Porn for Women by Women?

[tenni]

WHAT PORN DO WOMEN ENJOY?
DO WOMEN ENJOY PORN?

Here are some quotes from an interview with porn producer and director Erika Lust in Good Porn: A Woman’s Guide.

Maybe women would watch more porn if the actors looked more like soccer players.
That’s a good point. When I look at the actors in porn movies, I don’t find them attractive.

You write that women want realistic settings, “modern apartments” equipped with Macs – not tacky, opulent mansions and yachts.
Mainstream porn directors’ aesthetic values are not too elaborate. It’s a very kitschy ambience. They don’t work with the interiors. They don’t even care about something so important to us as the bed linens.

So women want ambience? I thought you wrote that women aren’t into candles and flower petals.
We don’t need the fireplace or the champagne and the chocolate and the strawberries. I don’t think that’s what we want, but when we watch a film, many of us want it to look good.

You also complain about the ridiculous scenarios in mainstream porn, like the girl who comes home to find her boyfriend canoodling with her best friend and happily hops into bed with them.
It’s not like I need a two-hour introduction, but I need some context as to who these people are. In advertising, they create a story in 20 seconds. It just seems like [the mainstream directors] don’t really care.

In your 2004 short film The Good Girl, you toy with the pizza delivery boy scenario, except the girl pays for her pizza and offers the guy a “post-coital slice.” Why is it so important that she pay for her pizza with money, not acrobatics?
If you don’t have your own money then you aren’t free to choose in life. One of the clichés that I really didn’t like was this girl who always ends up paying with her body. I really needed her to pay for it and invite him in to have a piece.

Do women in female-made porn have jobs?
In "Life Love Lust", there’s a story of a couple working in a restaurant: He’s the chef and she’s a waitress. There’s a story of a fortysomething executive meeting a younger man. I have stories where you realize in the storyline that the women have kids.

You blast mainstream porn’s “cheesy sets, awful styling and makeup, insipid music, laughable performances (with sound editing that was even worse), and amateurish cinematography.” Female pornographers often get hung up on production values. Why?
I think it has to do with our generation. We grew up with TV in the background and images with high production values.

Do men like the porn you make?
Yes, many, many men – they write me almost every day. I get such cute e-mails from them saying that they find my movies beautiful and so much more natural. Many are happy because it’s the first time they can share it with their girlfriends. I see that because I have a store online and many men come, buy and then send movies to their girlfriends.

There seems to be a sense that female-made porn is “too fuzzy.” What do you make of that?
If you go back to when women started making erotic movies, they were into a softer approach. I think in the last 10 years we’ve definitely seen women make movies with more direct approaches. The movies made today are definitely not the fuzzy, erotic kind of illusions.

[Canticle]

Wouldn't know tenni. Never watched the stuff. Never wanted to watch it. Never will. Can't understand why people do watch it. Could go into a more philosophical reasoning, but I ain't gonna. Not much help there, was I? Sorry.:tong:

[citystyleguy]

cant answer the question, but thanks for an insightful thread, very interesting!

[cand86]

Very nice! I've seen Erika's first movie, and I really need to get on the ball and watch her newer one.

Her movies are definitely aesthetically pleasing, and it's true what she says- it shouldn't matter if hot sex is taking place in a scuzzy hotel room or a luxuriously furnished apartment . . . but it does, for some reason. All of her sets look expensive but lived in, beautiful and yet with a sense of style that lends personality to the scene.

Also: "It’s not like I need a two-hour introduction, but I need some context as to who these people are. In advertising, they create a story in 20 seconds. It just seems like [the mainstream directors] don’t really care."

YES. Yes, a thousand times yes. Sometimes I'm in the mood for storyless gozno fare, but when I want something with context, there is nothing more frustrating than finding a scene or movie with 10+ minutes of setup. I want to scream "You're missing the point!", because it's not about "a slow buildup" or any of that other junk- it's just about giving us context, a brief introduction to the characters and the general idea of a scenario. Brevity, when it's quality, will always win over shitty quantity.

Of course, all of this would be pointless discussion if her films didn't have awesome sex in them . . . thankfully for her, they do! :)

[Annika L]

Yes, many women enjoy porn. And studies have shown that many who claim not to still respond to it.

Of the stuff I've seen, I would say that the few things I've seen produced by women *are* in fact superior to "mainstream" porn. I agree with just about everything in the interview.

In general I prefer to see characters, not just actors and actresses, I prefer some kind of plausible (if perhaps whimsical) plot, and when it comes down to the sex, I want it to look and sound realistic...like people are actually having sex, not just engaged in some odd kind of calesthetics involving other bodies. And it should look like *enjoyable* sex. Given what's being done to most women in porn, the orgasmic cries are just not believable.

Just some random thoughts.

[Frau Blucher]

Straight porn honestly doesn't do much for me. Why? Well, straight mainstream porn is all about the women. Women are the stars, the focus is on them, and the guys are merely part of the scenery.

I like men. I'm attracted to men, and I like to watch men having sex. Therefore, I'd much rather watch gay porn than straight porn. IMO, the men in gay porn are far better looking, are more enthusiastic, and honestly look like they are having a good time.

In any case, the article was a good read and I appreciate Erika's desire to offer a better choice to women looking for quality erotica. Despite this, I probably won't be buying any of her moves.

So my answer is: Yes, I enjoy watching porn, and gay porn is my porn of choice.

[maim_me]

I haven't seen any of Erica's porn, but I will now. She seems to really get what I'm looking for. I want hot sex, but I don't understand why its hot if I don't know who the people are.