What is Ethical Porn?

Ethical porn may include any genre, style, form, depiction, and tenor of sexual media — as long as said sexual media is created ethically.

Speaking generally, ethical actions strive to be fair, equitable, and just for all parties involved. As such, behaving in an ethical manner requires acting in accordance with standards that, though pragmatically flexible, actively and implicitly seek to achieve fair, equitable, and just ends. Or, put simply, ethical actions always try.

Based on the diversity of human experiences throughout history, what constitutes fair, equitable, and just ends is highly subjective. As such, ethical actions vary by era, community, subculture, and more. Within the context of contemporary sexual media today, ethical porn requires consent, disclosure, and compliance with professional adult content production community standards and the Model Bill of Rights outlined by the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee (APAC) and The Free Speech Coalition’s (FSC) Code of Ethics and PASS.

What is ethical porn?

At its most essential, adult content that is consensual and transparent, is created in an environment that emphasizes safety and respect, and does not contribute to wider social inequalities via troublesome post-production marketing is ethical. Elements like tenor and intensity, sex acts being depicted, or production value do not preclude content from being ethical. Beyond these key dimensions however are a wealth of subjective issues, standpoints, and concerns that require multidimensional, evolving dialogue. Ethical.Porn is committed to exploring these issues with this groundwork in mind.

Though the concept of ethical porn does not discount or discredit amateur, personal, and/or developmental content, ethical porn mandates a level professionalism outlined by these entities and aforementioned parameters.

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For the sake of clarity, these concepts are defined below:

Genre — a category of artistic composition, as in music or literature or film, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter.

Film styles are recognizable film techniques used by filmmakers that add flair or character to a project. A film’s style can include all aspects of sound, mise-en-scene, dialogue, cinematography, attitude, and more.

Form — film, clip, live show, written, etc

Depiction — sex act

Tenor — intensity

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Pictured: Colin Rowntree accepting the Free Speech Coalition (FSC) Award from then-FSC CEO Diane Duke.