Well, the last two days have seen me take a long hard look at those who make porn, and I'm not so impressed with some of them. It made me question my presence in this industry.

In the last 6 months, porn has gone mad for things called "reality sites" - which basically revolve around the idea of real women being duped into having sex on film. They are offered money or free rent in exchange for their "services" and then afterwards it's not provided. This, my friends, is called fraud. What's more, these sites gloat and call the women sluts and basically promote hatred toward women. There are some gay sites that do it to men as well.

Last year the owners of a site called Bumfights were prosecuted for obscenity. Their site featured homeless and mentally ill people hurting themselves for money or drugs.

So, the latest in this "reality" trend is a site called Hypnotrick which claims to revolve around a hypnotist doctor that hypnotises women and then sexually abuses them while they're asleep. Basically it's a rape site.

There is a disclaimer saying it's all fantasy and the women are just models... but the language of the site is so real and hateful the average surfer would not know the difference.

(If you're typing it into Google to check it out... well, I can't stop you. If you buy a membership... well fuck you.)

When a friend of mine pointed this out to fellow adult webmasters, so many of them raced to defend it I was amazed. Many of them couldn't see what was wrong. As far as they were concerned it was a normal male fantasy to have their way with a woman like that. They found the nasty language and hate speech to be quite OK. I was also stunned by the sexist comments and attacks against those who brought it up.

Which led me to question how I feel about censorship, about sex hate sites, and about working in the adult industry.

I decided that this is one of the reasons why I make erotica for women. So many women out there are pissed off at this sort of shit, it's degrading to women and also makes sex so dirty and hate-filled. We want sexually explicit material that is consensual and respectful, we want to be turned on, not disgusted.

The problem with these sorts of reality sites is that they are protected under free speech, and I don't have the right to say they should be banned. But I can take a stand and condemn them for the horrible, hateful, non-consensual thing they are.

The other thing that occurred during the discussion was the comment "you're a pornographer - get off your high horse. Your stuff is just as bad as this in other people's eyes."

And I thought - is it? But the fact is, no, it's not. I can still create porn and erotica for women without lowering myself to such an awful level. There is nothing wrong with the depiction of sex, but there's plenty wrong with violence and rape.

The other thing is that this sort of site makes anti-porn campaigners even more hysterical, it makes them want to ban EVERYTHING, which includes the sort of sites I make and promote. Which sucks, because the vast majority of people quite like consensual, sexy erotica that celebrates sex, and they want to continue to enjoy it without government intervention.

In any case, I've decided to put a "statement of ethics" on all my websites. It will go like this:

We believe that human sexuality is amazing in its diversity. We believe that erotica and pornography are legitimate forms of expression, and an element of this diversity.

We oppose censorship and believe in freedom of speech. However, we want to maintain our own standards within the adult industry. Thus:

We will only create and promote erotica and pornography that:
1. Is not degrading to women or men. This means according both sexes respect as human beings and as sexual beings.
2. Promotes a positive view of sex and sexuality.
3. Is consensual – in creation and in depiction.

We will not create or promote sites that depict rape, non-consensual violence, bestiality or underage sex. We will not create or promote sites that degrade women or men, or sites that rely on fraudulent methods to gain consent.

We believe everyone is responsible for their own sexuality and their own orgasms.

We oppose child pornography and work to eradicate it.

We believe that sexually explicit material may be inappropriate for children. We also believe it is up to parents to prevent their children from gaining access to such material. We believe that education is a far better tool than censorship.
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Just my sad attempt to make the world a better place.

Please note: all the sites I promote on this blog are ethical.