The Truth About Porn: Meet Lilly Sparks, founder & CEO of afterglow
When you think of the porn industry, what do you think of? Probably a bunch of old dudes creeping on hot young chicks in bikinis or maybe sex parties at the Playboy mansion. But if you go to an XBIZ show instead, what you’ll see is content creators looking to build brands and a bunch of tech nerds trying to drive traffic to the hottest new sites. When I started afterglow, I had a lot of common misconceptions about the industry and I’ve learned a lot in a short time. So it’s time to set the record straight, here are some of the biggest myths about the porn industry:
MYTH: Women are frequently exploited and trafficked.
TRUTH: Just because she’s receiving double penetration doesn’t mean she’s not getting paid.
The average mainstream porn can look fake and cheesy. Sometimes, you might not be sure if the women in the films are having a good time or not. But let me be clear: exploitation and trafficking in porn is extremely rare. Pornhub recently improved its content moderation standards, removing nearly all risk of non-consensual content on the platform. Non-consensual content is not porn. It’s image based sexual abuse (IBSA), and it’s illegal. Facebook had 84 million self-reported cases of abuse material compared to Pornhub’s 118. Do imbalanced power dynamics exist in the porn industry? Yes, of course they do. They exist in all industries, from retail to finance, and we all need to be working to make the world a more equitable place. This is why afterglow is committed to only working with creators committed to our ethical standards. That includes fair pay, a safe environment, and transparency to name a few.
MYTH: It’s easy to be a porn star.
TRUTH: Sex work is work.
During the pandemic, the news was rife with stories of women joining OnlyFans and then going on to make six figures a few months later. In reality, the top OnlyFans stars already had an audience and used the platform to monetize themselves. Even some of the top 1% of OnlyFans earners earn less than $100k per year. Not to mention, earning that much is hard work; it’s similar to earning a full-time living as an influencer. You’ve got to be continuously posting new content, engaging with fans at all hours, and supplementing subscriptions with add-ons and custom videos. To be a porn star in today’s world takes time, hustle, intelligence and brand building. Most successful adult content creators will strategically use multiple platforms from mainstream porn to clip sites to camming. So next time you make a joke about how you can always give up and make money in porn, think again. If it looks easy, it’s only because it’s great acting.
MYTH: It’s a bunch of old dudes in charge.
TRUTH: Who run the world? GIRLS.
The porn industry has more female executives running the show than Fortune 500 companies do. The adult industry has seen a huge shift the past 20 years with many old industry vets retiring or selling their companies and being replaced by young up-and-comers — many of whom are women. There’s Bree Mills, the Chief Creative Officer at AdultTime, Erika Lust, a pioneer of feminist porn, and Kelly Holland at Penthouse Global Media. There’s Shine Louise Houston at PinkLabel.tv. Opportunity has also come to many former performers who are now directors. Kayden Kross is a director at Deeper, and Casey Calvert is directing for Erika Lust. There’s even cam companies started and run by women.
MYTH: It’s harmful to women.
TRUTH: Women love porn.
About 30% of porn watchers are women, and 73% of women have watched porn in the past six months. Watching adult content is correlated with increased sexual satisfaction. It also corresponds with greater desire and arousal during sex with partners. So forget the trope of “I can’t compete with porn.” Watching porn is highly connected to self love and orgasms which have been proven to be good for our physical & mental health and to even make us better partners. It’s also a great way to explore fantasies and learn about what turns us on.
MYTH: It’s a job only the desperate would do.
TRUTH: Flexibility, autonomy, and money.
As a porn star, you make your own hours, choose who you work with, and how much you work. For many in the industry, they can make in a day what they used to make in a week. But remember, they work HARD to do well. Most performers enjoy what they do and the lifestyle working in porn provides. The most frequent criticism of the job comes from the stigmatization from the outside world, not the work or the industry itself.
So next time you criticize porn or the industry, think about who you’re really hurting.
Want to know more? Read our Guide to Ethical Porn.
60% of women are dissatisfied with their sex lives. We’re on a mission to change that.
What if you didn’t have to search to find a body that looks like yours, a sex act that turns you on, or a guided exercise that helps you tell your partner exactly what you’ve been craving?
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