I was hanging out with a group of girl friends the other day, and the discussion veered towards porn. As is normal with women, a few  vehemently denied they ever masturbated (ha!), a couple of others denied ever having experienced any porn whatsoever (ha!), some claimed to have watched it with a significant other and hated it (fair), and the remainder was of the opinion that all porn was degrading to women, and a terrible blight upon the face of the planet. Now, I’m generally a bit of a contrarian just for kicks, but I honestly don’t think porn is a terrible, horrible, no-good thing. So I brought up my opinion on porn – that it’s okay to watch, and that there is genuinely good stuff out there if you’re willing to either pay for it, or spend some time wading through the junk.

That said, I think porn can be awful – and a lot of the free stuff out there is truly…strange, for lack of a better word. Speaking as a queer-identified female who is really into other queer-presenting people, mainstream porn doesn’t really do much for me. It’s neither sexy nor an accurate representation of queer sexualities – or hetero-sexualities for that matter. Most real men don’t have foot long danglies, and in-so-far as I’ve been told, real women don’t enjoy “money-shots” on their eyeballs. So yeah, mainstream porn is often degrading to women, and doesn’t clearly outline consent. Mainstream porn isn’t just anti-women though – it’s anti-men too, and anti-everyone-in-between (screw the gender binary!), because it gives everyone a skewed perception of what pleasure means. Real people who want good sex communicate about it, they don’t just grunt and hump.

But luckily, there’s independent porn to save the day! It’s also called feminist porn (which some people call a contradiction, but it’s nothing of the sort). Let’s face it, human beings can be very visual creatures, and in recent years there’s been a burgeoning amount of porn that people can enjoy without feeling like they’re endorsing bad, fake sex. 

Here is some stuff to check out!

1.       Pink and White Productions

Shine Louise Houston is the producer of these films, and they’re great. The Crash Pad is one of the better known lesbian porn films produced by lesbians, for lesbians. The DVD’s are a little pricey, but websites like Good Vibrations sell downloadable versions for less than $10, which is a total steal. Pink and White makes movies that are just amazing. I love that they feature women of various body types.

2.       Jiz Lee

Genderqueer porn star? Oh hell yes. She only does porn she feels is in good conscience, which is a credo I can get behind. She’s also Asian, which I really like. Asian women in mainstream porn are always portrayed as helpless submissives, and Jiz Lee is anything but. Minority representation in porn is generally pretty screwed up, so it’s nice to see an empowered Asian queer portrayed positively.

3.       Tristan Taormino

Tristan is both a producer and a porn actress. Her big thing is unscripted porn, which is exactly what it sounds like – porn where the actresses and actors get to choose what they’re doing, and the cameras just happen to catch it. It makes for a much better film – after all, there’s no silly plot or bad music to ignore. That, and it shows clear consent, which is definitely something to appreciate. 

4.       Lily Cade

Okay, I will admit – she’s in quite a bit of mainstream porn, with awful storylines. BUT, Lily Cade also doesn’t act in anything she finds deprecating or anti-women, which I value. I can get over the whole mainstream thing though, because she’s trying to change how mainstream lesbian porn is made from within that industry – no fake fingernails or crazy heels.

5.       Buck Angel

He’s dubbed himself the only ftm porn star out there, which I think is pretty much true. He produces some great stuff, and even has a great sense of humor, referring to himself (sardonically) as “the guy with the pie”. I love that Buck Angel is so openly, proudly outside of the gender norms, and he turns it into something that is both sexy and funny at times, but in the most endearing ways.

Of course, this isn’t an all encompassing list – this is just stuff I enjoy. One good place to find great porn (with a conscience!) is by checking out the Feminist Porn Awards. They’ve been giving out awards since 2006, so if you scroll through their archives there’s a good chance you’ll find something you’re into – they include straight/gay/everything in between porn too. Because everyone can use a little eye candy.