At a time when endless possibilities for creative marketing abound, so-called “ethical pornographer,” Erika Lust has resorted to using her own children as a marketing and PR tool, as highlighted in a recent article in the Daily Mail.
If you aren’t familiar, Erika Lust’s brand is basically “ethical” or so-called “feminist porn.” From the time she began working in the adult industry, Lust has made no secret of her contempt for the mainstream adult industry — which clearly persists today. She has frequently weaponized the same terms and misinformation used by anti-porn activists to attack her competition and attempt to bolster her own brand.
“[U.S. pornographers] are cheap, mentally and economically … we call them ‘fuckographers.’ They are not high-end culture people.’” — Jezebel, Erika Lust and Pablo Dobner, December 2018.
Over the years, “feminist” Erika Lust engaged in demeaning the bodies of American adult stars and has had allegations of boundary violations on her sets. Side note: It was only in 2021 (after several years of vehement denials and attempts to silence scrutiny) that she came to an agreement with Hello Rooster and claims to have created a performer bill of rights — something that one imagines an “ethical porn studio” would have had all along.
However, none of these hypocrisies are as rank and foul as the fact that she is willing to use the privilege of being a mother to market her content as more virtuous than “regular porn”— as if the staff and performers working elsewhere in the legal industry are all shadowy criminal figures without lives or families of their own. And it’s true: you will seldom hear of pornographers or porn stars saying much in public about their kids — for many reasons — but certainly because a real parent understands that protecting their child comes before anything.
A responsible parent would reassure their children of their unconditional love in the privacy of home — but Erika Lust has to alert the entire world that she thinks it’s great if her young daughters become sex workers someday…and apparently she doesn’t think that doing this is at all problematic or stands to cause harm to her children. Per the recent Daily Mail article:
“The filmmaker, who employs 54 staff in the production company she runs with her husband, revealed she is often asked if she’d support her daughters if they wanted to become porn actresses.
She said: ‘But if they became sex workers I would like to protect them, I would like the world to be as safe as possible for them.’
The above comment implies that Lust (in spite of everything else she says) still fundamentally believes that sex work is dangerous, and/or her daughters would be around predators. If this is indeed her belief though, then why would she encourage her daughters to pursue a career in adult entertainment? Yet, back in 2015, she was quoted again in the Daily Mail expressing how her young daughters getting into porn would “help her achieve her goals.” Her goals. Hmmm.
It should go without saying that if one’s work and reputation as an adult content creator cannot stand on its own merit, then it may be time to reconsider the business. Regardless, there is absolutely no justification ever for exploiting one’s own children, or any child for that matter, as mere marketing tools to increase clicks, likes, follows, or subscribers — whether it be for Lust Cinema or any other platform.
And yet, Erika can’t help but play “the mommy card” to try and elevate her public profile and brand. Look at how the word “mother” is plastered everywhere next to “porn” and “erotic film” in the screenshots below….
Mommy, mommy, mommy! You’d think Erika Lust was the first woman working in adult to be a mother, but that’s obviously incorrect. However, she is perhaps the first woman in adult to use motherhood to validate what she does and market her content. Meanwhile, it appears other parents working in adult entertainment value their kids privacy and safety enough to put a boundary up around their family — and they respect other people’s kids enough to not attempt to “educate” them on porn.
Let us be clear: no one involved in the adult industry today should be engaging in any activity or commentary involving children, be it their own or someone else’s. The legal adult industry is strictly intended for adults, and recognizing this fact is vital when advocating for the legal adult industry’s continued legitimacy.
It is also crucial to differentiate between pornographers and sex educators, as well as those whom are responsible for developing sex education curricula for schools. Lust’s attempts to position herself as a progressive sex educator for children in the realm of pornography is both repugnant and unfounded — and again, the typo-laden site copy below repeats many myths and stereotypes about the mainstream industry used by anti-porn activists. Lust also claims “porn is the new sex ed” — as if there’s nothing parents can do but take her word as the final one on this complicated issue. (FYI in case Erika has you thinking differently: internet filters and content blockers, while not perfect, do work if you’d like to learn about preventing your kids from accessing adult content).
As much as she plays ‘the mommy card’ to sell porn, Erika personally has no credentials in child psychology or sexual health — and no seemingly common sense or moral decency either if she can’t leave her own kids out of her latest PR campaign…
