Porn is an essential part of many peoples’ masturbation and sexual routines, but talking openly about it can be a polarizing idea for even the most sex-positive among us. Conservatism, misinformation, and residual Reagan-era sex anxiety has helped to create the idea that porn is bad, degrading to women, and can even lead to things like addiction and dependency. Plenty of mainstream porn is (mostly) harmless, but a large majority of it is still problematic, borne from the deeply flawed and misogynistic culture of the 1970s that helped shape the modern-day industry. We often hear of the daunting statistics that highlight young women in porn who are vulnerable and exploited so other people can profit, or the horrifying stories of rampant abuses of power within the industry. And then there’s the suspension of reality; everyone looks perfect, has unlimited stamina, and can cum excessively and on cue.

Yet, most of us know that the negative aspects of porn aren’t representative of the industry as a whole. We also know that visual stimulation can be a great tool for people to learn about their bodies and their preferences, and it can often help aid in reliable orgasm. Porn can educate viewers about a wide range of positions, acts, kinks, fetishes, and everything in between, which is ultimately an immensely positive thing. So how do we navigate the murky waters of visual pleasure in an ethical and informed way?

The crux of the issue surrounding porn from a feminist perspective has always been about autonomy in sexual interactions and maintaining equality for all people involved. The role of women in porn has historically been, and in some cases still is, fucktoy or object whose function is to be a vessel for the pleasure of the male viewer(s). This is not to say that consensual nonconsent, bound gangbangs, phallic-centric threesomes, and other scenarios that are traditionally associated with male pleasure aren’t a major fantasy for many women, because they fully are. Many people get off to being objectified sexually, and sometimes being objectified is really hot! But only when autonomy is had by all participants! (Which, unfortunately, isn’t always the case.) A large majority of mainstream porn centers around the three perspectives that film theorist Laura Mulvey identified in her essay about The Male Gaze, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema: that of the man behind the camera, that of the male characters within the film’s cinematic representations; and that of the spectator gazing at the image.

Traditional porn has gone a long way to perpetuate the antiquated idea that women don’t and shouldn’t enjoy masturbation and sex as much as men do. News flash: we do, and while some of us are totally cool with pulling up an incognito browser and scanning through Pornhub, it can be exhausting to be inundated with videos where male pleasure is the main priority. Very rarely in porn do you see cishet male partners working to make their female partners cum as hard as they work to make themselves orgasm. And forget about accurate queer, trans, and non-binary representation. Mainstream porn often fails to account for a wide range of acts that constitute sex and intimacy outside of a heteronormative lens, which can be isolating or misleading for many viewers.

All that aside, porn has come a long way. What was once considered seedy, taboo, or exclusively for men has experienced a renaissance in recent years. Recent feminist pornography has been committed to real pleasure, equal representation, and creating ethical work environments for the performers and the people behind the scenes. Porn is unique in that it’s one of the rare entities that can force viewers to consider the moral and ethical framework behind their consumption habits. Jiz Lee, queer porn icon and author of Coming Out Like a Porn Star told Cosmo,

“A viewer will hit most of their ethical concerns if they’ve pulled out a credit card to watch it. When it comes to sex work, payment is an expression of consent between the worker and the client, and that’s no different in pornography.”

As for a paradigm shift, pornographic actress and sexual educator Madison Young says of the subversive nature of feminist pornography:

“It takes a cultural form that has historically been seen as the purview of men. It reworks sexual images and conventions to explore new and more diverse kinds of desires.”

Feminist porn was created for the purposes of empowering women and non-binary people through sexuality, equality, and pleasure. In feminist porn, lube is abundant and orgasms are real. The cast and crew are paid fairly for their labor, representation is equal and authentic, and bodily autonomy is the priority.

The Bible aka The Feminist Porn Book: The Politics of Producing Pleasure has the most encompassing definition of how feminist porn differentiates from its predecessors;

“It explores concepts of desire, agency, power, beauty and pleasure at their most confounding and difficult, including pleasure in and across inequality, in the face of injustice, and against the limits of the gender hierarchy and both heteronormativity and homonormativity. It seeks to unsettle conventional definitions of sex, and expand the language of sex as an erotic activity, an expression of identity, a power exchange, a cultural commodity, and even a new politics.”

There are countless activists, directors, and actors and actresses who are working to change how we think of and consume porn, and they’re creating some truly gorgeous work to convey their message. Here are some of my favorite resources to get you in the mood (or you know, just to admire for aesthetic purposes because goddamn @ this production value, ambient set designs, and fully developed storylines, amiright?)

1. Four Chambers

Four Chambers is the feminist porn you need in your life. Headed by badass director and performer extraordinaire Vex Ashley, Four Chambers creates gorgeous high-concept work that explores technology, symbolism, mythology, and alchemy and their intrinsic intersections with sex. Four Chambers is a part of the growing decentralization from the traditional adult industry, and they’re working to alter the ways we think about and engage with porn.

On the nature and significance of her work, Ashley says, “What I’m really interested in is playing with the aesthetics of porn and sex and seeing how we can use sexuality to talk about other things in a more conceptual way.” By committing to creative integrity and engaging with visually and emotionally stimulating storylines, Four Chambers is paving the way for an entirely new way of thinking about, talking about, and enjoying porn.

2. Pink Label TV of Pink & White Productions

Shine Louise Houston is the creator of this company that specializes in queer and feminist porn. Houston identifies Pink Label TV as, “the place where money, sex, media, and ethics converge.” It’s a great resource for emerging filmmakers who want to enter the porn business ethically, and a large majority of their films feature queer and trans people, POC, older people and people with disabilities.

3. Indie Porn Revolution

Indie Porn revolution is one of the oldest queer porn production companies and pen their work as “subversive smut made by ladies, artists, and queers.” They’re a pioneering platform for exploring sex beyond the gender binary and their platform offers an all-inclusive cast, with options ranging from queer BDSM to ballet.

4. The Clit List

The Clit List is a resource for people who would like to explore their sexuality using feminist, non-misogynistic and empowering resources. Created by the My Body Back Project, a London-based survivor’s clinic, The Clit List is geared toward womxn who have experienced sexual violence, so they can access erotic media that might help them explore their sexual desires while staying informed about potential triggers. The Clit List aims to cover a wide variety of sexual interests but omits content that is violent, objectifying, or patriarchal in nature.

5. Dipsea Stories

With a vast collection of feminist stories, Dipsea is audio porn (you heard that right) that illustrates how arousal comes from more than just visual stimulation. Their mission is to help educate people about arousal as a way to feel more alive, heighten intimacy, unlock confidence, and cultivate wellbeing. Their audio library includes a broad range of preferences, perspectives, interests and beyond. Founders Gina and Faye say, “We portray the relationships and sex women deserve—fun, safe, and full of enthusiastic consent…Stories that prioritize female pleasure, and show sex as communicative, give-and-take, and unperformed.”