Altporn

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Altporn (also known as alt-porn, alternaporn, or simply alt) is a portmanteau of "alternative pornography". Altporn tends to involve members of such subcultures as goths, punks, or ravers and is often produced by small and independent studios or managers. It often features models with body modifications such as tattoos, piercings, or scarifications, 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 Dark, David Aaron Clark, Justice Howard, Michael Ninn, Antonio Passolini, and Stephen Sayadian are seen by some as predecessors of altporn. The Cinema of Transgression or Richard Kern and Nick Zedd (as well as Kern's later photographic work) can also be viewed as early examples of altporn.

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 altporn, however, has been on the Internet. Other than a few ephemeral personal websites, the earliest explicitly altporn site was Blue Blood's GothicSluts.com , in early 1999 followed shortly after by Raverporn.net (later renamed EroticBPM.com) in July of the same year, and later followed by NakkidNerds.com that December. SuicideGirls began in late 2001 and has grown to become the most popular and financially lucrative altporn site. With the success of SuicideGirls, the number of altporn sites has grown enormously since 2002.

The terms "alternative porn" or altporn 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".

Altporn websites are often distinguished by their use of message boards, blogs, social networking, and other features of the online community, encouraging participation by both models and viewers. While these features are not exclusive to altporn sites, more typical porn sites tend to feature more or less anonymous models who are viewed by anonymous visitors.

Altporn-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 altporn and are often cited as an influence on current altporn video. In 2001, two amateur videos under the title Technosex were produced, featuring women involved in the rave scene and a techno music soundtrack. Since 2004, director Eon McKai has been producing altporn-themed videos for VCA, an otherwise mainstream adult video studio, and in 2006 was signed by Vivid Entertainment to produce altporn-themed videos under the Vivid-ALT imprint. Vivid-ALT has also signed noted fetish photographers Dave Naz and Octavio "Winkytiki" Arizala.

Controversies

Many members of the altporn community disagree on the definition of altporn. Some consider it mostly an aesthetic quality while others see it as having a more ideological definition. This includes controversies over whether altporn sites and videos should restrict themselves to softcore pin-up photography or include more sexually explicit hardcore content, whether altporn need be explicitly feminist or not, and whether altporn venues should present models of both sexes 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 altporn 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.

External links

Warning: the following links may contain explicit images

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