Altporn
Encyclopedia
Alt porn a shortening of "alternative
pornography
", tends to involve members of such subculture
s as goth
s, punks
, or ravers and is often produced by small and independent websites or filmmakers. It often features model
s with body modification
s such as tattoo
s, piercings, or scarification
s, or temporary modifications such as dyed hair. The term indie porn is also sometimes used, though this term is more generally used as a synonym for independent pornography, regardless of affinity with any kind of alternative subculture.
, David Aaron Clark
, Michael Ninn
, and Stephen Sayadian
are seen by some as predecessors of alt porn. The Cinema of Transgression
of Richard Kern
and Nick Zedd
(as well as Kern's later photographic work) can also be viewed as early examples of alt porn.
The first venue explicitly devoted to "subcultural erotica" was Blue Blood, a glossy magazine that began in 1992 and featured models with a goth
or cyberpunk
look. The biggest market for alt porn, however, has been on the Internet. Other than a few ephemeral personal websites, the earliest explicitly alt porn site was Blue Blood's GothicSluts.com , established in early 1999. This was followed shortly after by Raverporn.net (later renamed EroticBPM.com) in July of the same year, and later followed by NakkidNerds in December. http://www.supercult.comSupercult
] began in 2000, followed by SuicideGirls
in late 2001, which has grown to become the most popular and financially lucrative alt porn site. With the success of SuicideGirls, the number of alt porn sites has grown enormously since 2002. In addition to the above-mentioned sites, well-known altporn websites in operation as of September 2008 include Lazerbunny, Burning Angel, and GodsGirls
.
The terms "alternative porn" or "alt porn" were coined in the early 2000s in reference to SuicideGirls, RaverPorn, and similar sites; longer-standing projects, such as Blue Blood, generally used terms such as "subcultural erotica
".
Alt porn websites are often distinguished by their use of message boards, blogs, social networking, and other features of online community
, encouraging participation by both models and viewers. While these features are not exclusive to alt porn sites, their inclusion stands in stark contrast to the standard operating procedures adopted by more typical porn sites, which tend to feature more or less anonymous models who are viewed by anonymous visitors.
Alt porn-themed videos are also becoming a growing niche in the adult video market. The work of directors Stephen Sayadian
and Gregory Dark
during the 1980s and early 1990s had many of the features of later alt porn, and are often cited as being contributing influences on current alt porn video. In 2001, two amateur
videos under the title Technosex were produced, featuring women involved in the rave
scene along with a techno
music soundtrack. Since 2004, director Eon McKai
has been producing alt porn-themed videos for VCA Pictures
(an otherwise mainstream adult video studio), and in 2006 was signed by Vivid Entertainment
to produce alt porn-themed videos under the Vivid-ALT imprint. Vivid-ALT has also signed noted fetish photographers Dave Naz
and Octavio "Winkytiki" Arizala.
definition. This includes controversies over whether alt porn sites and videos should restrict themselves to softcore
pin-up photography or include more sexually explicit hardcore
content, whether alt porn need be explicitly feminist or not, and whether alt porn venues should present models of all genders and a range of body types rather than just conventionally attractive young women. Since every pornography company conducts its business and treats its models differently, it is hard to define it on an ideological basis, although the models' freedom to speak their mind both about the industry, their employers, and political agendas is considered by some to be a vital part of the alt porn community. SuicideGirls
have been criticized for restricting their employees' ability to make public comments of this nature. This led to a very public falling out between the owners of SuicideGirls and a number of their former models, and larger debates as to whether alternative porn was inherently any more empowering than mainstream porn.
Alternative culture
Alternative culture is a type of culture that exists outside or on the fringes of mainstream or popular culture, usually under the domain of one or more subcultures...
pornography
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
", tends to involve members of such subculture
Subculture
In sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a group of people with a culture which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.- Definition :...
s as goth
Goth subculture
The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...
s, punks
Punk subculture
The punk subculture includes a diverse array of ideologies, and forms of expression, including fashion, visual art, dance, literature, and film, which grew out of punk rock.-History:...
, or ravers and is often produced by small and independent websites or filmmakers. It often features model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
s with body modification
Body modification
Body modification is the deliberate altering of the human body for any non-medical reason, such as aesthetics, sexual enhancement, a rite of passage, religious reasons, to display group membership or affiliation, to create body art, shock value, or self expression...
s such as tattoo
Tattoo
A tattoo is made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Tattoos on humans are a type of body modification, and tattoos on other animals are most commonly used for identification purposes...
s, piercings, or scarification
Scarification
Scarifying involves scratching, etching, burning, or superficially cutting designs, pictures, or words into the skin as a permanent body modification.In the process of body scarification, scars are formed by cutting or branding the skin...
s, or temporary modifications such as dyed hair. The term indie porn is also sometimes used, though this term is more generally used as a synonym for independent pornography, regardless of affinity with any kind of alternative subculture.
History
While pornography specifically oriented toward alternative culture did not arise until the 1990s, the work of Gregory DarkGregory Dark
Gregory Dark is an American film director, film producer, music video director, and screenwriter. Dark is one of the few adult film-makers to successfully transition into mainstream Hollywood film-making...
, David Aaron Clark
David Aaron Clark
David Aaron Clark was an author, musician, pornographic actor, and two time AVN Award winning director of Asian themed adult movies. He is best known for shooting films of Asian women.-Career:...
, Michael Ninn
Michael Ninn
Michael Ninn is an adult film director and writer known for his innovative, artistic and stylized approach to adult film making. He began his career as a music video director, and made his first adult films in 1992. From 2002 through 2007, Ninn released films through his own production company,...
, and Stephen Sayadian
Stephen Sayadian
Stephen Sayadian, also known as Rinse Dream is a writer, production-designer and director active in the 1980s and 1990s. His films and videoshave a small but rabid cult following throughout the United States and Europe...
are seen by some as predecessors of alt porn. The Cinema of Transgression
Cinema of Transgression
The Cinema of Transgression is a term coined by Nick Zedd in 1985 to describe a New York City, United States based underground film movement, consisting of a loose-knit group of like-minded artists using shock value and humor in their work...
of Richard Kern
Richard Kern
Richard Kern is a New York underground filmmaker, writer and photographer. He first came to underground prominence as part of the underground cultural explosion in the East Village of New York City in the 1980s, with erotic and experimental films featuring underground personalities of the time...
and Nick Zedd
Nick Zedd
Nick Zedd is an American filmmaker and author based in New York City. He coined the term Cinema of Transgression in 1985 to describe a loose-knit group of like-minded filmmakers and artists using shock value and black humor in their work...
(as well as Kern's later photographic work) can also be viewed as early examples of alt porn.
The first venue explicitly devoted to "subcultural erotica" was Blue Blood, a glossy magazine that began in 1992 and featured models with a goth
Goth subculture
The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...
or cyberpunk
Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk is a postmodern and science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low life." The name is a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk, and was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story "Cyberpunk," published in 1983...
look. The biggest market for alt porn, however, has been on the Internet. Other than a few ephemeral personal websites, the earliest explicitly alt porn site was Blue Blood's GothicSluts.com , established in early 1999. This was followed shortly after by Raverporn.net (later renamed EroticBPM.com) in July of the same year, and later followed by NakkidNerds in December. http://www.supercult.comSupercult
Supercult
Supercult.com is an alternative pornography or alt-porn website, started by Chase Lisbon in early 2001. Lisbon took his psedudonym from the 1993 Jeffrey Eugenides' novel The Virgin Suicides.-Concept and launch:...
] began in 2000, followed by SuicideGirls
SuicideGirls
SuicideGirls is a website that features softcore pornography and text profiles of goth, punk and indie-styled young women who are known as the "Suicide Girls"...
in late 2001, which has grown to become the most popular and financially lucrative alt porn site. With the success of SuicideGirls, the number of alt porn sites has grown enormously since 2002. In addition to the above-mentioned sites, well-known altporn websites in operation as of September 2008 include Lazerbunny, Burning Angel, and GodsGirls
GodsGirls
GodsGirls is a California-based alt porn website featuring softcore nude photography and video. The website also serves as a social networking community, featuring model and user blogs, email, discussion forums, original writing, and interviews.- History:...
.
The terms "alternative porn" or "alt porn" were coined in the early 2000s in reference to SuicideGirls, RaverPorn, and similar sites; longer-standing projects, such as Blue Blood, generally used terms such as "subcultural erotica
Erotica
Erotica are works of art, including literature, photography, film, sculpture and painting, that deal substantively with erotically stimulating or sexually arousing descriptions...
".
Alt porn websites are often distinguished by their use of message boards, blogs, social networking, and other features of online community
Online community
An online community is a virtual community that exists online and whose members enable its existence through taking part in membership ritual. An online community can take the form of an information system where anyone can post content, such as a Bulletin board system or one where only a restricted...
, encouraging participation by both models and viewers. While these features are not exclusive to alt porn sites, their inclusion stands in stark contrast to the standard operating procedures adopted by more typical porn sites, which tend to feature more or less anonymous models who are viewed by anonymous visitors.
Alt porn-themed videos are also becoming a growing niche in the adult video market. The work of directors Stephen Sayadian
Stephen Sayadian
Stephen Sayadian, also known as Rinse Dream is a writer, production-designer and director active in the 1980s and 1990s. His films and videoshave a small but rabid cult following throughout the United States and Europe...
and Gregory Dark
Gregory Dark
Gregory Dark is an American film director, film producer, music video director, and screenwriter. Dark is one of the few adult film-makers to successfully transition into mainstream Hollywood film-making...
during the 1980s and early 1990s had many of the features of later alt porn, and are often cited as being contributing influences on current alt porn video. In 2001, two amateur
Amateur pornography
Amateur pornography is a category of pornography that features models or actors performing without pay, or for whom this material is their first or only paid modeling work. Reality pornography is professionally made porn which seeks to emulate the style of amateur pornography...
videos under the title Technosex were produced, featuring women involved in the rave
Rave
Rave, rave dance, and rave party are parties that originated mostly from acid house parties, which featured fast-paced electronic music and light shows. At these parties people dance and socialize to dance music played by disc jockeys and occasionally live performers...
scene along with a techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
music soundtrack. Since 2004, director Eon McKai
Eon McKai
Eon McKai is an American director of alt porn-themed adult films. The name "Eon McKai" is a pseudonym and a tribute to punk singer Ian MacKaye....
has been producing alt porn-themed videos for VCA Pictures
VCA Pictures
VCA Pictures is an American pornographic film production and distribution company. The company was founded by Russ Hampshire, and was formerly a major player during the 'Golden Age of Porn'. Throughout the 70's and 80's VCA produced big budget, plot-oriented feature films...
(an otherwise mainstream adult video studio), and in 2006 was signed by Vivid Entertainment
Vivid Entertainment
Vivid Entertainment Group is an adult video producer, featuring a catalog of VHS and DVD titles and internet content. In 2006 it was described by Reuters as one of the handful of studios that dominate the U.S. porn industry....
to produce alt porn-themed videos under the Vivid-ALT imprint. Vivid-ALT has also signed noted fetish photographers Dave Naz
Dave Naz
David F. Nazworthy, professionally known as Dave Naz is an American pornographer and erotic photographer....
and Octavio "Winkytiki" Arizala.
Controversies
Many members of the alt porn community disagree on the definition of alt porn. Some consider it mostly an aesthetic quality while others see it as having a more ideologicalIdeology
An ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to...
definition. This includes controversies over whether alt porn sites and videos should restrict themselves to softcore
Softcore
Softcore pornography is a form of filmic or photographic pornography or erotica that is less sexually explicit than hardcore pornography. It is intended to tickle and arouse men and women. Softcore pornography depicts nude and semi-nude performers engaging in casual social nudity or non-graphic...
pin-up photography or include more sexually explicit hardcore
Hardcore pornography
Hardcore pornography is a form of pornography that features explicit sexual acts. The term was coined in the second half of the 20th century to distinguish it from softcore pornography. It usually takes the form of photographs, often displayed in magazines or on the Internet, or films. It can also...
content, whether alt porn need be explicitly feminist or not, and whether alt porn venues should present models of all genders and a range of body types rather than just conventionally attractive young women. Since every pornography company conducts its business and treats its models differently, it is hard to define it on an ideological basis, although the models' freedom to speak their mind both about the industry, their employers, and political agendas is considered by some to be a vital part of the alt porn community. SuicideGirls
SuicideGirls
SuicideGirls is a website that features softcore pornography and text profiles of goth, punk and indie-styled young women who are known as the "Suicide Girls"...
have been criticized for restricting their employees' ability to make public comments of this nature. This led to a very public falling out between the owners of SuicideGirls and a number of their former models, and larger debates as to whether alternative porn was inherently any more empowering than mainstream porn.
Further reading
- Diehl, Matt. (2007). My So-Called Punk. St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-33781-7. Chapter 8: "Sex and the Single (Suicide) Girl: Are You Ready to be Liberated?" p 207–234.
- Jacobs, Katrien. (2007). Netporn: DIY Web Culture and Sexual Politics. Rowman & Littlefield Pubs. ISBN 0-7425-5432-5.
External links
- "Sex, Dreads, and Rock 'n' Roll" by Annie Tomlin, BitchBitch (magazine)bitch, whose tagline is feminist response to pop culture, is an independent, quarterly magazine published in Portland, Oregon with more than 50,000 readers. bitch magazine is one branch of the reader-supported non-profit organization bitch media...
, December, 2002. - "Orgasm Addict: Punk Porn Gets Off on the Internet" by Chris Ziegler, OC WeeklyOC WeeklyOC Weekly, a sister publication of both LA Weekly and The Village Voice, is a free, left-wing weekly paper distributed in Orange County, California and also in Long Beach....
, January 23, 2003. - "Maximum Tits 'N' Ass" by Sean Nelson, The StrangerThe Stranger (newspaper)The Stranger is an alternative weekly newspaper in Seattle, Washington, USA. It runs a blog known as Slog.-History:The Stranger was founded by Tim Keck, who had previously co-founded the satirical newspaper The Onion, and cartoonist James Sturm. Its first issue came out on September 23, 1991...
, February 5, 2003. - "Alternaporn: We Sing the Body Politic" by Paul Watson, The Lazarus Corporation, February 29, 2004.
- "We Want Our Porn and We Want It Now!" by Peter Stokes, AVNAVN (magazine)Adult Video News is an American trade journal that covers the adult video industry. The New York Times notes that AVN is to pornographic films what Billboard is to records...
, November, 2005. - "Behind The Scenes at Vivid-Alt" by Chris Thorne XCritic, September 2006
- "The Berlin Porn Festival: Alternative Smut for the Silver Screen" by Alex Bakst, Der SpiegelDer SpiegelDer Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
Online, October 20, 2006. - "A Real Alternative?" by Jessica Bateman, The F-Word, January 3, 2007.
- "From Barbie Doll to Razordoll: The Sexual Shift in Porn" by Lauren Mayberry, The Skinny, July 30, 2009.