Search this site
IRONSTRIKES
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Beliefs
  • Formation
  • For Women
  • Meetings & Events

The search for "ethical" porn

1/26/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
“Is there such a thing as ethical porn, and if so, how can we find it?” That's the question asked by Ethan Fixell in an essay for the Daily Dot entitled, “Why You Should Support 'Ethical' Porn.” Fixell writes that he gave up pornography for 30 days in an effort to determine how much control it had over his life. Porn had such a grip that, despite his month-long hiatus, he was unable to give up porn use altogether. But that got him thinking...

“What if, rather than restricting ourselves from all adult content, we could demand a higher level of quality from the industry?” he asks. “What if there was a way to seek out porn only made by enthusiastic performers under 'healthy' working conditions, the same way we seek out organically raised, grass-fed steak?”

Thus, he set off on a phantom search for ethical porn.

He concludes that, “as is the case in any industry,” there are a “handful of sleazy filmmakers who prey on inexperienced performers.” Luckily, “the majority of porn content is produced by responsible and capable performers and producers, under safe, professional, and consensual circumstances.”

What a relief.

But how to tell them apart? Fixell came up with a few pointers for others whose consciences twinge every time their loins stir.

He suggested only paying for pornography from the largest studios, assuming their actions must be above-board. He notes that “subscription websites” feature “interviews with [their] performers before and after each scene, ensuring that all activities were consensual.”

Porn addicts users could also binge-watch their favorite performers, he suggested. They regularly grant interviews discussing how much they enjoy their life in front of the camera.
“Perhaps the best thing a viewer can do for his favorite porn star is to subscribe directly to their website, instead of watching their content on a tube site,” he said – referring to the free, YouTube-like outlets that stream pornography for free. Such sites have severely undercut the porn industry's profit margin.

Following his helpful advice, he reassures his readers, “There’s no reason to feel guilty about watching [porn], or to try and give it up.”

Apparently, he is not the only one concerned with the prospect that the person he is lusting over may be less than enthusiastic about her filmed exploitation. His article got more than 3,100 Facebook shares in just a few days.

But Fixell's counsels – which coincidentally have the effect of filling the porn industry's coffers with cash – ignore the fact that there is no corner of the pornographic industry that does not demean and dehumanize women, no segment that is free of his expressed concerns.

But don't believe me; ask the pornstars and former pornstars themselves.

The Duke porn star Miriam Weeks, who performs under the name “Belle Knox,” has said publicly that her work left her feeling empowered. But she is not always so consistent.
“I’m so used to being on the lookout for scammers, people who are going to try pimp me out or traffic me. I think my experiences have aged me. I don’t have the mind of an eighteen-year-old. I have the emotional baggage of someone much, much older than me,” she said.

Weeks first experienced some doubt about her story when an online video emerged showing her being strangled, slapped, and verbally humiliated. Although she said she was “comfortable” with the limits, she understood that “maybe some of the women” who performed for that site “weren't role-playing, as I was.”

In fact, women have little choice about their roles or what will happen on the set, she and others have acknowledged. Women show up expecting one kind of scene only to be told a much different fate awaits them. If they turn it down, they must pay the producers a kill-fee (in Weeks' case, $300), and she would never be able to work for that company again. So, in the case of the video showing her being abused mentioned above, she consented. But it's hardly without ethical issues.

True, most pornstars say they enjoy having sex on camera – because women who are paid to have sex usually verbally flatter their customers. “I lied to the cameras,” revealed Jan Villarubia, a former pornstar who performed under the name Elizabeth Rollings. “I lied to the fans, 'I love what I do. I love what I do.' Because that's how you make money.”

At the risk of bursting Fixell's bubble, there is no sexual shangri-la in which teeming gangs of nymphettes long to sexually service every anonymous man who approaches them. For the women tasked with portraying such a fantasy, the degrading nature of the work soon takes its toll.

Brittni Ruiz, who used to be “Jenna Presley,” said she turned to drugs “to be able to do the scenes, because I was so robotic. I was like a rubber Barbie doll. I had no emotions. I was plastic.” She used cocaine and heroin before she began violent, self-destructive behaviors such as “cutting” – slashing her skin with knives as a form of stress-release.

Others need drugs to get through the scenes. Vanessa Belmond, formerly pornstar “Alexa Cruz,” told the crew of Date My Pornstar that the sexual situations she filmed were so dangerous she had to take painkillers to get through them.

That physical pain may last for life. Fixell never confronts the reality that virtually every pornstar will have an endless series of STD infections because of the work he and other “ethical porn” enthusiasts consume. Belmond said she had multiple STDs, and contracted one her first day on the set. Villarubia said she caught herpes on the job. And all porn industry shooting has been temporarily halted a handful of times in recent months as performers worry they have passed on AIDS/HIV. Yet porn consumers, and producers, object when performers use condoms to minimize the risk.

How does Fixell feel that these women will end up with the pain of a venereal disease because they chose to provide his product-of-choice?

What of the fact that nearly all of these women are reliving their own sexual abuse, and many are runaways, taking the next logical step after prostitution, or trying to get drug money?

These young women will be stigmatized and often unable to work in other careers because of a choice they made for the sake of a quick buck at age 18, 19, or 20. (Most women shoot only a handful of scenes before exiting the industry.)

Does Fixell really believe that women would consent to be choked, beaten, and humiliated in a medium that can be accessed around the world and that will be preserved forever if they saw any other viable way to make a living?

No “ethical porn” can exist, because pornography is by its very nature exploitative and artificial. It portrays the outer shell of sexuality – the deepest connection between two human beings – without conferring the emotional closeness itself to its viewers or practitioners. Even the biological imperative that scientists credit with giving us the sex drive – the will to procreate – speaks of a longing for something that transcends the boundaries of any one person's existence.
​

Instead of looking at images of people engaged in an imitation of love, why not search for love itself? Rather than sit in front of flickering images of exploited women, why not attempt to establish an emotional relationship with a woman or man that produces love, marriage, and, perhaps in time, children? “Against such, there is no law.”

This post was written by Ben Johnson.  You can find his post here:  
https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/the-phantom-search-for-ethical-porn




0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Rules for commenting:

    1.  Be respectful  
    2.  Refer to rule #1

    All comments may not be approved.

    Note that many identifying details about individuals in these posts are not accurate.  Their identity is protected, except for those individuals who are being honored or are public figures.

    RSS Feed

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Categories

    All
    Abortion
    Abraham
    Abstinence
    Abuse
    Accountability
    Adam
    Adam Yauch
    Addictions
    Admiration
    Adultery
    Affair
    Amos
    Angels
    Anger
    Anniversary
    Anoint
    Anonymous
    Anxiety
    Atheism
    Avoidant
    Bad Boy
    Battle
    Beastie Boys
    Beautiful
    Bestiality
    Betrayal
    Bird
    Blame
    Bobby Petrino
    Bondage
    Book Review
    Brian Head Welch
    Brothel
    B.T. Roberts
    Camping
    Cancer
    Challenge
    Change
    Chaotic
    Character
    Children
    Choice
    Christmas
    Church
    Church Camp
    Closed Door
    Compulsions
    Confession
    Confident
    Control
    Courage
    Covenant
    Creator
    Crown
    Crucifixion
    Darkness
    Death
    Deception
    Decision
    Demons
    Depression
    Detachment
    Devotions
    Dez Bryant
    Differences
    Dilemma
    Dirty
    Discipleship
    Disgusting
    Divorce
    Domestic Violence
    Domination
    Doubt
    Dreams
    Dr Hart8bb80a7b00
    Dwayne Allen
    Dysfunction
    Easter
    Eden
    Ego
    Eleazar
    Elitism
    Empty
    Envy
    Ephesians
    Equality
    Erectile Dysfunction
    Esau
    Eternity
    Euthanasia
    Evil
    Exhibitionism
    Eyes
    Facebook
    Faithfulness
    Fantasy
    Fasting
    Father
    Favorites
    Fear
    Fellatio
    Fighting
    Fishing
    Flashing
    Flattery
    Flesh
    Force
    Forgiveness
    Gentleman
    Girls Gone Wild
    G.K. Chesteron
    Goals
    God
    Good Friday
    Grace
    Gratitude
    Greek
    Guard
    Guilt
    Heart
    Heaven
    Hebrew
    Hell
    Henri Nouwen
    Histrionic
    Hogging
    Holiness
    Hollow
    Honesty
    Honor
    Hope
    Humility
    Humor
    Ichabod
    Idols
    Impurity
    Individuality
    Input
    Insane Clown Posse
    Integrity
    Intent
    Intimacy
    Isaac
    Islam
    Jack Schaap
    Jamaica
    Jealousy
    Jimmy Needham
    Job
    Joy
    J.R.R. Tolkien
    Judgmentalism
    Justice
    Kindness
    King David
    Kittens
    Komboloib7e292a311
    Korn
    Larry Norman
    Leave It To Beaver
    Lies
    Light
    Listening
    Loneliness
    Love
    Lust
    Lying
    Macho
    Manners
    Marriage
    Masculinity
    Masturbation
    Maturity
    Mca
    Meditation
    Messianic
    Meticulous
    Mighty
    Missions
    Money
    Monogamy
    Moses
    Motivations
    Movies
    Music
    Normal
    Obedience
    Obscenity
    Open Door
    Parenting
    Passiveaggressive2ed940c88b
    Pastor
    Path
    Perfection
    Personality Disorders
    P.O.D.
    Politics
    Pornography
    Pornograpy
    Power
    Practical
    Prayer
    Predator
    Prejudice
    Premature Ejaculaton
    Preparation
    Pride
    Problems
    Promises
    Protection
    Providence
    Purity
    Quechua
    Quiz
    Racism
    Regret
    Religious
    Repentance
    Reputation
    Research
    Respect
    Responsibility
    Rest
    Resurrection
    Revival
    Righteousness
    Robots
    Roughhousing
    Routine
    Rules
    Rut
    Sabbath
    Sacrifice
    Sadism
    Salvation
    Sanctification
    Satisfaction
    Selfishness
    Self Love
    Self-love
    Service
    Sex
    Sexism
    Sexuality
    Sexual Response
    Sexual Response
    Shame
    Sin
    Singing
    Snobbery
    Soldier
    Sovereignty
    Stalking
    Stephen Hawking
    Step-parenting
    Strong
    Success
    Succubus
    Suicide
    Swearing
    Sword
    Teenagers
    Temper
    Temptation
    Tenth Ave North
    Testing
    Theology
    Thinking
    Thomas Cogswell Upham
    Tim Tebow
    Tournament Male
    Tradition
    Trafficking
    Trapped
    Trauma
    Triggers
    Trust
    Truth
    U2
    Uncle Buddy
    Unity
    Violence
    Virtue
    Vulnerability
    Warrior
    Watchman Nee
    Waywardness
    What Is A Man
    Women
    Worry
    Worship
    Wussification
    Year In Review
    Zombies

    Archives

    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012

IRONSTRIKES

Men Forging Men