Update 29 December 2009: for more on this story read my June 2009 and December 2009 posts.
The bogan news journal the Herald Sun reported yesterday that porn is being made in Fitzroy! Woo hoo. Consenting adults being consenting adults. How unusual. What’s the real story? In my opinion, the real story is the usual suburban conservative moral panic about sex, particularly sex as recreational activity.
What is most amusing is that the article repeatedly states that young women are being asked to perform “prohibited sex acts” in exchange for money. This is simply false. The acts are legal. What is not legal is for moving or still images of those acts to be published on the internet by an Australian publisher (in other words where the server hosting the website is within Australia). You can read more about the legality of viewing internet porn in Australia here. Electronic Frontiers Australia publishes detailed information about internet censorship in Australia. So basically these Australian laws have driven a viable business out of the country.
The company G Media operates Abby Winters and other sites. The director of the company is also mentioned in the article as being vice-president of the Eros Association, but makes no mention of why this is relevent. Perhaps it make him more evil. How pathetic. I’ve never met him, but I have met one of his business partners and he’s a perfectly ordinary guy.
The Eros Association is a legitimate industry association that provides services to its members. Their website is worth visiting and they quote Tori Amos, another sexual renegade. Also I have met the Eros Association CEO Fiona Patten, who spoke at a 2006 seminar I organised about the digital distribution of media content and how the adult industry has driven developments in technology and business models. She’s normal too – smart, articulate and entrepreneurial.
What companies like G Media do is perfectly legal. They create content locally and publish it outside Australia for an international audience. All the actors are paid and are consenting adults.
Obviously, appearing naked on the internet may not be a very wise thing to do. But neither is binge drinking, getting a piercing or tattoo, spending your whole weekly wage on your mobile phone bill or any of the other daft things that young (and not so young) people do. Our society has decided that people mostly have the feedom to make their own decisions about their own lives, even if they make lots of bad decisions. Earning a few hundred dollars for a lifetime of fear that you will be found out does not sound like a great contract to me. But it’s not my decision to make. Neither is it yours.
The women who choose to earn money making porn in the funky back streets of Fitzroy are not desparate for cash like someone from a third world country. They have choices. They have been educated. They can earn money in different ways. They can and should take responsibility for their choices and their behaviour.
I’m surprised that the newspaper did not make more of a scandal about the fact that the women are encouraged to keep their pubic hair. As the Abby Winters FAQ states “Shaving is sooooo 90′s!“
22 January 2008 at 12:07 am
It’s bad enough that Abby Winters is producing this sort smut and depravity locally. What I demand to know is why I haven’t yet accidentally stumbled across a photo shoot and been asked if I wouldn’t mind helping out (I dunno… holding up one of those big light disperser things or something) over the course of several hours.
Andrew Bolt’s gonna hear about this!
Like or Dislike:
4 
4
16 June 2009 at 11:08 am
Twitter alerted me to something going on about AW and the traffic to this old story has spiked. What’s the news? Please post some info or links.
Like or Dislike:
0 
1
16 June 2009 at 11:29 am
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25641940-2862,00.html check this out
Like or Dislike:
0 
1
16 June 2009 at 11:44 am
Thanks for that! A safe for work source detailing the story.
I’m not an expert on the relevant laws but from what I know it can be illegal to make content in Australia that is legal to view in Australia. How dumb is that?
Can anyone confirm the legality of porn production in Australia? I believe R content is legal, but what about X? And what is unclassified? As Abby Winters is online the content would not be classified, though I assume the DVDs are.
Like or Dislike:
0 
1
16 June 2009 at 6:27 pm
I was chuffed (no not a porn term (well I hope…)) when I noticed that this site seems to originate from my neck of the woods. http://beautifulagony.com/public/main.php?page=submit
Like or Dislike:
0 
1
16 June 2009 at 8:59 pm
Beautiful Agony is a fantastic project isn’t it! A great idea that demonstrates how to see sex and pleasure in a different way.
Like or Dislike:
0 
1
18 June 2009 at 9:49 am
I am the “former nude model”, Liandra Dahl, that The Herald Sun has misquoted on two occasions now, 3rd December 2007 and 16th June 2009. I explicitly deny any involvement with this most recent article and allegations by the Herald Scum…I mean Herald Sun. I made no comment about the allegations, in fact I knew nothing of them or the raids until my mother called me yesterday to say I was in the paper again. Whilst I, of course, would find it reprehensible IF underage models were ever used, I am ardently anti-censorship. I want no part in a campaign against the production of porn in Victoria. I do not want to be associated in any way with a puritanical witch hunt about what sexually explicit images the The Herald Sun thinks it is, or is not, OK for consenting adults to perform or watch. FUCK! For that matter what fucking business is it of the Victorian Government if consenting adults want to fuck each other in whatever orifice they see fit, or in whatever fashion pleases them, and then put it on the internet for other adults to see. We are not the government’s children and it is not their fucking place to make these sorts of moral judgements about what consenting adults do sexually. If someone doesn’t like it, THEY DON”T HAVE TO LOOK AT IT! I also reckon it’s a safe bet that a good portion of the Herald Sun readers are already avid viewers of porn anyway.
IN FACT I THINK IT’S TIME FOR AN ANTI-CENSORSHIP RALLY IN MELBOURNE….Is anyone with me?
Like or Dislike:
11 
1
18 June 2009 at 10:03 am
Agreed! Call me cynical but the days of rallies changing politics are long over. I’d prefer to gather empirical evidence that community standards are not violated by explicit representations of consensual sexuality and use this to demonstrate that the current ridiculous laws are not being broken. Then I’d like to work to change the laws, but I can’t see there being any political will to do so. The major political parties are captivated by the fear of how the hysterically moralistic minority may vote.
Like or Dislike:
1 
1
18 June 2009 at 11:38 am
“The women who choose to earn money making porn in the funky back streets of Fitzroy are not desparate for cash like someone from a third world country. They have choices. They have been educated. They can earn money in different ways. They can and should take responsibility for their choices and their behaviour.”
thank you for this comment.
as a model for Gmedia and also the Feck websites i feel that the herald sun would be utterly disappointed to find that us models are strong, confidant, happy women who CHOOSE to share a bit of ourselves with subscribers. we are informed, know the possible consequences, and do not feel that this is something dirty or wrong.
As ‘porn’ sites go, it baffles me (and a large number of the other models) as to why a company that presents women in such a respectful, positive way would be the target of such ridiculous allegations – specifically the apparent ‘underage’ models. they are strict and professional when it come to IDs and would not let something so important and so easy to enforce slip by. they are not short of models and wouldn’t need to ‘not see’ someones ID just so they can shoot.
i thank the members and friends for their support –
“With AW breaking that mold and showing that porn is not something that is dirty or abusive to women, they are allowing mainstream society to see that women can show their sexuality in a fun, non-abusive, and friendly atmosphere, that actually builds a woman’s confidence in herself and her sexuality. I honestly believe that the models on AW have attained a growth that they could never have achieved without AW. The experience at AW has left them with more confidence, and a higher level of self awareness of their sexuality. This is easy to see here on the boards, and it comes through loud and clear. “
Like or Dislike:
4 
1
8 July 2009 at 7:48 pm
A 19 year old I know who has been doing shoots for GMedia and Feck suffers from bipolar disorder and fibromyalgia. She is unable to manage financially on the government disability pension but cannot work a regular job because of her medical conditions.
She is far from strong confident and happy and feels that she is out of choices when it comes to earning money. She has lost weight far too quickly to achieve what she feels will be a body that earns her the most money and ensures continuing shoots damaging her health more.
Like or Dislike:
4 
0