In October 2013 I attended an inspiring conference for the Journalism and Women’s Symposium (JAWS). The keynote speaker for our conference was feminist activist Gloria Steinem. I very much enjoyed hearing her speak and was inspired by much of what she said.

One aspect of her speech I disagreed with was the idea that all porn is bad and unhealthy. Of course I understand there are LOTS of bad porn movies out there, but I don’t think you should discredit all porn. When I asked her about her opinion of feminist porn, she said the root word for “porn” was associated with the idea of the objectification of female sexuality, which makes porn anti-feminist.

While I respect her wanting to advocate against objectifying female sexuality, I think root-word argument is a moot point. How many words do we use on a daily basis without understanding their root word? Porn isn’t always synonymous with material that degrades and objectifies women. Porn can be hardcore and feminist, in my opinion.

That is one of many reasons why I am so excited that Erika Lust, and many other production companies are making sexy movies for us all to enjoy.

Erika Lust is an independent adult filmmaker. Her movies feature sexy, consensual shorts with people and stories you can relate to. Not to mention many of her films are in Spanish. Orgasms and cultural exploration go well together.

In the video below, Molly Adler of selfservetoys.com asks Erika Lust about how she distinguishes her movies from most porn one might find on the Internet for free. Erika Lust probably deals with this issue frequently and I definitely enjoyed her response.