When did you last watch porn? Probably not too long ago? When did you last talk about porn? Probably hardly ever, right?
Sexuality, lust, and love are huge parts of our lives, however, pornography, which simply is “printed or visual material containing the explicit description or display of sexual organs or activity” is heavily stigmatized. In addition to that, several misconducts can be attributed to the traditional porn industry – data abuse, inadequate safety for consumers and performers, improper payment, lack of consensuality, and many more.
To get a better understanding of what is going wrong in the porn industry and how we can do better, we met with a spokesperson from CHEEX, the sexual-welness start-up who aims ro re-define porn.
CHEEX stands for self-determined sexuality free of shame and stigma. They offer a community for all those who have a desire for sexual stimulation and inspiration. Unlike the usual portals, they cater to the needs of all genders. CHEEX founders Denise Kratzenberg und Maximilian Horwitz are convinced that sexuality must be presented as it is actually lived: Diverse, pleasurable and consensual. On their website you will not only find sexy movies but various erotic and educational content in four categories: Watch, Listen, Live and Learn.
You call yourselves a sexual wellness start up, so you are not a porn platform?
We are definitely ALSO a porn platform, or a streaming platform, because we offer movies. But we are so much more and that’s why we use the term sexual wellness platform. We see ourselves as a safespace to explore your own sexuality. Our space changes and grows. So far we offer films, audio stories and our educational part. This includes our online magazine, tutorials, our own podcast and also workshops every two weeks.
What distinguishes CHEEX from PornHub and Co.?
There are two huge aspects – the inside and the outside. One is our content, the other our general aesthetic and design. We look very different from a mainstream porn site. We think that the safespace starts with the look and feel of the website. On other sites, you quickly get that grungy feeling of ads, banners, and pop ups that turn you off rather than on. When it comes to content, we pay a lot of attention to diversity. We want to show many different sexualities, people and body types. With other websites, diversity is often fetishized or pressed into certain categories. We don’t want that. Furthermore, authenticity, i.e. showing genuine desire, is very important to us. And on a deeper level, we also pay attention to how the films are produced. It’s important to us that the films are produced fairly, that everyone is paid decently, that everything is consensual. We also take care of safety issues, work legally and protect our website from virus attacks.
What do you have to be especially careful about when curating porn movies?
We have to be incredibly uncompromising. At the moment we don’t have any productions of our own and have licensed our films so far. When selecting films or productions, we have set up several criteria and our own statutes in order to show only fair films. It is important to us that sex workers are paid appropriately, that we only produce with consent, that boundaries of the performers are discussed and the equal representation of all genders. We want to work far away from heteronormativity.
What does Sex Positive mean?
We have defined sex positive for us to mean that any sexual preference is equally respected as long as it is consensual. I think there are many definitions, but that’s our essence – we want to deal with porn positively, free of shame, stigma or judgment.
Is mainstream porn to blame for the fact that many people feel ashamed during sex, feel pressured to do certain things, or have such high expectations of themselves or their partners?
To some extent, yes. You have to remember, these are viewing habits that burn in over decades. If we take the example of a 30 year old straight man (that’s the biggest target group for common porn platforms) and you don’t want to admit it, but even teens are already watching porn. So this man has been consuming porn for approximately 15 years. Of course, this must do something to one’s sexuality and expectations. To find a guilty party in that matter is difficult. But that’s exactly why we said something has to change. Pornography is a big part of our society and also one that is often swept under the table and looked away from.
Porn can also have positive effects, right?
Consumed in the right context, porn can be a great source of inspiration for discovering your own preferences, getting to know your own body, celebrating sex with yourself and opening up a space to talk about things with your partner.
How irresponsible is the porn industry really?
It’s hard to say, because we are also just outsiders to this traditional industry. But we know something has to change. The main problems in the industry are the production conditions and the consensuality. The moment you get free content and especially on Tube platforms where everyone can upload content for free, there is no guarantee that everything has been approved by all performers. Revenge porn is also a big issue.
Why is it important for consumers to pay for porn?
It’s super important to pay because all performers and contributors need to be paid decently. There’s nothing more intimate than watching people have sex. And we think about where does my food come from, where does my clothing come from, is it sustainably made? But you don’t wonder where the content for your own pleasure satisfaction comes from? That doesn’t sound right. The moment you pay for it, you can just be sure that exactly these things have been taken into account.
With your online magazine LEARN, you also offer exciting and enlightening articles – how much more education is really needed?
Good question. There are no limits to the topic of sex. There’s still a lot of room for improvement. In the long term, we think the topic also needs to be addressed in schools. Because only if a healthy relationship to sexuality is developed at a young age, people can lead a fulfilling and healthy sex life as adults and free themselves from shame and stigma. And we are also already seeing a change, society is becoming more open about talking about intimacy. For example, people talk more and more openly about sex toys, but not really what you do with the toys. Unfortunately, this is still a taboo.
Why is watching porn so taboo?
On the one hand because the offer that existed so far leaves us with a bad feeling. A feeling of shame is automatically triggered in consumers. This is a vicious circle. Precisely because it is done in secret and no one talks about it, it is suggested that it is something that must be hidden, that it is embarrassing. And it’s also extremely difficult for us as a company. We want to approach porn differently and yet we have so many hurdles and fight for our representation. There are advertising bans for the porn industry and many restrictions. Because of this, many companies are also pushed to the edge of legality and this in turn leads to discrimination and stigmatization.
What do we have to re-learn or un-learn regarding sex, lust and love?
That any preference (as long as it is consensual) is okay. Sexuality is so individual. In conventional movies you often see the same thing, the same bodies, the same routine. But sex for itself is a journey that everyone has to take for themselves to find what they really like regardless of what society tells us is normal and right. There are so many preferences, but no one talks about them or shows them. That’s why the feeling of being different quickly sets in and leaves a lasting mark on us.
How has your feedback from customers, sex workers or other providers been so far?
We were extremely overwhelmed that we got such positive feedback. We have a super open community, for example on Instagram, that shares things with us and writes great messages about feeling good and represented with CHEEX. Since no one from the founding team was a sex worker, we were of course very curious about the reactions of the performers. And it was very important for us to build stable and trustworthy relationships. Many were critical at first – of course, because there are also many companies that operate fraudulently. But in the end we are very touched how positively we were received here.
What are the plans for the future?
Our biggest project this year is our first self-production. That is coming up in the next few months and we are really looking forward to it. This has been the biggest dream since we started. It’s so nice that we can now take this step and produce content that is otherwise not provided.
For more information or a subscription (14,99€ per month) click HERE.
