LJ--Phillips

The below extract is from an upcoming article (pre-editing):

Many of those who consume and pay for erotic artwork are from first world countries. Many of those who produce commercial erotic artwork are not. The artists themselves are often from developing or third world countries. They are often unable to find work in their countries due to their sexuality or gender identity. Therefore they generate an income by providing online erotic artwork to people from wealthier countries.

The artists in question frequently support not just themselves but also partners or dependent family members via their art. I know several local artists who do so.

This nature of this artwork is often defined by the tastes of the market ie the people with money, those from more developed countries. However, the LGBTQ+ artists still often produce work that reflects their sexuality or gender identity in some way albeit in an eroticized context.

In order to market it, they also use tags that some consider problematic (for example trap, cuntboy or futanari.) They do this in order to draw the attention of potential clients who use these terms as search terms. Again, the first world market is defining how this game is played. The artists in question may also use certain terms to distinguish their artwork from artwork of characters who are in the process of transitioning or actually genderqueer. Using porn terms helps to distinguish erotic art created for the purpose of titillation rather than something created to accurately deal with gender identity or sexuality.

Now here comes the interesting part. A lot of porn terms are problematic if applied in a real life context. Using a porn term for a transman, transwoman or genderfluid individual is fetishistic and dehumanizing (unless an individual has reclaimed a certain term and wishes to be addressed as such.) Using a porn term for artwork of a transman or transwoman is also problematic. However, futanari, cuntboy and trap artwork is not designed to depict characters who have transitioned to any degree or are in the process of transitioning.

This artwork features genitalia that changes via magical means, shifting between different shapes, sizes and forms. An erotic artist might depict a character who shifts from effeminate male to female to female with a penis to male with a vagina, all within an erotic context. But this character is not depicted as transitioning, transgender or intersex. Therefore, would it be appropriate to use the term transgender as a tag instead of an equivalent porn term?

We also have to consider that the meaning of words differ according to geological location. For example, the term colored is a slur in America and has some terrible historical associations. In South Africa, it is a neutral term describing a race, specifically Cape Coloureds and many people in SA still refer to themselves as Coloured.

Likewise, in certain subsets of SA gay culture, the term trap is used to self-identify by effeminate gay males who identify as male and use male pronouns while being very feminine. It takes courage to be effeminate and identify as such in certain parts of SA where "corrective" rapes of femme men and masculine women still occur.

However, the term trap is considered problematic online and among certain members of the transgender community, understandably so. But we do need to acknowledge that terminology can mean different things to different people and within different contexts.

But I've meandered off-topic and I apologize. Let me circle back to the topic of erotic artwork featuring futanaris, gender transformations, cuntboys and traps. As previously stated, a lot of this artwork is done by queer artists in developing or third world countries, many of which have discriminatory policies in place.

So a lot of these queer artists earn a living from monetizing erotic artwork. They tend to use potentially problematic porn terms in order to attract traffic and clients. And the artists are then frequently attacked online for using such terms to market their work. It's ironic and sad when queer artists from the third world are attacked by first world do-gooders and labelled as transphobic/homophobic. Especially when the third world artists are earning a living through erotic artwork because they may not be able to find alternative work due to local homophobia or transphobia.

In our fervor to educate, we must not attack other members of our LGBTQ+ family who too experience persecution.