It should come as no surprise to hear that porn has a problem. Actually, a lot of problems.
It's a problem that many learn about sex by watching plastic-buxomed "babes" satiate their sweaty paramours in five minutes flat -- their own orgasm be damned. It's a problem that porn treats women as sex toys rather than living, breathing sexual creatures with their own needs and drives. It's a problem that the porn industry so often treats its female performers inhumanely.
But -- and this is an important but -- not all porn is this way. If you know where to find it, you can discover porn that subverts the male-pleasure paradigm and lets women in on the fun, too. This brand of porn is inclusive, respectful, positive. It's what sex should be -- and it's challenging the adult-film status quo in powerful ways.
One woman pushing for this new kind of porn is Erika Lust. The award-winning writer and erotic film director behind Cabaret Desire, The Good Girl, and the crowdsourced porn project XConfessions is ready to lead a porn revolution.
"As much as we may want to ignore it or shame it, porn is today's sex and gender education for many young people and children," she tells me. "So there needs to be films out there, made by women, which are providing the right education on sex, with female sexuality and pleasure that's equal to a man's."
At a recent TedX talk in Vienna, Lust shared her vision for the future of adult films. Since then, the video of her impassioned, cheeky, insightful speech has become something of an underground hit, with thousands of sex-positive devotees watching it on YouTube, then spreading its message on Twitter with the hashtag #changeporn. As Lust says, "It's very humbling and proves that there are so many people out there who want more from their pornography; more for women and for the future sex education of their children."
Want more from porn, too? Watch the video below, then help spread the message. Together, we can all #changeporn.
This story first appeared at Ravishly.com, a community for women that strives to foster a dialogue between disparate voices and experiences. More from Ravishly: