Feminist Filmmakers Out to End Machismo in Porn Movies; Show Women “In Charge”

It might have seemed unthinkable in the past, but now feminist filmmakers have found a platform to showcase their female empowerment beliefs through mass-marketed porn. They do so by making adult movies that are free from what used to be prevailing themes of male dominance and gender stereotypes.

Now feminist filmmakers are making adult films without exploiting women by not focussing on showing too many silicone breasts for example. Their porn movies are even surprisingly described as “diverse” and most of all, “ethical”, words not usually linked to such adult films in the past.

Their films do not portray women as the old “submissive” types; neither are their partners the domineering macho men. Instead, their movies attempt to show “realistic, consent-based and egalitarian sex” and not the usual projection of men as capable of superhuman bedroom exploits.

While the idea of feminist porn movies may sound groundbreaking to many, there have been prior attempts to mainstream such types of film dating back in the 80s in the U.S. The movement, however, only got a real boost with the flood of free online porn in the internet era.

There’s also a real motivation for feminist filmmakers to push for their brand of porn movies because there have been fears that people’s easy access to even hardcore porn online may influence a generation of millennials to be exposed to material that could “warp their sexual attitudes and expectations.”

38-year-old French filmmaker Ovidie elaborates: “Feminist porn is part of a fight against misogyny on the same territory and with the same weapons as the sex movie mainstream.”

In Berlin, political groups are even proposing to use feminist adult films in sex education programs.

For Ovidie who spearheaded the “femporn” movement in France, men no longer dominate women in such films, on the contrary, women are in charge.

Some have set guidelines, too, to be worthy of “feminist” porn including portraying the desires “of all genders” and that the cast must also subscribe to diversity in the sense that they must be “varied physically and culturally.” They may also not uniformly follow the perfect physique.

Ethical working conditions must also be met starting with honoring consent, and also promoting the use of condoms for protection of actors involved.

Despite the lofty “ideals” of feminist porn and their clear intent, the reality is, even now it is far from breaking into the mainstream. One writer even said that such “ethical productions” remain nothing but “a drop in the ocean of porn” online.

Such films still face daunting challenges as lacking broad distribution channels. However, if these feminist adult films would indeed start being used in sex education programs, they would, therefore, become eligible for state funding.

Meanwhile, whether the average adult-movie consumer actually enjoys this feminist pornography or not doesn't seem to be a concern of the filmmakers.

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