Things I don't get

I suppose anyone who didn't know better would assume as I work in the adult industry there are no depths of human depravity I wouldn't plumb but, here's a funny thing, most of the people I've met and worked with are sensible, well-balanced and with quite a highly developed sense of morality. Yes, I did just say morality. And I'm happy to be classed among them.

Nobody I have met thinks that there shouldn't be controls on who can access pornographic material. Quite the reverse. Nobody I have met thinks that it's OK to abuse or exploit women (although more on that subject later). None of the female models I have worked with are, or have been exploited. For the most part they are pretty ordinary people earning a living from doing something they find fun. And when they stop finding it fun they stop doing it.

Most I have worked with have told stories of bad experiences on shoots but they have always stayed in control, stopped the shoot, walked out and, most importantly, reported the experience on the main modelling forums. It's a small world and a bad reputation travels fast. Woe betide the photographer with wandering hands - or other body parts.

Now that's not to argue that exploitation doesn't exist but people who are against pornography on principal are happy to lump together adult modelling with prostitution where the likelyhood of exploitation is considerably higher (but not inevitable). It's not helpful and it alienates a lot of men and women who are basically on the same side.

But here's the weird thing - well it's weird to me. If you take as a starting point that female models deserve to be treated with respect and just because they are willing to take their clothes off and have sex on camera doesn't mean they shed their basic human rights and dignity along with their knickers, why are so many women attracted by bondage and BDSM?

I've never done that sort of shoot because I just don't get it. I can see that certain men might get pleasure from seeing images of women trussed up and beaten but I'm pretty sure that's not something to be encouraged.

But what on earth do women get out of it? In the case of the models I guess you can very easily argue money but no amount of money would compensate if they were not getting pleasure out of it on some level. I have quizzed female friends on this subject and a suprising number (not involved in the industry in any way) get a bit shifty and develop a little glint in ther eyes. Nobody, so far at least, has been able to explain why feminism and sisterhood seems to fly out of the window at the sight of a nipple clamp and the prospect of a good spanking!

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