Everyone knows: the internet is for porn and porn is always free, right? Given the vast amount of free porn that can be found online, you could be forgiven for thinking that porn is something that you shouldn’t ever have to pay for. Even Porn for Women TV offers you a whole bunch of free videos that don’t require payment to enjoy*.
Still, you shouldn’t assume that all porn should be free. So here’s five good reasons why you should pay for porn.
1. It’s a much better experience all round
If you’ve ever been to a free porn tube site, you know that finding the kind of porn you want can be a nightmare. You have to wade through a lot of junk videos and vast amounts of advertising, including pop-ups and -unders that feature images that can often be a huge turn off (sometimes, a surprise gaping asshole on repeat is not what you want to see first up). There’s the constant threat of malware and spyware and you don’t know if your privacy is secure. If you are offended by the sexist or idiotic language that is typically used by many porn sites then free porn can be a real downer.
Paying for porn means you only get what you want, in high quality, with regular updates. No awful off-topic ads, no security fears and – if you opt for feminist porn – no sexism or stereotyping or stupid language either. You are paying for an all-round better porn experience.
2. You help pay the performers, crew and producers
Most porn is created as a commercial enterprise. People are hired to perform in the film and a crew is employed to help create the final product. This means that the producers need to spend money to create the final product. Often they take a financial risk in the hope of making the money back later. Typically, the performers are paid by the hour for their work, having sex on screen to turn you on.
When people don’t pay for porn, it means there’s less money going around – and less money to pay the performers. Over the last few years, as piracy and free online porn have proliferated, porn wages have significantly decreased. It’s now a lot harder to make a living as a porn performer.
One of the most common criticisms of porn is that it exploits the performers but the reality is they are paid for their work and are often happy to be involved. Except now they are struggling to make ends meet because there’s not as much money in the system. In essence, the person who doesn’t pay for porn is the one who exploits the performer; they enjoy the fruits of someone else’s labour without giving something in return for it.
When you pay for porn, you help to keep people employed. This means you’re helping to create ethical porn because the performers and crew can be paid properly. If you respect and care about the people who are performing in your porn, you will be happy to contribute to their income.
3. You help to create better, nicer-looking porn
Good porn costs money to create. Sure, you can film people fucking with an iPhone in a dimly lit room, but it looks awful. If you want to create a better-looking, more professional style of porn, it takes money. Equipment like lights and cameras need to be bought or hired. Locations need to be paid for. Props and costumes need to be purchased or made. Editing software needs to be bought and someone qualified needs to be on board to work it. Did I mention special effects? Even films made by one person still require a certain amount of capital if the end result is going to look any good. Basically achieving anything other than two people fucking on their couch under a light bulb requires planning and cold hard cash.
If you want to see nicely lit porn that is at least a little bit aesthetically pleasing, it helps to pay for it.
4. You are giving real feedback to the creators and encouraging innovative porn
Today you can download gigabytes of free porn that is all exactly the same. You know what I’m talking about. Tired, formulaic scenes constructed using the exact same ideas that someone else came up with ten years ago. There are too many directors and producers that are stuck in the same way of thinking about porn; they faithfully reproduce its tropes, its labels and its basic gender politics because that’s the way it’s always been. And many are too frightened to do anything new in case it doesn’t make a profit. With piracy and the audience expecting porn to be free, margins are slim. For many in the porn business, keeping in the black often means making exactly the same thing as what sold yesterday. Or last week. Or last year. And piracy means that this same stuff makes up the majority of free porn.
When someone goes out on a limb and does something different – like making feminist porn for example – they are taking a financial risk that others aren’t willing to take. It may be that there isn’t an established audience for their porn or else the industry has written off the idea as unprofitable (this is exactly why porn traditionally didn’t cater to women: it was assumed women didn’t like porn and wouldn’t pay for it).
When you pay for porn that is innovative, or different, or ethical, or respectful of women, you are voting with your money and letting the creators know they’re on the right track. You are actively encouraging a porn industry that is tries harder to make a better product. This is how market forces work. When you pay for feminist porn, you are actively helping to create a more ethical and inspirational and non-sexist kind of sexual media.
5. You ensure there’ll be more porn in the future
Imagine you’re an independent film director who has a great idea for a porn film. Let’s say you invest your own money in a movie that is everything you want from porn, that portrays your own fantasies. You make sure the performers are paid well and that everything looks just like it does in your head. $30 grand and a shitload of work later you get that film out into the marketplace in the hope that people will like it, buy it and help pay back that $30 grand (which the bank manager is starting to send letters about).
And then it ends up all over torrent sites. And you don’t see that $30 grand ever again. Would you make another porn film after that?
Even the larger corporate porn studios, which have cash reserves, are cutting back on their production schedules because their returns are low or they are making losses. There is less new porn now than there was before.
So when you pay for porn – especially good, feminist, ethical porn – you help to ensure that people can go on to make more of it. If a film makes a profit, that means there’s money available to make a new film, most likely similar to what sold. If you like something, paying for it means there’ll be more of it down the track.
6. You’re being a good online citizen. You’re being honest.
OK this one is a bit smushy but it has to be said. Paying for porn makes you feel good. It means that you are pitching in, showing your support, paying your way, doing the right thing. It means you won’t get that nervous, guilty feeling that comes with pirating stuff (yes, I know, we’ve all felt it). It means you won’t have to make all the usual excuses to assuage that guilt (e.g. “I’m not paying those corporate monsters, the money never goes to the artists anyway!” or “It’s only porn, it’s all run by criminals anyway”).
Trade may be the basis of capitalism but it’s also about playing fair and being on good terms with other human beings. If someone has made something for you, it’s only fair that you give them something for their effort. In essence, you should pay for porn because it’s polite.
*Psst! See all that advertising? Yep, this site is giving you a small amount of free porn in the hope you’ll go on to pay for it!
