One Site Challenges Couples to Make Love, Not Porn

"Make love, not porn".

That’s the premise of entrepreneur Cindy Gallop’s new amateur pornographic venture, which allows real couples to upload videos of themselves having sex. The website of the same namesake went live in February and already has 100,000 subscribers. Explaining her mission, Gallop said that wanted to provide a realistic portrayal of sex.

I think that Gallop's idea may have something to offer fellow 20-somethings. Raised in a sex-saturated culture, we have been pounded with the belief that hardcore sex is the only valid form of intercourse. Hollywood glorifies quickies while mocking traditional lovemaking; music glamorizes women who are demure in public and “porn stars” in bed. These synchronized messages perpetuate the myth that jackhammering a woman qualifies as intimacy.

Although there is nothing wrong with getting a little rough sometimes, the culture surrounding porn has wholly transmuted sex from an act of mutual gratification to an athletic race (guess who comes last?). It's about time that we remove the rose-tint from our lenses and remember what’s genuine. And that's where Gallop's work comes in.

Sure, it's voyeuristic (and, admittedly, that may be off-putting) but it embraces and gives audiences an authentic portrayal of sex. This is a refreshing respite from the acrobatics and hyperbolic screams of traditional pornstars and the unnatural smoothness of other porn. Real sex is not always as "sexy" or fluid as porn makes it look.

It can be awkward: STOP! Too far down. Wait, no, my legs won’t go that way.

It can be silly: Ugh, sorry, I have to pee.

It can be messy. Really messy. (I don’t think I need to expound on this one.)

My point is that sex is human. It is a natural articulation of our desires, which are never as neatly packaged (or flexible) as film tries to make it look. So, instead of modeling our sex lives after paid actors, why not just go with what’s real?

Image: Y.SANTOSH' on Flickr