Diary of an Adult Webmaster: Ethical Pitfalls - Treating People like People

Running an adult website- or an adult business of any nature, for that matter- is fraught with ethical pitfalls. The very nature of the business itself is, to many, ethically questionable at best and downright wrong in the eyes of right-wing extremists. Political and religious beliefs aside, the adult industry joins attractive young ladies (or men) who want to make quick, easy money and adult entrepreneurs who know how to get paid for an intangible product. When viewed as an income stream for aspiring actors and actresses (or, really, for any attractive individual) who may have limited options or opportunities, the industry finds itself a charitable, clean source of income dirtied only by the beholder's bias.

Still, it becomes absurdly easy to view human beings as a commodity, especially when dealing with images and videos of skin day in and day out. After one has seen so many beautiful women or well-built men, the human form becomes about as unique as a can of peas in the supermarket. Each lady in the succession of flesh marching across the screen has breasts, each has a rear, each one (except in extreme niches) has two legs and probably a belly button. For all the differences that make each person unique, all people are fundamentally the same.

The largest ethical concern faced by adult webmasters isn't necessarily what to show or not show on the Internet. After all, pretty much anything that can be done with a human body has already been done at some point throughout time. Rather, the biggest dilemma is in actually viewing the models before them as human beings rather than a commercial product neatly packaged to maximize resale value.

Sadly, this challenge is the same one that faces many employees in the entire service industry, even those that have no affiliation whatsoever with adult content. Cashiers at busy department stores often suffer from the same concept; as the seemingly endless string of customers comes through the line day after day, each passing face loses a little of its unique appeal and moves ever more slightly toward becoming just another of the faceless mass of customer. The same thing happens to telephone service representatives, but at an accelerated pace: when talking to hundreds of customers every day, a person's entire existence is quickly reduced to the impersonal summarization of, "this guy." No name, no background, no wedding day, no personal sacrifices or achievements, just "this guy."

So how does an adult webmaster deal with the threat to the objectification of human material? The methods are numerous. Some webmasters prefer to produce their own content, forming bonds with their subjects after repeated shoots. Others simply buy their content and spend time personalizing the images and videos (during the personalization process, it is difficult to remain detached from the person being depicted). Personally, I enjoy asking my models about their day, their hobbies and anything that make them seem more of a person and less of a commodity.

Regardless of how an adult webmaster chooses to personify his subjects, doing so is a critical measure in maintaining a professional, enjoyable experience for the models (and, as discussed in a previous article, keeping models coming back is good for the business). Not falling victim to the same traps that befall cashiers and tele-service employees can mean the difference between success and failure for adult industry professionals.