It’s June of 2020 and the topic of conversation at the American dinner table seems to inevitably revolve around the complexities and issues of racism in our country. From the realities of Coronavirus disproportionately affecting Black communities to the unjust police murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd in March and May, respectively – a deeper, more sinister discussion of the existence and denial of racism in the U.S. lays before us.

However, the debate on systemic and structural racism permeates far deeper than defunding the police, holding officers accountable, and reforming public and private institutions – it means re-evaluating our consumer habits that marginalize minority groups or that include stereotypical depictions of people of color. And yes, this means even our pornography.

The conversation around racism in pornography is virtually nonexistent. The very act of calling out racism in pornography, might entail ‘outing’ yourself as a consumer, perhaps even disclosing your sexual preferences and kinks. In the annual report for 2019, Pornhub, one of the most visited pornography sites on the internet bragged about its 42 billion visits during the year. This is an average of 115 million visits per day.

In our late-stage capitalist society, we are what we consume. The film industry is chastised for poor representation of minority groups and for racist depictions of ethnic groups – so why doesn’t the porn industry face the same censure? There seems to be a false premise we hold, that “anything goes” in porn: your darkest, most perverse thought is deemed “normal” in this sphere. Perhaps, people are hesitant to call out these issues because they are actively getting off on the fetishization of people of color. The sad, unfiltered reality is that racism seems to be one of our nation’s kinks.

I was lucky enough to interview the erotic-queen and porn-pioneer, Erika Lust, to discuss these issues of racism in the porn industry. Erika Lust, the prolific award-winning, adult filmmaker based in Barcelona, boldly asks on her website: “Are you tired of chauvinistic and tacky mainstream porn?” As a unanimous “yes” echoes from the keyboard clicks of her innumerable female viewers, Erika Lust creates a new world of adult cinema – where eroticism, intimacy, and aestheticism join forces to create porn that is as good as it feels.

Alessandra Schade: What is your experience of racism in the pornography industry?

Erika Lust: Porn is full of racial stereotypes that perpetuate the stigma attached to BIPOC bodies. The 'interracial' category we can find on the online free tube sites is just a racist label, as its objective is not to positively depict diversity, but just to stress that there's a black person in those videos. White performers are offered a way higher fee to get them to shoot with black performers ("IR", or "interracial", is fetishised, therefore it is more expensive). The same practice, however, does not apply to the reverse: black male or black female performers don't receive a higher fee for performing with white performers, so this creates a deeply unfair racial economic hierarchy.

When choosing performers, some large agencies in the mainstream industry set up quotas for how many black people can participate in a film, or how often top (white) female performers can work with black talent. Still too often today, female black performers, in particular, are told by producers that BIPOC performers don't sell as well as their white counterparts, and this sadly encourages the marginalisation of black performers within the industry.

Schade: How does your work challenge and reform an industry that is rooted in sexism, heteronormativity, and racism?

Lust: My sites do not have verbiage such as "interracial" or "ebony,” nor you can search for films on my platforms based on ethnicities. I don't want to categorise people based on their race, neither on their body shape or abilities. The daring guest directors that I collaborate with and real life inspiration, helps me to create credible, realistic, and respectful depictions of sex, in which diversity is shown without being fetishised. My goal is to create a more inclusive porn in which all people can identify somehow without feeling that they're being treated differently compared to white cisgender people.

Schade: If you could send a message to BIPOC viewers, what would it be?

Lust: I would encourage BIPOC viewers to raise their voices and demand production companies to change the way they create and sell their adult content and to stop labeling it with offensive titles, asking them to be more conscious of the effect that this has on communities in real life. We should stop defending racism in the name of fetishism. We need more diversity in the industry -- the producers, directors, and scriptwriters -- bringing their perspective into the films. Everyone can benefit from having women and LGBTQ+ people behind the camera, as this allows them to re-write the script for mass-produced stereotypical porn on free “tube sites.”

To learn more about Erika and her work, check out her website.