By Dee Severe, Director and Co-owner of Severe Sex Films
To me, ethical porn concerns the process more than the final product. Ethical porn is first and foremost consensual, where no performer is ever pressured to do something they don’t want to do, where performers’ opinions are heard and respected. An ethical set is safe, friendly, respectful and as comfortable as possible for cast and crew.
We shoot a lot of FemDom material that could be construed as abusive to men because it’s intense BDSM. But we’re shooting with guys who are lifestyle submissives and enjoy what they’re doing. The Domme and sub always confer about dos, don’ts and limits beforehand, and we’re always checking in with the sub to make sure they’re okay. So we have an ethical set even when we’re shooting extreme material.
Ethical porn concerns the process more than the final product.
There are some practices in porn – such as white talent being paid more when they’re working with a non-white partner – which are absolutely unethical and disgusting and need to go ASAP. Ditto, agents and directors who pressure talent into having sex with them off camera as a condition of representation/hiring. Same with performers who push their partner and aren’t respectful of their limits, and directors who allow it to happen.
I think directors do their best work when they’re shooting material that gets them off personally, so it’s the director’s decision what they do in terms of body shapes and sex acts. It’s also their decision whether they want to shoot gonzo and raw, artistic and atmospheric, elegant, gross, mainstream, niche, hardcore, glamour — whatever they want. What makes it ethical or not is what goes on behind the camera.
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Pictured Dee Severe and Jimmy Broadway. Find Dee Severe on Twitter at @SevereSociety.
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