that women don’t wake up with perfect hair and flawless makeup like a done-up pornstar.

So, what do you think? Do you feel fooled by seeing pornstars without makeup? Or do you like seeing women without makeup? And even beyond that… Have you ever felt fooled by a fantasy that didn’t reflect itself in reality?

Men’s Sexuality

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I think this is really fascinating video that I found through the Good Men Project, especially for the first question she asked because I don’t believe I’ve asked it directly here before, which I’ll get to later… Author Elana Millman took to the streets of Canada, it seems, because of the snow and some fairly Eastern Canadian-sounding accents… So I guess we’re getting an in depth look at what (probably) Canadian men think about their sexuality!

The big thing I took away from this video is that, despite the diversity of the way men approach sex and their own sexuality, they all have the same general desired outcome. This is really helpful information for someone like me who is trying to make something which is of course authentic to myself and my relationship, but also accessible to the people watching it. This isn’t to say that we know any more about women’s sexuality than we do men’s , but it’s good to know where they stand!

When talking about porn, they pointed to the ideas of “obliterated intimacy” or becoming completely desensitized to sexuality because of it. Of course, the undercurrent is that they were mostly talking about typical mainstream porn, but I can definitely see what they were getting at. There are some definite assumptions about sex, emotion and women… I’m not sure that women use porn for different reasons all the time, but that there actually might be more similarities than they think.

But then on the other hand, even though they see the capacity for problems, porn is still something they use to set the mood. So, it’s clear that it serves a purpose, but they just wish they had more options away from typical degradation, especially when it comes to spicing things up with a woman. Sounds like a job for beautiful porn!

Many of them are champions of honest, direct communication. It’s really heartening to see that a random cross-section of men would be able to identify how important that is for themselves and for their partners.

They did a brief segment about talking to friends about sex, which is something we’ve spoken about here before. They didn’t specifically mention talking to female friends, though, which was the really interesting trend that emerged here.

So, I wanted to ask one thing to close, which is actually the opening question of the video: how did you first learn about your sexuality, and do you think it has framed the way you approach relationships, porn and sex in general?

A Study of Pornstars

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Pornstars melded together

The world of mainstream porn is fairly foreign to me. I’m aware of it, of course, but I certainly don’t claim much knowledge of the inner workings. We shoot from Montreal, avoiding studios and agents and people who consider themselves porn actors. It’s a very different way of approaching porn. That said, it is kind of interesting to catch a glimpse into the analytics of porn, so Jon Millward‘s in depth look at the array of people in porn was quite interesting, especially in contrast to what we do.

Surprisingly, there are more moderately-busted brunettes in the industry than the buxom blondes we all envision. But, of course, us gingers are still quite rare. The most rare, in fact, and I guess that means sought after. ;)

Out of any transgressive sex acts, porn performers are most likely to take a facial, which isn’t surprising to me… I’m not sure whether I’d necessarily consider that a kinship, though, since it’s more expected than anything. If there was more transparency about whether or not they actually liked them, that might be another thing.

One of the most interesting (and kind of creepy) parts for me was how they blended the faces of ten of the most popular stars of today… The result is very pretty, but also not unlike exactly who you’d expect to walk across a porn set. It’s unsettling how just seeing the composite face screams porn somehow. I’d argue my face wouldn’t fit with that kind of mold.

He was also able to identify some very interesting things about weight and race… Namely that there isn’t much diversity in either, and when there is, it’s fairly tokenized. I can’t say I’m at all shocked, but it is good to get people talking about this by holding up a mirror to the mainstream adult industry.

Did any of this surprise you? Would you watch that weird composite face pornstar in action? And are there any demographics or analytics you didn’t see here that made you curious? I guess something like this with the idea of beautiful porn, or even feminist porn, would be very difficult to do, but the results would probably be a lot more broad. ;)

Sex Appeal to Fight Breast Cancer

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This video has been making the rounds on the internet, and largely to very positive response, but I’m wondering what you think of it… It’s interesting, because so much of this kind of advertising focuses much more on breasts than on talking to the women themselves. Or, if they are talking to the women, then it’s in more of a serious tone. So, this feels like quite a change.

That said, and this question goes out to the ladies and the men, how do you feel about seeing men being the ones objectified? Though the standard hunky muscle man isn’t so much my cup of tea, I definitely understand the appeal. ;) Instead of “save the boobies”, we’re creating incentives for women to get excited about taking their health into their own hands, so to speak. If a scantily clad man will help, so much the better, right?

What do you think? Does this make you feel like fair is fair and now we’re looking at men the way we long have at women, or do you think there’s a better way to get the message across without using sex to sell when it comes to something this serious? Is there ever anything too serious for sex? ;) I’m very curious… If nothing else… Enjoy the video! :P

Porn for Women

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XKCD Comic on porn for women

The above comic is from XKCD, and I couldn’t agree more.

Recently there has been a whole lot of talk about porn for women. But what does that actually mean? People imagine things about the way the porn is shot, the idea of having a storyline, softer imagery, more romance… There’s nothing wrong with that kind of porn, except that it’s not something for ALL women, and there are a lot of men who like that kind of porn. So, that’s not really porn for WOMEN, is it?

A lot of people include the stipulation that porn for women has to show lots of woman-centric pleasure. Does that mean that The Art of Blowjob or Slow Motion Blowjob could never be porn for women because it focuses (on the surface, anyways) on man-oriented pleasure? I certainly don’t think so.

Women like all kinds of different things. Some like the soft, romantic kind of porn that mainstream porn companies expect them to, but a lot also like much harder stuff or specific niches that may not seem woman-friendly at all. To assume that all women like one thing is just as damaging as assuming that all men like one thing, which is what has created the need for “porn for women” (if there is such a need) in the first place! If we hadn’t created a porn industry that thinks that all men only want hardcore porn without any nuance, emotion or artistry, we wouldn’t have to ascribe those qualities to women by default.

So, what’s the alternative? I think there’s lots of value in “romance porn” which is a legitimate genre that can appeal to both men and women. Same with glam, beautiful porn, story-driven porn, softcore porn… All of those things are valid without attaching them solely to women. It makes it seem like porn with training wheels for us delicate women. Treating your growing audience that way is not the best way to endear them to porn, especially if many of them gravitate towards other kinds of porn.

Instead, I think that porn performers, directors, companies and blogs should reach out to women and making it clear that women are part of the audience and the conversation. Using respectful language about women (or at least explaining that it’s fantasy when they don’t) and not making assumptions that everyone watching porn is a guy will be a great step towards making women feel included in porn viewership. I’m sure there are lots of other things to do, but I have this conversation a lot with a lot of people and it seems like making women feel included from the ground up is important to get to actually understanding what, if anything, unifies women in the way they approach porn.

What do you think? Do we need “porn for women” or is that just all porn?