I got lucky and grew up with a mindset of "porn is just another flavor in life" so it was always a matter of "haha i like this" or not, granted there are some wierder kinks of mines that would be the closest, where, I engage with them publicly in a less common way more so cuz I'd rather not "shock" people toooooo much. But I still will tackle them when the mood is strongest overall. And honestly those "rare" kinks of mine are pretty rare moods anyway so it's not like it's a hindrance overall on myself.

But yeah, really dislike the outside view on porn where it treats it like an ingrained evil when it's just as indulgent as any other activity. You can like sex just like you can like riding bikes just like you can like eating loads of pastries at the bakery!

It's all just flavors of things to like in life and, at the end of the day, if what you're doing doesn't directly impact the basic rights of someone else or forces direct harm upon them, then you're not doing anything wrong.

me I just get self conscious about nothing

the absolute funniest instance, though, is vore artists feeling like jesus wouldn't approve of them. like what do you think communion is, friends

It's the problem of perspective. When we look at another country's people, we're able to instantly see the things they take for granted. "How could someone live in a kleptocracy/treat their family like this/tolerate this dumb tradition?"

But we can't see it when it's us. People who are otherwise so progressive in every way will uncritically repeat incredibly regressive things about sexuality; just the unfiltered words of a colonial puritan, buckled shoes and all. But it's so hard to get people to look inward and examine that shit, to really engage with it and think about where it came from. It's just so much easier to follow a gut feeling and think "Well I'm a good person, my instincts couldn't be wrong here, could they?"

People are fuckin' pussies is what. I've seen people who will draw the most coomer horny shit and then backpedal and be like "Erm actually this is weird degenerate porn addict slop!! Anyone who likes this has serious problems!!" like bro THAT'S YOU MAN NO ONE HELD YOU AT GUNPOINT TO MAKE THAT SHIT.

yeah honestly having seen some other nsfw artists just completely backpedal on stuff they were drawing especially if it was something particularly dark, is... it doesnt make me nervous i guess but definitely like concerned for a lot of their mental states and the way this recent purity culture bullshit is having a toll on people's minds.

Like its one thing to step away from something you feel is unhealthy for you, yeah, do that definitely, but its another thing to let the guilt completely take over and just shred your mental state.

Being horny doesn't need to be normalised, it's already completely normal and the people who loudly insist it isn't are the weird ones.

I think we're in an age of reactionary sex politics. Now that the mainstream has realized and processed just how much porn (and free porn) there is on the internet there is a huge societal pressure to suppress it. Purity politics also blend across party lines because right wing culture agree with it and left wing culture is too afraid of the groomer narrative to adopt a strong pro-porn stance.

The main reason I did nothing but lurk in horny spaces for most of my life was due to my own social issues rather than feelings of shame. When I finally started to overcome those social issues, to some extent at least, I joined cohost to dabble in the kinky weirdness I'd always had an interest in, and over a short period of time I learned a lot about myself. I also sort of "exploded" in a social and creatively kinky sense due to being so restrained in those areas for so long. Took a while to reel myself in a bit but all in all, the things I learned about myself and the progress I've made was very positive. Due to those lessons I learned about myself, I've written posts encouraging folks out there to not feel shame for the things they enjoy so long as they're not causing harm to others. I feel like it's a message that needs to be spread more than ever, seeing as the younger generations are the targets of conservatives biggest push for "puritanization" I've ever seen. This is a good post is what I'm saying. Shame in what brings you joy is unhelpful, but moderation is important in all things ^u^

Mann I used to be so tense about making and liking horny art. Had to get to a point with myself where I was like actually no this isn’t taboo. The dominant cult is just that it is. I like this and I want to do it right, without the imposed guilt. and if anyone has a problem with it then fuck em

I think a lot of ppl my age are cautionary because so many of us DID get groomed or had very unhealthy relationships with porn/knew those who did but there shouldn't be shame towards expressions of horniness that aren't bigoted or harmful. I do think there should be measures to prevent grooming online but it shouldn't be a ban on all nsfw content like mastercard is leading right now.
Idk, porn is a tool and it can be used in constructive and destructive ways so just be mindful about your relationship with it.

Really feels like social pressure that causes them to grow ashamed of what they create. To start, the algorithmic suppression and the constant struggle with payment processors seems to contribute to that hunch.

Not to mention you got prudish crusades all over social media to bully others whoever is expressive with their sexual side, injecting fear into them through doubt by bringing up being "unhireable" or being "a shame to their family".

Plus you also got the small handful of horny artists that cannot contain the horny overflow and end up fucking things up for themselves in one way or another, be it abuse or just sayin' some cringe-ass shit, and that stigma is probably another reason why artists feel shame in what they do.

One of many reasons why twitter is the WORST place for ANY artist to be. And hot take...most of them are so weak-willed and just can't handle the attention. Not that I'm excusing any of this backlash at all, but maybe stick to an actual art site, or use the social tools you have to filter out the bullshit, or just learn to ignore it.

I've been down this road...it's not an easy task, but once someone learns to tune it out things get so much better in the long run, and that confidence in ignoring the peanut gallery shows in your work, and also brings in more views! 👀

It's really rough when having to deprogram myself out of a cult but I don't think I've been doing too bad, especially lately! I found hedonism not too long after leaving the cult and have kept it in my brain since then and found so many good, quality, long term indulgences where previously I would experience shame and never really engage in the creative viewpoint I craved to share so very often. Still more ways to go as I still get a little wary thinking about creating and sharing more niche art. I will get there!! Thank you for this post

Probably know what catalyzed this, and yeah, it really is A Whole Thing.

A chef doesn't feel guilty for making chocolate cakes, it's no moral failing on their part, nor is it on them if someone decides to eat thirty seven of them.

Please forgive the long post!! But I have a lot of thoughts about this, because I also can feel weird about the porn I've drawn, but it's also kind of complicated. It's super fulfilling and I LOVE attempting to press people's kink buttons. But it's a lot easier to be self-depreciating and be like "ah nobody likes this weird smut"

Though I WILL SAY
If you're making the Weird Kink Art, you're the one affirming others, right? But nobody's gonna whisper in your ear that this is actually good and you aren't going too far with this one etcetc

BUT ALSO
I kinda feel like I'm not allowed to leave smut behind, even if I don't intend to abandon it. Like..I don't want to be seen as primarily a smut artist anymore, because it has these associations - and I'm including positive ones here - that people will bring into anything with your name on it. If you got known for doing porn and moved on to make like...landscape paintings, people who know your name are just going to see it as a pervert quietly sneaking into the landscape scene. Or just constantly bring up your porn art so that nobody will ever see the art on its own merits.
It can be conflicting and frustrating because not everything is horny!! Like, if people have a Horny Feeling for something in my comic, that's more than fine, that's someone engaging and having feelings and I love it! But when people talk as if they assume I'm getting off on what i'm drawing in the comic...it bothers me.

I want to be given a chance to shoot my shot and achieve what I want to do with this long-term story. I don't want to have to justify a lack of erotic intent. I even used two of the characters in an erotic setting once and what I discovered is...that's not what I want them to be. It didn't feel right. Those two puzzle pieces got into the wrong box. Frankly if I could wipe it from peoples' memory, I would. (I should have made identical but separate characters, thinking about it. Dammit.)

Besides, I wanna be accessible, I don't want people who aren't into my other stuff to feel like they're just listening to me pretend I'm not getting off. In fact, I'm currently threading the needle with the throwaway strips I've been making lately, and I think it illustrates added difficulty well. It's a bunch of jokes about a succubus! And she's trying to be alluring, and if the reader sees it as intentionally titillating, it ruins the joke of her just being some mindless predator animal mimicking "sexy" in the least erotic way possible. I've talked about this and similar difficulties to friends before, and the usual reaction is to ask why I don't just let it be horny, which is very frustrating.

I have no resentment for my porn art. I actually miss doing it, and I'm excited to work on a horny tf commission. But like honestly? I get why someone would look back on this thing that's going to stick to them and cringe and overreact. No penis is going to look so good that you're willing to trade away any non-penis artistic ambitions. And sometimes it feels like you already made that trade.