Mother who makes feminist erotic films says she started making adult movies because she 'struggled' to watch mainstream pornography where women behaved as 'vehicles' for male pleasure
- Erika Lust, 44, is award-wining creator of over 250 female-focused adult movies
- The Swedish-born director was inspired to make feminist porn after university
- Described watching mainstream porn centred on male pleasure as 'a struggle'
- Wants to normalise female sexual pleasure and gender roles of males in porn
A feminist porn director says she started making adult films because it was a 'struggle' watching women behave as 'vehicles' for male sexual pleasure.
Swedish-born Erika Lust, 44, is the award-winning creator of over 250 female-focused erotic films - who created adult production house Lust Films after being disappointed with the portrayal of sex in mainstream pornography.
The mother-of-two, who lives in Barcelona, first watched porn as a student studying political science at Lund University in Sweden - but was underwhelmed with how focused on male pleasure the film was.
'Instead of being a pleasurable moment, it became a struggle', said Erika in an interview with Glamour.
Swedish-born Erika Lust, 44, is the award-winning creator of over 250 female-focused erotic films
Erika, pictured on set, created adult production house Lust Films after being disappointed with the portrayal of sex in mainstream pornography
'It felt stereotyped and centred on the man's pleasure, and the women were just vehicles for him to come'.
She went on to explain how she hopes her films will not only normalise sexual pleasure for women, but also shatter the view of men in pornography as 'penetrative sex machines'.
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Erika entered the independent film industry after moving to Spain following university and shot her debut movie The Good Girl, as a side project in 2004 while taking a director's course.
The movie, which explores traditional 'pizza delivery guy' cliché from the female perspective, won the prize for best short film at the International Erotic Film Festival in Barcelona.
Erika entered the independent film industry after moving to Spain following university and shot her debut movie The Good Girl, as a side project in 2004. She is pictured shooting on of her short films
Erika, pictured on set, is perhaps best known for her XConfessions series, the first crowd-sourced project in adult cinema which launched in 2013
Erika is perhaps best known for her XConfessions series, the first crowd-sourced project in adult cinema which launched in 2013.
Each month, she chooses two personal accounts or fantasies from the many anonymous submissions she receives through her website, and then transforms them into adult movies.
In 2015, a theatrical cut of XConfessions submissions was screened at Chicago International Film Festival and at Raindance Film Festival in London.
Erika hit the headlines earlier this year after announcing that she would be allowing her 36 members of staff a half-hour break every day to use a private 'masturbation station' in the office.
The erotic filmmaker launched the initiative after noticing that her employees were 'somewhat agitated' and 'performing with less energy' amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Erika, pictured on set, won the prize for best short film at the International Erotic Film Festival in Barcelona with her first adult film
Erika, pictured in 2018, hit the headlines earlier this year after announcing that she would be allowing her 36 members of staff a half-hour break every day to use a private 'masturbation station' in the office
Erika describes her work as 'sex-positive' and told FEMAIL in 2015 that her primary mission is to show both men and women as 'sexually liberated equals'.
Women being in control of their sexuality, she says, and knowing exactly what they want and how they want it is incredibly empowering - an ideal that is sadly lacking from most mainstream pornography.
She said: 'It's so important to make sure my films are creative, contemporary and realistic, with beautiful and relatable settings, locals and performers.
'My viewers like the realistic aspect to my films as they can see themselves in them, their partners, that guy or girl on the street, or in a bar.
'And they enjoy characters who look like they are enjoying themselves, and a story with context, a life behind them.'
