Ever wondered if porn is bad for you? If aggressive porn leads to violence in real life? Or what happens in the porn industry when the cameras aren’t rolling? Leading ethical porn producers like Lilly Sparks of afterglow, Bree Mills of Adult Time, Inka Winter of ForPlay Films, and Erika Lust came together to answer these questions and more in an Ultimate Guide to Ethical Porn. The guide will be published on XO Afterglow, a women-led erotic sexual wellness site that features ethical porn, guided masturbations, and partner exercises designed to help people have better, more playful, more fulfilled relationships with sex.

What is ethical porn? The three-page guide says ethical porn producers tend to be more concerned with consent, fair pay, on-set diversity, and bodily autonomy than mainstream porn producers, though they acknowledge that there isn’t just one definition of ethical. The guide encourages people who want to consume ethical porn to know how their porn is distributed, consume porn thoughtfully, support diverse casting, and above all, pay for their porn.

“If you want to support performers with good wages, pay for your porn,” says the Guid

It provides a list of producers where consumers can find ethical porn, including afterglow, Erika Lust, and ForPlay Films; and industry organizations like FairPorn and BIPOC AIC

The guide also debunks seven common myths about the porn industry: porn creates body image issues, it’s problematic to watch porn, racism and fetishization is prevalent in porn, and women in porn are frequently exploited, to name a few. “Conflating sex work (including porn) with abuse hurts sex workers and other people in the porn industry, many of whom are women,” it says.

According to the guide, myths about porn are often distorted by the media and lawmakers. “There are a lot of benefits to watching porn,” it says. “It can re-kindle your sex life, help you discover and share kinks or fantasies, and even reduce stress.”

Erika Lust, Creative Director of LustFilms and ethical porn innovator, says, “We’ve made great strides in normalising ethical standards in adult production over the last 20 years. Ethical porn platforms are blooming and growing in the sex positive space, showing that more and more people want porn to change – and that’s fantastic! Now it’s the time for sustainable porn consumption; we need to normalise our curiosity for sex and stop dehumanising sex workers. People who watch porn have the greatest power to change the industry for the better.”

Bree Mills, Chief Creative Officer of streaming giant Adult Time, says, “Being an ethical producer has nothing to do with your own gender or sexual preference. It’s about investing as much energy into how you produce as what you produce. Ensuring the experience is professional, progressive, and most importantly, as positive as possible for everyone involved. This counts from the moment the project is initiated through to well after it has wrapped.”

Lilly Sparks, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of afterglow, says, “Porn isn’t bad like most people think. What’s bad is the shame and lack of resources around sex in our society. afterglow is here to change that, and we’re starting with this guide to ethical porn.”
Read the full guide.