The Best Ethical Pornography- A review by a Clinical Psychosexual & Relationship Therapist.

Lisa McGarvaSex and Relationship Therapy, Sex Therapist, Sexology

This blog is a guide for adults who want to access ethical pornography as part of their sexual health.  I shall review a few websites which are listed when doing an online search for Ethical Pornography, and outline their features so that you the consumer may make an informed decision of what you might like to access.
As a Clinical Psychosexual and Relationship Therapist, I am interested in sexual health, pleasure, and education which is backed up by clinical research. Clinical research informs practice.  Pornography that is ethical can be a great tool to help people. If it is a tool that you choose not to use, that is perfectly fine.
Clinical research informs practice

Clinical research informs practice

 

1. What medium of pornography are we talking about here?

2. What is Ethical Pornography?

3. Is pornography addictive?

4. What does the clinical research say?

5. What are the medical and psychological bodies actually saying?

6. How can pornography be a part of sexual health?

7. The criteria of which the sites are critiqued

8. A review on each of the websites

1. What medium of pornography are we talking about here?

Pornography exists in many different forms, the mediums continually change through the ages.  Similarly attitudes and laws of different cultures globally continue to change.  Many cultures at different times have seen shifts in its stance on the level of acceptance of pornography and censorship. Pornography is ancient, widely popular and is here to stay.  This blog is available to be read globally.  It is important to note that in some countries pornography consumption is illegal. I urge you the reader to check what you are legally able to access in your part of the world. 

 

Erotic scenes photographed from the wall of a bathhouse in Pompeii. Image source: Planetpompeii.com

Erotic scene at Khajuraho Temple in India. Photo credit: mismatchedpassports.com

I shall review websites that offer video, erotic fiction, and audio erotic fiction which may be purchased and downloaded.  The amount of pornography available is immense.  If you desire to use a medium not mentioned earlier e.g. webcam or online chat, the guidelines and criteria that I will outline will help you to be discerning to make an informed choice of what is ethical.

2. What is Ethical Pornography?

This is a question with many different answers of which a clear definition is difficult to find.

“Based on the diversity of human experiences throughout history, what constitutes fair, equitable, and just is highly subjective. As such, ethical actions vary by era, community, subculture, and more.”

“At its most essential, adult content that is consensual and transparent, is created in an environment that emphasizes safety and respect, and does not contribute to wider social inequalities via troublesome post-production marketing is ethical. Elements like tenor and intensity, sex acts being depicted, or production value do not preclude content from being ethical. Beyond these key dimensions however are a wealth of subjective issues, standpoints, and concerns that require multidimensional, evolving dialogue.”

 https://ethical.porn/what-is-ethical-porn/ 

Artist credit @oaknarrow

Ethical porn it has been argued is just a selling point, for the trade of  pornography fundamentally is in itself a form of objectification in which makes the ethics questionable.  However the reality is that pornography is here to stay, and the consumer votes with their downloading habits that has very real implications for the people who work in the industry both front of house and behind the scenes. Your consumption of the type of pornography you use impacts many people’s lives. Objectification of people is a part of being human.  We as humans can look at a person and find them aesthetically pleasing or even arousing sexually.  Objectification is not a concept limited to pornography.

3. Is pornography addictive?

Pornography is not addictive.  Let me repeat that.  Pornography is not addictive.  There is a high chance that you may have heard otherwise.  The psychology in the belief that Pornography is addictive is worth consideration.  A person’s attitudes, history of sexual shame and religious values are very real.  Certainly there have been many books written, interviews given, there are also professional therapists who also hold this view. However,

“Pornography Addiction is being consistently rejected from all medical and psychological bodies as there is a lack of clinical evidence of its existence.”

-Silva Neves (2021) Compulsive Sexual Behaviours- A Psycho-Sexual Treatment Guide for Clinicians. Routledge

 

4. What does the clinical research say?

The data is in.  The findings are that:
  • Pornography does not make a bad society.
  • Pornography does not create objectification.
  • Pornography does not cause relationship problems.
  • Pornography does not induce erectile dysfunction.
  • Pornography does not lead to sexual violence towards women.
Silva Neves (2021) Compulsive Sexual Behaviours- A Psycho-Sexual Treatment Guide for Clinicians. Routledge
If you feel that your use of pornography use is compulsive and is having a negative impact on your life, Clinical Psychosexual and Relationship Therapists are here to help (without shaming you).  It is very common for people to have a hard time with their porn use and feel that it is out of control, or perhaps a person or a book informed the consumer that they have a problem. If you would like to seek a Clinical Psychosexual and Relationship Therapist, please- seek one that is Sex Positive and GSRD aware (Gender, Sexual and Relationship Diversity).  It is perfectly acceptable to ask your potential therapist these questions to ensure that they are.

5. What are the medical and psychological bodies actually saying?

 

“Sexual health, when viewed affirmatively, requires a positive and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships, as well as the possibility of having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences, free of coercion, discrimination and violence.”

-World Health Organisation 2006.    https://www.who.int/health-topics/sexual-health

 

“Net effects of online porn:  No substantive association between online pornography exposure and sexual functioning or mental well-being.”

-College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists (leading governing body for Sex and Relationship Therapists in the U.K.)

6. How can pornography be a part of sexual health?

Sexual health is a part of overall health.  Ethical Pornography can be a legitimate tool in:
  • learning more about your sexual palette (expanding your horizon of learning more things which you like).
  • Improving your sexual education. Certainly there is much misinformation and unrealistic material available in the world of Pornography.  However there are some websites which do a great job in teaching specific skills and increasing knowledge.
  • Taking a class for enjoyment and pleasure, or perhaps to learn a set of skills to help you play safely e.g. Learning safer Kink/BDSM skills.
  • Material to help with pleasure and possibly increasing arousal in solo and partnered sex.
  • Access to pleasure which otherwise would be difficult due to situation such as:
    • if you are a in a remote location where you live or where you may work for long periods of time (such as a FIFO worker)
    • don’t have access to a partner
    • access to your particular sexual interests
While we are on the topic of sexual health, let me introduce to you some frameworks which I am critiquing the various ethical pornography sites, and are also useful to know in relation to overall sexual health.
Erotic Template Sexual Palette

Your Sexual Palette can be very varied. What colours are on yours? What colours take up more space?

6 Principles of Sexual Health.

  1. Consent (please note that all references in this blog to consent infers that it is clear and ongoing.  Also the age of the participants being performer and porn user is of the legal age in the geographical location concerned, as this varies in different parts of the world).
  2. Non- Exploitation
  3. Protection from HIV, STI’s and unwanted Pregnancy.
  4. Honesty
  5. Shared Values
  6. Mutual Pleasure
5 principles of Digihealth:   Twist and McArthur 2020 
  1. Consent
  2. Protection from exploitation and harm
  3. Honesty
  4. Privacy
  5. Pleasure

Kink/ BDSM culture:

On kinks, fetish and BDSM practices it is a matter of being able to find something that appeals to your particular tastes which is in the realm of:
  • Safe, Sane and Consensual (SSC)
  • Risk Aware, Consensual, Kink (RACK)
  • Caring, Communication, Consent and Caution (4C’s)

Sex Positivity:

  • One person’s yuck can be another’s yum.
  • Acceptance of high and low sexual desire, and asexuality in its spectrum.
  • Wide diversity of gender, sex and relationship structures.
  • Acceptance of all bodies. Various body shapes, disabled, abled, various ethnicities, and inclusivity of different ages (of people who are of the age of consent).
  • Understanding that sex and porn are not addictions

 

7. The criteria of which the sites are critiqued.

  • Does the website explain how its workers are paid (well)?
  • Is it free, pay per view or is there a subscription?
  • Is there a sex education section?
  • Is there representation in the LGBTQIA+ community?
  • Is there representation of various relationship types? E.g.  Monogamy, Polyamory, Hierarchical Polyamory, Consensual Non- Monogamy, Single.
  • Is there representation of Kink/ BDSM which is Safe, Sane and Consensual (SSC), Risk Aware Consensual Kink (RACK) And Caring, Communication, Consent and Caution (4C’s)
  • Real world sex depicted? e.g. messy, silly, noisy or with adequate foreplay.
  • Cinematic, quality professional product.
  • A range of mediums available in one space e.g. literature and audio to download.

 

8.  A review on each of the websites

It should be noted that this is an independent review.  I am not sponsored by anyone.

Artist Credit @emirshiro

Quinn -the app for audio erotica

https://www.tryquinn.com

Audio erotica created by women for women where they can your own imagination rather than rely on imagery which for some can be confronting.   Users can decide if they’d rather read erotica, listen to it, or even upload their own creations to share in the space. There is a good category system to seek out specific interests.  There is content for guided masturbation which is a good tool for those who would like to learn more skills in this area.  The content  is predominantly fantasy.  There is a subscription for USD $2.99 a month (annual) or $4.99 (monthly) for users. You need to become a member to access the site.   This site feels easy to navigate.  The subscription is fair and there seems to be a wide selection of interest areas for everyone. The site is quite binary in its outlook ‘by women for women’.
 3 out of 5 ethical stars.

 

Literotica

https://www.literotica.com

The website has a basic format without frills reminiscent of websites from the 90’s.  A space where amateur fiction, audio, & illustrations can be uploaded.  There isn’t any information as to whether the authors are paid or not.   There is also a space on the site where there are various games, live cams and picture galleries.  I was disappointed to see that there were stories with themes about non- consent which is not sex positive. The owners of the site can determine what stories are shared,  consent does not seem to be a value which is held on this site.  Navigation of the site is a little clunky where the user is faced with adds that say “Spin out a random and live cam”.  It raises my eyebrows about how the people who are involved in the live cam are being paid for their service if the site is free.   To view the live cams, you are required to enter your details to get “100 free tokens, Join now, Totally Free, No credit card needed.”  This is quite confusing if the website is free, then why would you need tokens?  There does not seem to be clear transparency.  Interesting to note that in their privacy policy “By using any feature on this Website, you are consenting to the recording of your voice, image and/or text conversations (collectively, “Recordings”) by us.”  To me that just feels VERY creepy.  I am surprised that this website is considered at Ethical upon doing a web search.  Reviews are always subjective and this is a popular website, clearly many people like its content.
0 ethical stars out of 5.

 

Lickerish Library

https://lickerishlibrary.com

Erotic fiction “created by women that celebrates female sexuality”. This site is aimed at the female reader that no longer wants to consume porn from the male gaze.   First impressions upon viewing the site was that it is stylish and simple to navigate.  There appeared to be great representation for females who identify as straight and queer. Interest in Kink and BDSM is also catered to.  In searching for a story, the user can determine how long the story is from 5- 30 mins which is a nice consideration.  Membership to access the stories starts at £4.95 a month which renews automatically with the option of 6 monthly and yearly. There isn’t an education section on the site, however erotic fiction can be good to explore your own sexual palette which can be educational in itself.
4 ethical stars out of 5.

 

 

Pink Label TV- Independent Erotic and Adult Films

https://pinklabel.tv

The first page when you are in the site reminds me of walking down the isle of a DVD store.  Each film’s ‘cover’  gives an impression of its content.  Films are listed in a wide range of categories: Free (with Pink Label +)/ Best Sellers/ Recently Added/ Classics & Vintage/ BIPOC Porn/ Queer Porn Vanguards/ Eco sexual/ Trans & Non-Binary Porn/ Edu-Porn/ BDSM/ Feminist Porn (and much more).  On first glance there is a retro feel from many of the available films which can be good if you are interested in something old school and nostalgic, perhaps not so good as what was considered as ethical has changed immensely.  The website states that “these films expand the cinematic landscape with creative approaches to sexual storytelling and much needed depictions of underrepresented bodies and desires.” Representation of different people, bodies, and interests IS important to normalise.   I particularly liked the education section of the website.  There are many “how to’s”  on topics such as Sexual Health/ Reclaiming Sexuality After Menopause/ Self-Pleasuring During Penetration/ The Official Guide to Cunnilingus etc.  What a fabulous way for people to get clear information on how to access PLEASURE in solo and partnered sex.
4.5 ethical stars out of 5.

Artist credit: CityNeon

Bellesa -Porn by Women

https://www.bellesa.com

If you identify as non-binary or trans, this site may trigger you.  There is a strong binary feel throughout the whole site.  From the first page there is fast explicit content from the get go in an advertisement to upgrade to a subscription which feels quite pushy. There are sections for videos of various categories.  My first impression is that the people performing look like people who are of a certain ‘look’, young, mostly white, able bodied.  Not a lot of diversity or the feeling of ‘realness’ but more of a studio performed and produced polished product.  There is an erotica section based on category of interest and reading time.  The site’s Sex Ed section is somewhat disappointing.  The section was comprised of blog posts of which the information was thin on the ground and deep in clickbait.  There did appear to be a large number of podcasts available.  I saw that they also had a store. The products are quite varied which included furniture which isn’t widely available (good for more accessible sex including people who have disabilities).  There are products for people who have a penis also. It is good that they have products for people with all genitalia, I feel that they just missed the memo that people who identify as women or non-binary may have a penis, not just males.    On the ‘about us’ section of the site, there is a limited amount of information on their ethos. They say that they are about Quality, Community and Empowerment yet don’t say how.  There isn’t any information on how the workers on this site are paid.  The films are accessible without needing to enter any details or payment of any money which makes me question how the workers are paid.
2.5 ethical stars out of 5.

 

Kink

https://www.kink.com

This site is for those who wish to access various Kink and BDSM porn.  I mentioned earlier in this blog that one person’s yuck is another person’s yum.  This site does well to cover a wide range of interests that people have.  The first page shows a selection of films some displaying scrolling stills of the film in its profile.  The initial imagery on the front page shows more of an emphasis on females receiving than giving pleasure which isn’t particularly inclusive.  There is also a band of ‘featured models’ to choose from which all but one have vulvas from the images shown, not a lot of diversity in the performers in relation to gender.
Other parts of the website are more inclusive where users can choose content based on:
  • Categories- There are 58 kink categories listed.
  • Channels- There are 119 different channels to view a multitude of different themed videos.
  • Scenes- Where you can do search for a particular speciality.
  • Series- Where there are 7 different themed series of which there are episodes of themed scenes.
  • Models- In this sub section you can choose a film via drop down menus to find what you are looking for. The selection in this part of the website is quite diverse.
  • Live- Takes you to another page called getkinky.com where there are endless camgirls. There is a search option to find someone of your interest.  The list is immense.
  • To view the film content you can either have an option to join and pay a subscription, or buy a scene which you can stream and download.  To become a member, subscription starts with £29.99  for a one off month, to £6.99 monthly for 6 months, or £4.99 in a monthly plan.
Accessible on the bottom of the page which feels like an afterthought is a section for BDSM resources. “Resources for the BDSM community: social networking, education and advocacy, healthcare, and longstanding history!”  This has sections are:
  • Social (being a part of the community)
  • Healthcare (signposting)
  • Education and Advocacy
  • Museums and Archives
This website is extensive with a massive amount of content which appears to have high production, and appears to be sex positive with care for staff who are involved in production of films.  I am unsure of what measures are put in place to help make the cam girls space more ethical.  It would have been good to see a more visual space in showing the importance around aftercare in the Kink and BDSM community, and an educational section for people who are exploring Kink in the interest of safer sex.
If Kink is your thing, this site is very comprehensive 3.5 ethical stars out of 5.

Artist credit: NeonsGroup

Bright Desire.  Smart sensual sex. 

https://brightdesire.com

The first page of this site paints a picture of intimacy, laughter, connection and real pleasure.  Describing themselves as offering a “different kind of porn – new wave, smart porn. It’s sometimes been called feminist porn, or ethical porn, or porn for women. The main thing is, this isn’t the usual stuff you see on the awful tube sites. Bright Desire’s aim is to move beyond the old cliches, boundaries and negativity of standard, old-style pornography and to offer something fresh, inclusive and intelligent.”  Once you are inside the site, it show cases multiple films which have won awards including an award for the Honoured Website in the 2015 Feminist Porn Awards.   Viewers can watch films from the following categories:
Award-Winning Erotic Short Films And Festival Favourites.
  • Real Life Couples Porn. A mixture of straight and queer couples, mostly white.
  • The Solo Voiceover Series – Sensual masturbation and sexual fantasy. Viewing people fantasising (you can hear a voice over).
  • Queer Porn
There is also more content including Erotic Fiction, Audio erotica, Interviews with performers.
Access to all of the content is via membership, otherwise you will have restricted access. Membership starts at £22.86 and is recurring every 30 days, or £37.81 for 90 days which is non- recurring.
This website is making a decent effort to be transparent, user friendly, and ethical. They state that they do not have any spam, malware or spyware.  The production of content looks good.  Educational content was not available.
4 ethical stars out of 5.

 

 

La femme damnée. Artist. Octave Tassaert. Image source: wikimedia.org

Make Love Not Porn

https://makelovenotporn.tv

The concept behind this site is to provide a collection of films of real people in all of their diversity having real world sex.  People can submit their own films, they are curated and checked by the site to ensure that the films are consensual, contextualised and porn- cliché free.  Revenue is shared by a pay per view model where the creators get a 50% share of the fee, and the site gets the other 50%. While the site does not have an educational section, it could be considered that the whole site is educational as users can learn how other people are sexually intimate in solo and partnered sex.  Techniques and broadening a sexual palette of what many different people actually do which is not performative.  I can see this site being really valuable for users who have had a limited experience in self and partnered pleasure.  There is a wide range of diversity in the people who are filmed as is the wide variety of sexual interests which they enjoy.  This includes showing messy sex, awkward sex, and also what is beautiful.   Upon joining you can choose to subscribe to USD$10 a month which allows for 5 films which can be watched multiple times for 3 weeks.  Other plans are 30 films a month for $30, or 50 films a month for $50.  Alternatively you can rent a single film for $5 and watch is as many times as you wish for 3 weeks.  The only way to preview each film is to become a member first.  The site says that the films vary from 3 mins in length to 2 hours.  There are curated sections, but it is unknown if you can do a more in-depth search to find what you are looking for upon joining.  The website is quite guarded with its content.  I respect that.   I like the concept of its inclusiveness of diverse people and their sexual interests, normalising real world sex reducing shame.
4.5 ethical stars out of 5.

 

 

I Feel Myself

https://ifeelmyself.com

This site pitches themselves as making “making real, natural, and ethical representations of female self-pleasure. IFM is designed to appeal to anyone interested in an intense study of the female orgasm.”  Having had a bit of a look around on the website there is very much a lack of diversity in the performers.   Think white females aged from 19 to mid 20’s.  In fact when clicking on the first 3 pages of the profiles that is exactly what you get.  For those  who identify as trans or non- binary it may be a triggering website.    There is a mixture of studio shot films as well as there being the capacity to upload your own contributions.  There is a little more body diversity in the amateur section, however again it appears to be mostly young white women.  For subscribers the site says that plans are under $24 USD a month plus tax.  It does not state what the other plans are and if there is an option for one month or if it will be recurring.  I could only find reference to the rate of pay for people who send in amateur films.  Contributions receive USD$350 for a chosen submissions can have the potential to earn more in commissions per view.  This site is good for demystifying what females do for self and partnered pleasure leading to orgasm, so it can be a good teaching tool in this regard.  It just lacks diversity with ethnicities, body shapes and ages.
2.5  ethical stars out of 5.

L’ Origine du monde. Artist -Gustave Courbet

Sssh.com

https://sssh.com

Sssh.com markets themselves as “your source for ethically produced, sex-positive indie adult cinema. Our crowd-sourced films are inspired by fantasies and desires shared by our members. Our provocative storylines will challenge your perceptions of explicit sexual content. From cutting edge VR to narrative film, from the written word to auditory stimulation. We are Uninhibited, Unapologetic and Unabashed.  Sssh.com is the evolution of indie adult cinema. It’s feminist porn for women and couples. It’s porn, re-imagined.”
The first page shows a rolling  repertoire of scenes that showcase the diversity  films available.  They look slick and artistic.  The first page outlines the following sections available:
  • Original movies: Award winning artistic looking films of which you can see a snapshot of a small selection. Previews are not available. The photos of each of the 8 films showing 5 white male/ female couples, one white female/ female couple, and one white female on her own.  They all look like they are in their 20’s early 30’s.
  • About: The area to join with a membership. They offer a 2 day trial $4.95 USD, 1 month for $19.95, 3 months for $54.95, and 1 year for $99.95. These subscriptions are recurring until notice to stop is given.
  • Curated Collection: Films that have been created by “the finest directors and performer in adult entertainment.” There is a clip which shows a few seconds of various films.  They look very stylish and high end.  It is interesting to note that there appears to be a little more ethic diversity here.
  • VR Dynamic 360 Movies. “No Headset Required.  Immerse yourself and Be a Part of the Experience.”  I don’t know if this is for all or some of their films.
  • Photo Galleries: Appears to be some photo stills from the films.
  • Original Novels and Stories : Written by award winning writers, you can see excerpts from various stories which would be available upon subscription. It was a little hard to find without a subscription, but the site does also have
  • Erotic Radio Podcasts: It is unknown how many there are and how long they go for.
  • Sex Education Video and Articles: The site says that they offer an extensive library of videos, but it is unclear if it is in reference to the arty produced videos, or if there is a separate section. Nor does it state what themes are covered to learn about.  There isn’t any information on topics of the articles either, nor who writes them. I don’t know if they are opinion pieces or written by professionals.
  • Store, Community, Participation:  A range of opportunities to purchase products, submit story suggestions, or vote to donate some of their revenue to nominated charities.
Sssh.com celebrates that they have won many awards.  In relation to ethical film making they state that one of their directors has been given a stamp of approval by Ethical.porn (of which they are a founding member of)  to me this is perplexing and smells of nepotism.  This website offers high end, big budget productions that look slick.   It is great that they have a few different modalities of erotica on offer.  It would be good to see prior to subscribing what interest areas such as Kinks are available rather than occasional pictures involving Shibari and sploshing….  There is minimal diversity as I only saw very few BIPOC people.  I did not see any representation of Trans, Nonbinary, Gender fluid, Gay male, varied ages or different types of bodies.    The Teacher in me is interested in more information on what they offer in the educational side of things.  It is not known what the arrangement of pay is of staff.   I think that Sssh.com is demonstrating elements of being ethical, there are also many more opportunities where they could be more inclusive.
3 ethical stars  out of 5.

 

Artist credit: @_mutantygor_

Lightsouthern

https://www.lightsouthern.com

When first looking at this website I was quite confused about what it actually offered.  Slowly I came to understand that  they offer feature films of which a series called the ‘momentum series’ has won some awards.  A user can purchase a lifetime ticket for $60.  I don’t know if this is AUD of USD. This gives the user access to the films in the series and 5 other films.  It also includes some behind the scenes footage and some kink content (unknown what the kinks are).  From the clips and photos which are shown, the performers appear to be mostly white Australians who are in their 20’s and 30’s.  There is representation of female solo sex, female/ female sex, female/ male sex, and male/male sex.  It looks like the footage is filmed in Australian suburbia and some footage outside in nature.  I didn’t see any information on what types of kinks are listed in each film, what each film is about, or what kind of sex is in each film.  To me this seems like some basic information which is missing.  The website seems to have more information on the awards that it has won or been nominated for rather than explaining what the actual content in the films is about.  In some of the reviews there are mentions about the sex being believable and authentic as possible which is great to hear.  To be fair the films look fun and well shot.  The website I now understand to be a badly explained showcase of what look like to be some good films.  Is it a space to get some education and skills? No.  Is there a community? No. Is there a range of mediums available? No.  Is there representation in the queer community showing realistic sex? Yes, but it is directed and performed.  Does the viewer get to know what each of the films are about and the types of sex and kinks shown?  No.  Is there any transparency on how the workers are paid? No.
2.5 ethical stars out of 5.

 

FrolicMe

https://www.frolicme.com

From the first page it is easy to see that this site offers Erotic films, Erotic stories, Erotic Audio, Articles on Sex, and a Gallery.  The snapshots show diversity in body types, ethnicities, ages, and a suggestion that there is light kink and some representation from the queer community. The site gives a lot of information in comparison to the other sites to explain what they define is Ethical Porn and how they demonstrate it.  Essentially they are about providing inclusive consensual pleasure, and clearly state that everyone is fairly compensated on and behind the camera.  They also list another page https://www.frolicme.com/blog/sex-articles/ethical-porn-guide/ which goes into detail of an Ethical and feminist porn guide.  This site is aimed at the female market.  They have a section called ‘Tasteful Erotic Films and Sex Videos’ which outlines their ethos of what makes erotica tasteful, however what is tasteful is subjective to the user.  In this section is a link for a selection of free erotic films that can be viewed when you validate your age.  In this section there are 18 categories of themed films. There is a category of ‘kinky’ without any further detail.  The same categories exist in audio and printed erotica sections.  The site also has an online store where they sell some sex toys which is actually a link to the lovehoney.com store.  In terms of educational content they offer an ezine which has various articles authored by a range of people from Doctors through to people who call themselves ‘Sexperts’ but have unknown qualifications, as well as pieces which have been written by unknown people as there is no name given. The articles can be grouped into categories to find information. The quality of the articles is quite good in its information and delivery.  This website is quite good in that it ticks many boxes in it being Ethical in many ways.  There is space to offer content to be ‘more’ inclusive in gender, orientations and specific interests, but it does a pretty good job. The website is easy to use and is transparent. Memberships offered start with a Week trial £11.95, Monthly at £11.95 recurring, a stand alone month £22.95, or a year for £49.95.  At the time of viewing there were many discounts being offered.
This site gets 5 ethical stars out of 5.

 

The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife. Artist: Hokusai

Lust Cinema

https://lustcinema.com

Created by the famous adult filmmaker Erika Lust, this is a space where feature length movies and series are produced.  They have an extensive catalogue of films which is LGBTQ friendly and inclusive of Kink and BDSM practices.  The first page shows a multitude of shots from the films in the style of movie posters where you can see the performers.  The performers look diverse in age, body shape, ethnicity and sexualities. There are 32 categories of films, and it was wonderful to see that there were categories for Trans, BDSM and Queer.  Other sections on the site show that there is Live TV but I am unsure what that actually is as there isn’t an explanation and can only be unlocked upon subscribing.  There aren’t any sections for Erotic Literature, Audio erotica, an Education section, or a community section.  This site is all about the films.  I could not see any information about Ethical Porn.  Nor do they share any information about how their workers are paid.  On the bottom of the page however there is a small link to another website https://erikalust.com where there is an ezine called Lustzine. This is a space where there is an extensive range of sex positive articles with quality educational content.  Membership starts at 1 month USD$34.95 recurring, 3 months $69.95 recurring, and 12 months at $139.95.
4 ethical stars out of 5.

 

I hope that you know have a more discerning awareness of where to access ethical pornography as a part of your sexual health.   As a Clinical Psychosexual and Relationship Therapist, I support sexual health, pleasure, and education which is backed up by clinical research. Clinical research informs practice.  Pornography that is ethical can be a great tool to help people. If it is a tool that you choose not to use, that is perfectly fine also.

Artist credit @emma_anna-chatter