The Good Vibrations Guide to Sex (68 page)

I love the sex ’zines because they fly in the face of conventional sex magazines and cater to a greater variety of sexual tastes.

Unfortunately, magazines and ’zines are more often labors of love than money-making endeavors. Their creators either burn out or run out of money, so there can be a pretty rapid turnover in this field. However, many of the original ’zine editors have staked out territory on the Web, offering virtual editions of their magazines at little or no cost. The Web is home to many new publications offering the alternative content pioneered by ’zines, combined with colorful sexual imagery. See our resource listings for some recommendations.

Comix

Graphic Novels

Many classic X-rated stories like
Story of O
and
Emmanuelle
have been illustrated in the popular genre known as graphic novels. This genre often appeals to folks who like their exquisite artistry as well as their typically controversial content.

I remember getting really hot once looking at an illustrated story involving a stern, domineering woman and her Great Dane. It reminded me of a really kinky version of Cruella De Vil in
101 Dalmatians
.

Adult Comix

Artists and cartoonists often use the traditional comic book format to explore very untraditional sexual themes in the genre known as comix. Look for these in adult comic bookstores.

Videos

Thanks to cable television, VCRs, and DVDs, countless people have discovered the pleasures of watching X-rated films in the privacy of their own homes. The presence of substantial adult sections in video stores indicates that millions of people are indulging in this recreation. An estimated 30 percent of all video rentals are X-rated tapes, and the adult video industry is a multi-billion dollar business.

Who’s Watching

When I was in high school I came home early from a date one night and walked in on my parents watching an X-rated flick in our living room. They were sitting together about two feet from the TV and looked up at me, mortified at being caught.

If it’s hard to imagine our parents having sex, it’s probably even harder to imagine them enjoying porn! But not all porn is consumed by men in small booths in the red-light district. Our parents, siblings, children, friends, coworkers, and anyone else you can’t imagine all watch porn. We started carrying X-rated videos at Good Vibrations in 1989 after literally hundreds of women and men asked us to. During her years as a porn critic Susie Bright noted: “Contrary to the stereotype that porn viewers are inarticulate raincoaters who have miserable sex lives, people who watch erotic movies have sex lives and they aren’t incapable of getting a date. They like movies and they like sex. Their sexual tastes run from real romantic to the kinkier, the better.”

People watch erotic videos for the same reasons they read or view other sexually oriented material—to get aroused, to get new ideas or collect fantasy material, to learn about sexual techniques or behaviors, to get more comfortable with sex. Many couples watch X-rated movies together as a means of igniting sexual desire or sharing with a partner the types of activities they find enjoyable. Later in the chapter we’ll share customers’ revelations about how they prefer to use porn. For now, let’s talk a bit more about the industry.

What to Expect

A VERY BRIEF HISTORY: Porn experienced its Golden Age around the same time the contemporary sex manual hit its peak. The counterculture of the late seventies and early eighties spawned a slew of directors whose films reflected the sexual liberation of the times. Films by the Mitchell Brothers, Radley Metzger, Richard Mahler, Henri Pachard, Robert McCallum, and Anthony Spinelli (among others) were characterized by an unprecedented cinematic quality while delivering hot sex, realistic relationships, and believable story lines. Peep shows, however, continued to be the primary marketplace for porn, creating a demand for fast and cheap production. The talented directors were simultaneously being ignored by Hollywood, and the combination resulted in a loss of incentive to continue making quality porn.

Technology turned adult filmmaking on its ear, and continues to play an important role in its evolution. The invention of the video camera made filmmaking more accessible to a growing number of entrepreneurs with vision (like Candida Royalle). It also resulted in a huge audience of home viewers, and adult producers began churning out volumes of assembly-line porn at rock-bottom prices. Most of the porn that’s been released since the mid-eighties is mediocre, formulaic, and sloppily produced.

However, the emergence of digital video has infused adult video with a more professional look, due largely to the facts that it’s a more film-like medium and is easier to edit. The popularity of Pay Per View adult TV channels has also spawned a demand for bigger budget films, which usually translates into significantly higher production values. DVDs—in addition to offering “extras” like director’s cuts, interviews, and behind-the-scenes material—have also introduced an interactive element to porn viewing. “Fantasex” casts the viewer as director, so you can choose which act the porn star will demonstrate, what angle you’d like to view, and whether he or she appears solo or partnered.

As for content, by the end of the twentieth century, some positive changes were occurring in porn. Once it became clear men weren’t the sole consumers of porn—over 40 percent of video rentals are to the “women’s and couples’ market”—producers released instructional couples videos, such as Nina Hartley’s popular series, along with comedies and dramas highlighting authentic female pleasure. Certain contemporary directors broke away from the pack. Andrew Blake’s films are praised for their high production values and beautiful casts—they are the ultimate porno eye candy. Paul Thomas’s films earn a lot of fans for delivering strong plots, eliciting compelling performances, and portraying female orgasms. And several other female porn stars have started working behind the camera—some (like Chloe) producing gonzo features every bit as hardcore as what men are doing, while others (like Veronica Hart) mixing suspense, romance, and sex with more compelling storylines. Even in front of the camera, women are coming into their own, with realistic orgasms and women-centered scripts.

Our national “hard-body” obsession has extended to porn, with both positive and negative results. Performers of the seventies looked more like real people, and many contemporary viewers are frustrated by the fact that most of today’s porn stars and starlets are walking Barbie-and-Ken doll advertisements for plastic surgery. Those seeking a greater diversity of body types have to rely on women-produced, independent, and amateur videos in their quest for silicone-free breasts.

I like videos that feature women that are not “pros” and don’t have fake tits—I like to watch videos where it looks like the people involved might actually be having a good time (gasp!) I often prefer girl-on-girl pornography because I find it more plausible that they are actually pleasuring each other rather than the “jackhammer” videos of male porn stars penetrating females.

On the bright side, viewers who have resented the fact that for years female performers were held to certain standards of beauty, while the appearance of male performers was secondary to their ability to get it up, appreciate the fact that heterosexual porn now features a bevy of beautiful men—from Sean Michaels to Rocco Siffredi. While we resent the plastic-surgery norm, there’s no question that the glamorous starlets of the nineties are doing a lot to bring porn into the mainstream, becoming the latest darlings of our celebrity-hungry culture. When the girls of Vivid Video are featured on a billboard dominating Sunset Boulevard, and sexy, articulate starlets pop up everywhere from the
Tonight Show
to the E! Entertainment network, surely there’s a sea change in societal attitudes at work.

COMMERCIAL PORN: Even though commercial porn has been around for decades, it rarely rises above a certain level of mediocrity thanks, to the combined efforts of censors and unimaginative filmmakers. Emphasis is placed on cranking out hundreds of fast-buck films each year, resulting in hordes of barely distinguishable films. Poor sound quality, awful lighting, and faulty tapes are some of the production problems you may encounter. One-dimensional plots, bad acting, and formulaic sexual encounters are among the most common complaints. This doesn’t mean there aren’t exceptions or that even the bad ones won’t turn you on. We’re just reminding you, because forewarned is forearmed! If you don’t expect Academy Award-winning material you won’t set yourself up for disappointment. Your ability to suspend your normal standards will vastly increase your enjoyment.

Commercial X-rated videos follow fairly rigid industry conventions with regard to the activities depicted. You can expect predominantly heterosexual sex focusing on male sexual pleasure, a “girl-girl” scene, lots of fellatio, external come shots, and both anal and vaginal penetration. Sex toys are an ever-increasing presence in porn. Adult toy manufacturers now arrange brand-name tie-in’s by featuring certain porn starlets on the packaging for their products and positioning these products in the starlets’ videos. In most of the older porn (with the exception of gay porn), there’s almost no condom use, but some performers and directors today are opting for safer sex. We applaud this trend—what better way to teach viewers how to eroticize safer sex than to depict a really hot condom encounter?

The appeal of any given porn movie depends on you and your tastes. You might find that just seeing sexually explicit acts performed in your living room is an instant turn-on. Or you may require your porn to meet certain standards for you to feel any erotic charge.

I am interested in videos featuring penetration, where the men don’t pull out when they ejaculate. That’s how I like it at home.

As these customers illustrate, erotic enjoyment can hinge on a particular star, certain production elements, or a particular theme or plot device:

In one memorable film I saw in Europe, this highly attractive couple did all sorts of amazingly inventive things in and around an enormous corner bath and over-sized shower cubicle. The direction of the movie was slick and professional, the photography stunning, the lighting perfect. The close-ups were sharp and revealing—you could even see her tightened labia sliding along her partner’s cock as he withdrew himself almost completely on each stroke. Orgasms were not faked. Fortunately I had my husband with me for it turned me on hugely (him too). But this quality is rare in such films.

I absolutely need real chemistry between the partners in order to enjoy them, though, and good directing/ cinematography. And either with a plot, or without one, but not with a fake one. Often feature films are more exciting than porn because there is context and psychological tension (though I don’t like soft porn—I want to see the fucking and I want to see the genitals).

A particular director or producer’s special touch can make all the difference to some viewers.

I prefer the newer videos, which are superior visually and feature good-looking couples. Most films directed by Paul Thomas are, in my opinion, vastly superior to the others. Skin tones are warm, the camera shots are smooth and lingering, and, most importantly, the people in the film are given long and continuous stimulation (i.e., the women actually orgasm).

I am interested in videos that reflect honesty, humor, and emotional reality and are also professional and artistically sensitive. The best example so far is Andrew Blake’s work.

One of the best things about E
very Woman Has a Fantasy
, which was co-written and produced by a woman, is the very believable storyline. Along with the well-written script and good acting, this made for a refreshingly good and exciting erotic film.

People’s criticisms of pornographic videos run the gamut. Many bemoan the fact that women’s sexual gratification is rarely the main event in porn and is sometimes absent altogether (though this situation is slowly changing, perhaps due to the growing numbers of female viewers, directors, and enthusiastic stars). What’s more, depictions of female sex can be stereotypical and downright misleading, as this customer points out with the reference to an orgasm-from-thrusting:

The whole video was fucking and come shots. The woman was supposedly just getting off from the thrusting, but it would’ve been so nice to see her masturbate and to watch the expression on her face as she came.

In addition to equal time for female orgasms, our video customers often ask for sex and storylines that mirror real life.

I very much enjoy the focus on female pleasure and obviously real orgasms. I’m not just saying this to be PC—it really turns me on, much more than most other porn!

Porn that doesn’t feature romantic connection, specifically a lot of kissing while in the act, is always very disappointing to me.

I can’t believe how ugly some of the men are. Give me a break! Like I believe this gorgeous girl is going to suck him off as he sells mops door to door.

Others are understandably frustrated by the lack of diversity in mainstream porn. If you’d like to see depictions of “natural” women, your best bet is to seek out women-produced, independent, S/M, or amateur videos. If you’re looking for porn featuring people of color, you’ll find that mainstream tapes that feature casts of color tend to be filled with offensive racial stereotyping and race fetishism. According to Good Vibrations’ video reviewer: “Trying to find an authentic film that represents an underrepresented area of the population—and does so in a respectful manner—is daunting, time consuming, and frustrating. Try finding a movie featuring very large women that doesn’t have a title like
Chubby Chasers,
or an Asian film that doesn’t have a reference to ‘fortune cookie nookie’.”