Porn

A different kind of movie

What’s your favourite kind of movie? Sci-fi, horror, drama, comedy? There’s a genre of film that almost everyone loves to watch, but few people like to admit, and that’s porn!

What is porn anyway?

Porn is a kind of media (like photography, film, streaming video, or even good old-fashioned literature). It often features nudity, sex or kink, and is made to turn you on and get you off. It’s as old as art itself, because humans are notoriously horny creatures.

If you know the famous song from the raunchy musical Avenue Q, then you know “The internet is for porn!” People used to have to buy books and magazines, or go to the video store or adult cinema to consume adult media. But in today’s world, pornography is easily accessible on the internet, and right on your phone whenever you want.

What’s great about porn:

• It can introduce you to new practices that you might want to try yourself.
• You can see different body types represented.
• No partner is necessary: it’s a very safe sexual thing to enjoy by yourself and carries no STI risk.
• It’s fun and sexy!

What you need to remember about porn:

• It’s rarely what sex REALLY looks like. You’re often watching professional performers who do this for their job!
• It’s often lacking in discussions of consent or sexual health that happen off-screen.
• Some kinds of porn can promote unrealistic body image standards.
• It can reproduce racism, ageism and other oppressive tropes through fantasy.

There’s a huge industry of professionals who make the porn that we watch. A lot of clips that are floating around on streaming feeds and tube sites is actually pirated content. If you enjoy certain studios and performers, support them to keep doing their jobs by paying for their content, sending them a tip or subscribing to their feed for a while.

And remember that it’s good to get outside every once in a while and not be stuck behind a screen all night. During the peak of the pandemic, many of us found comfort in porn when everyone was socially isolated. Porn is wonderfully accessible but it’ll always be there. Take a walk, catch up with a friend, cook some dinner, and take breaks every now and then!