The invention of the camera was a rather monumental time for pornography; the first-ever erotic photo was taken during this period. In addition to this, not too many years later the internet made its presence felt and society hypothesized and still does that it was this that gave rise to the porn industry.

Inaccurate hypothesis according to most researchers, pornography was already a raging, well-earning industry, the internet just made access easier, so instead of DVD’s and CD’s of ‘XXX’ content, now people had to just type and watch what they liked.

After this “increased consumption” of erotic content, society deemed the consumers immoral and sex work the equivalent of this immorality.

It reflects on the idea which Richa Kaul Padte states in her book ‘Cyber Sexy – rethinking pornography’ – “The idea of sex work weighs heavily upon our collective moral conscience, in particular because most sex workers are women. The idea that women can choose to have sex for a living unsettles many peoples notions about how women should behave, and these include people who have the power to decide how cities, and by extension societies, are structured.”

At this point, pornography ties itself to feminism and the rights of women over their bodies. And rightly so, women have been outcasted and disowned for indulging in sex work for a steady income.

So why do feminism and pornography go hand in hand? Because sex work is viewed as a woman’s job and society reacts to it in a rather harsh and abrasive manner, trying to control what women are to do with their bodies and what counts as moral and immoral in their case.

With the entry of feminist voices on the debate of pornography and vulgarity, another perspective made its way through, a more valid and important concern, that of violence and other ethical concerns.

Violence against sex workers and the ethics of pornography were suddenly in the limelight, and for good reason. Inspired by the women's liberation movement in the 1960s, many feminists began to denounce pornography as sexist and as the infestation of patriarchal heteronormative culture.

They believed that pornography was a deliberate means of subordinating women to men, thereby maintaining the inequality in society.

Many anti-pornography feminists believe that porn is an apparatus of the patriarchy which reduces women to sex objects it contributes to the systematic oppression and degradation of women.

As feminist writer Ellen Willis once said, “The claim that ‘pornography is violence against women’ was code for the neo-Victorian idea that men want sex and women endure it.”

While she makes a constructive and valid argument against pornographic content, there are other feminists that believe pornographic content can, in fact, be molded into a progressive and gender-equal form of sexual expression.

While acknowledging that porn the way it is now, can perpetuate unrealistic ideas about sex and further objectify the bodies of women and minorities, many do not believe that this means that porn is inherently wrong.

The problems within pornography stem from a larger patriarchal framework, so while the industry does require drastic improvement, pornography cannot be blamed for sexism and violence.

Rather than blaming pornography or attempting to censor it, thinking critically about the way it is packaged and sold as a commodity for men rather than as a universally enjoyable and empowering method of exploring sexuality is more necessary.

But, keeping in mind this approach, many feminists have taken to the pornography industry. Creating content that uses foreplay and sex as a larger lesson on sex education. The foreplay in most of these films is women and men discussing mutual consent, and the sex is more women-centric and real.

Websites like Make Love Not Porn, The Crash Pad, Lust Cinema and SPIT are porn sites that make feminist porn and show us that porn can be made without the degrading and sexist aspects.

The concept of “feminist porn” is that the content is realistic and more representative of real sexual activities and moreover it involves ethical practices like equal pay for equal work, gender equality and consensual participation.

There is a certain amount of uprising in the industry for feminist porn and the like, but the sources are limited. The demand being spectacularly small, there is also a lack of resources as it does not have a huge budget like the current porn industry.

Society has always demonized sexual expression (especially for women) and continues to do so, even though it is a natural drive within us. If there were to be an upturn in the porn industry the results would be impressive.

Gender equality, equal pay and consensual practices would become the norm which would outdo the aggressive and humiliating practices which take place presently.