Michelle Shnaidman on Empowering Women to Celebrate their Sexuality!
Interview with Michelle Shnaidman, Founder and CEO of Bellesa.co, a free adult entertainment website for women, by women!
In this day and age women are still so heavily judged for having any type of sexual appetite. Shocking as we (both women and men) are sexual beings — we all come from sex so why is it so taboo, especially for women? I know we can list a multitude of reasons, but when I heard of the existence of Bellesa.co I knew I had to talk to Michelle and celebrate the existence of her company!
“If adult entertainment were created in the vision of a women since day one — forgetting everything you think you already know about it — what would it look like?”
Bellesa was built upon and answers the foundational question above by creating a free adult entertainment website where women are empowered to celebrate their sexuality — in a way that is both unapologetic and bold. Bellesa’s mission is to ultimately shed the stigma surrounding female sexuality (once and for all!). So now that you know what Bellesa is, lets dig a bit deeper and hear from Michelle herself on the need for Bellesa and future plans!
What inspired you to make Bellesa a reality and tell us a bit about the name Bellesa?
I was looking at porn one day and I became overwhelmed by how abrasive the experience was as a woman. There was this sobering moment- I was hit with one of those “grow your penis by 4 inches” ads alongside some videos. It became glaringly obviously that this website was not meant for me. I have no penis to grow by 4 inches. The titles, images and advertisements…I felt like I was trespassing.
I kept thinking: women account for 50% of the population. How could this demographic be so overlooked? But it was. That’s how Bellesa was born. From a desire to create a space for women to celebrate their sexuality. That’s what it’s all about- sexual empowerment.
Literally, “bellesa” means beauty in Catalan. We knew that we didn’t want to call it something that was crass or super obviously just porn, because in reality, we’re not just porn. Bellesa isn’t a traditional porn site. Bellesa was ultimately chosen to be the name of our company because it’s a word that rolls off the tongue, is elegant and evokes a sense of empowerment. The product/brand fit was seamless.
Bellesa has a collective — bellesa.co/collective. What type of content can women expect to find and how was it created?
We think of Collective as the voice of Bellesa.co. Bellesa’s Collective is a really dynamic and inclusive space where we feature articles and other creative pieces on all things female-empowerment. We have a growing community of talented writers who bring important topics to the forefront like sexual health, body positivity, culture issues etc- because these things need to be talked about. We’re starting that conversation.
The community here is filled with open-minded, forward-thinking women- you can check it out and subscribe to contribute to the conversation!
Sex, sexuality, and porn — these are topics people usually shy away and are still stigmatized. How did you find out what women wanted, how they wanted to receive it and how do you continually gear information/videos to your growing audience?
We spent a lot of time and money doing deep dive research before getting started on Bellesa. We spoke to thousands of women and really got down to the root of how they experience sexuality. Our findings confirmed what us females already knew: that men and women experience sexuality quite differently, so it only makes sense that our adult websites should look and feel different.
Bellesa was built upon this foundational question: If adult entertainment were created in the vision of a woman since day one — forgetting everything that you think you already know about it — what would that look like? Bellesa.co is essentially the answer to this question.
Women who use Bellesa know that every bit of content has been pre-screened, approved and submitted by other women- there’s a real sense of comfort in that. Bellesa relies on its unbelievable community of women to locate the best video content on the Internet and bring it to our video queendom 👑. By nature, this means that the videos on Bellesa are very clearly female-pleasure focused. Women appear more like subjects of pleasure and less like objects of conquest. You’ll generally find more story lines, realistic orgasms and more natural-looking bodies…which makes sense.
It’s been just over 4 months since you launched the Bellesa site, has everything gone as you envisioned or even better? Where do you see Bellesa in the next year?
The response to Bellesa.co has been overwhelming- in the best way. Launched 4 months ago, Bellesa.co’s community is growing rapidly, with over half a million new users in the last month alone. Our mission of sexual empowerment has very quickly evolved into a movement- resonating with millions of amazing women around the world.
The vision for Bellesa is for it to become the one-stop shop for all things sex for women. Currently in development we have i) a Bellesa Store where we will be curating and providing women with the best sex toys, candles, oils, lubes, etc, etc, ii) a Bellesa Publication to get some of our best erotic fiction in the hands of women around the world, and iii) a Bellesa Production Operation to shoot our own videos. We also have a bunch of exciting partnerships under works- stay tuned!
What would you say has been your biggest take-away/lesson learned since starting your own company/launching your website?
I’ve learnt that people will think you’re crazy- until they don’t. I’ve learnt to drown out the noise and to truly trust my gut. Bellesa wouldn’t exist if I hadn’t. I’ve learnt that to build something great is to build something that is dynamic, ever-evolving…and the communication loop is key. Bellesa’s community is such an integral part of what makes the platform what it is. We are in a constant state of self-betterment- and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
What are ways people can get involved with the sex positive community at Bellesa?
Definitely follow our Instagram and Facebook pages. Content on there is equal parts informative and hilarious. Bellesa’s Collective is a super dynamic, inclusive and sex-positive space. If you’re looking to get involved, this is the place to start. We also welcome and encourage our community members to join the movement by contributing content- either to the Collective or to our Erotic Stories section…or, if you’re that badass, to both!
Takeaway:
“We want to completely eradicate the stigma that somehow still surrounds female sexuality in 2017. We want women to not only be unashamed, but to truly own their sexuality- to live a life that is both unapologetic and bold. More than anything, we want women to feel empowered.”
Note of Thanks
I would love to thank Michelle for sharing her time and being so open to share all her knowledge with us!
