You’ve probably read a lot online and on social media about how one should pay for their porn, in order to consume ‘ethically’. But this isn’t always as straightforward of an answer as some sites market it.

Firstly, the term ‘ethical’ can be very problematic. The term ethical in itself is a philosophical debate, so marketing yourself as ‘ethical’ doesn’t actually technically make definitional sense. Secondly, the term ‘ethical’ has become a marketing term used by a lot of ‘just for women’ sites. But, just because something is labeled as ‘just for women’ or ‘ethical’, doesn’t often mean that it actually is. Especially, if they are licensing from various different studios, this can make it even more challenging to determine the ‘ethical’. In addition, if you do pay for your porn, I recommend subscribing or purchasing content from your favorite performers fan sites, rather than a multi-license platform as that’s the best way to ensure that the content is ‘ethical’ and directly supporting the performer.

So, should you be paying for your porn? Yes, if you can, you should. And there are consumers who pay for their porn, be that to an individual site/studio or performer. However, we cannot ignore the fact that a large majority of consumers refuse to pay for their porn. Here are some reasons why people don’t want to pay for their porn:

Data privacy Doesn’t want it to show up on their credit card statement Can’t pay for themselves Taboo

The list goes on. Many of us are aware of the reasons why people don’t want to pay for porn. And, ‘ethical’ female porn companies telling you it’s the same as a Netflix subscription, is just not going to fix that problem, and so it can’t be the only measure that we take to make porn consumption safer and more ethical.

Here are a couple ways that you could consume porn a bit more ethically, if you can’t pay:

Tweet your favorite performers, and ask them which studios they have enjoyed working for the most.

A lot of what makes porn ethical, is not the tagline, or because ‘it’s for women’ (whatever that means), but the performer treatment behind the scenes. So, a site can’t tell you what’s ‘ethical’ only the performer can. So, by asking your favorite performers you can then search for those studios and scenes on tube sites. And that is a way to make sure that you are being more conscious about your consumption.

Follow your favorite performers with free fan site subscriptions

If you can’t commit to a subscription, there are some performers who have free subscriptions.

Overall, you really should pay for your porn if you can. And if you can pay, pay the performers on their fan sites directly to ensure the maximum most ethical content. But, if you can’t or don’t want to pay for your porn, at least ask performers what content has been the best experience for them to ensure more conscious consumption.