Tuesday, July 22, 2014

The XTube Debacle

To put the following rant in perspective, this is something I've just noticed today, and I'm still hoping it's a glitch that will be fixed, or otherwise an extremely misguided update that will quickly be righted amidst public uproar (though somehow, I doubt it). I'm nearing the end of a process that's been spread out over the past year or so, of uploading many nude, erotic, and sometimes downright pornographic short videos I recorded over the course of a year (in "daily nude video" fashion) on the website XTube, where I can actually make a little pocket change off of them if people decide they're worth paying a few cents a title to view.

Now, when you upload a video, you have a choice of designating it one of two types: straight, or gay. Most of my audience is constituted of gay (or bi) male fans, but I a) do not consider my own sexuality to be accurately described by the label "gay" or "homosexual", and b) do not understand how a video of one person engaged in a sexual act (or not even a sexual act) can be considered either gay or straight. But, I am made to understand that the video type is more for categorical purposes. Still, in the ideal world, being attracted to women and not men, it is women that I would prefer to have appreciating my erotic videos. I don't have a problem with men appreciating them, but that is not my raison d'etre. Therefore, I categorize my videos (that never involve more than a single person) as straight.

Well, today, it seems to me that the option where you have to select who is in your video (namely whether a single person or more, and of what sex), is now limited by whether it's in the straight or gay category. For me to upload a video with a "single man", it has to be marked "gay". How does that even make sense? Apparently, to XTube, masturbation is now intrinsically a homosexual act. What's even crazier is that lesbian videos of women on women action must now be considered straight! Are you fucking kidding me?

I understand that the category is not meant to necessarily describe the video, but to direct it to its intended audience, but this basically negates the existence of females, except as objects of men's sexual desire. I know that porn is not that popular among women (yet, I hope), and it's always been my impression that XTube was more popular among gay men (and, ironically, women who like gay porn) than straight men or women, but it was never, to my knowledge, billed as such, and I never felt that it actually excluded straight men as performers for the entertainment of straight women...until now. (Did you ever think you'd see the day when straight men were in the minority, and gay men were the majority?). I tried ticking the site-wide filter to "female liking females" out of curiosity, and instead of lesbian porn, the ads that dominated the sidebars featured exclusively gay male content! In other words, according to XTube, there is no such thing as a woman who likes porn! Talk about regressive, conservative values...

I've always had issues with XTube. I didn't like it from the start because it's way too "porn-y". But it was the only place I knew of where I could easily make a little money from the effort I put into my erotic art. (Although I do sometimes feel that I am discriminated against for being interested in the erotic art of the human body more than the all-important "money shot"). And I think that their categories are poorly chosen. There's a category for "fursuits", but not "crossdressing"... I really wish there were more options out there. I'd like to boycott, but I don't feel as though I have that privilege. The marginalization of the sex trade has a tendency to do that to you. And the pundits who advocate for prohibition have the gall to claim concern for the sex workers. Hypocritical douchebags.

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