Today, porn’s accessibility is higher than ever before. Most of the porn (and there’s a lot of it) is visual, which comes at the expense of the terrible exploitation of sex workers and porn actors. Could audio porn be a better or slightly more ethical alternative?
It’s no secret that the porn industry has long been plagued with abuse and exploitation. A recent study involving female porn performers revealed that sexual abuse, financial exploitation, and poor mental health are common in the industry.
While we stimulate our brains and chase those wild fantasies while watching online porn, it’s easier to forget the troubles of the people in those videos. But watching those videos, in one way or another, may just be complicit with those unchecked, often unreported abuses.
To avoid being complicit with the industry’s ills, many have turned to audio porn. But is it safe for the performers or just as exploitative as visual porn? That’s the main question.
What is Audio Porn?
Audio porn is essentially erotic audio-only content. From nasty, sexual stories to blood-rushing ASMR, audio porn can be many things as long as it’s audio only.
It has started gaining popularity in recent years, but it’s not a new phenomenon. Audio porn has existed in the form of audio sex through those sex hotlines back in the day.
The recent popularity of audio porn can be attributed to platforms like Tumblr and Reddit, where erotic audio surfaced and created a community that appreciated the work and art that went into creating those clips.
Accounts like Pillow Talk and Audible Porn have tens of thousands of followers. But now, there are websites, too, dedicated to ethical porn, including audio porn. Sofia Sins is another audio erotica provider with stories meant to stimulate those deep parts of your brain through nothing but sound and imagination.
How Is It Different?
Audio porn has emerged as a genre of porn that, unlike video porn, attracts many different people for various reasons. For instance, feminists are increasingly leaning towards audio porn to avoid contributing to the exploitative regular porn industry.
Audio porn is markedly different from the porn we’ve become accustomed to. It lacks the one central element for stimulation for most people: the visuals. Thanks to pirated, free pornography readily available online, many people think of videos when they think of porn.
Erotic audio, unlike most video porn, hinges on narratives and voice work. While independent sex workers have also taken the video porn industry by storm, the audio porn industry is largely community-focused. On many platforms, the audio clips come from real people sharing their sexual experiences.
Research has shown that voice is an integral part of sexual arousal. Both men and women use lower voices when aroused. Audio porn leverages the changes in the voice and breathing to arouse the listeners.
It can be even more descriptive than visual porn because, in the latter, there’s only so much you can observe with so much happening so fast. And the camera angles often limit the total exposure. In other words, you don’t get the full picture, even though you’re looking at it. Audio porn focuses on details, which can be even more stimulating than looking at the action.
Erotic audios are often more personal and feel more authentic. At the same time, they can be quite imaginative, as audio doesn’t have the same limitations as video portrayals.
Is It Really Exploitation-Free?
So audio porn can be great and just as stimulating as visual porn, if not more. But as a conscientious consumer, you may still be on the fence, wondering whether even the audio porn industry is just as problematic as other parts of the porn industry.
No Unrealistic Beauty and Body Standards
The porn industry, for the most part, consists of videos, whether it’s big studios, small companies, or independent creators. It’s well-known for sexism, racism, financial and mental exploitation, and much of that springs from the visual aspect of porn.
One of the biggest problems created by regular porn is absent in audio porn, which is unrealistic body standards. Many women, and even men, are pushed to get cosmetic surgeries if they want to get ahead in the game. Even if they do it with their consent, their decision is largely based on the industry’s ridiculous standards.
Producing audio porn doesn’t involve showing bodies, essentially eliminating the need for performers and creators to alter their looks.
No Substance Abuse
Pornstars face many hurdles and problems working in the porn industry. Even though many studios claim that their models are clean, the toxic culture they have created often pushes young people into substance abuse.
Many actors may also take performance-enhancing drugs that may have extremely negative impacts in the long run. Again, all of this springs from the visual nature of video porn. Audio porn simply doesn’t have such strings attached.
Better Mental Health
The audio porn subculture today has mostly been developed by consumers, so it’s raw and authentic. And for the most part, the purpose of audio porn is to stimulate not just sexual arousal but also an emotional response that makes for a more passionate experience.
The way such porn audio is produced and consumers’ consumption may just be healthier for overall mental health. On the other hand, the exploitation and abuse in the porn industry have created a mental health crisis for performers. Porn producers also target people with mental health issues. The suicide rate among pornstars has been rising.
Choose Better Porn Alternatives
We’ve been fed this thinking that watching porn is bad, but not for the right reasons. This billion-dollar industry has been built on the back of performers who have been mistreated and exploited. Much of that is directly linked to the visual aspect of videos.
Audio porn sites like Sofia Sins are helping change the narrative and bring more ethically produced erotica to people. It’s much more imaginative, detail-oriented, and safe than watching porn videos. More importantly, it won’t make you feel bad that you’re part of the problems in the porn industry.
