Our rule is that it’s never ok for Shoot Producers to touch models (though there are some minor exceptions).
Many models come to expect to be touched when doing sex work (it’s common in the industry), but they don’t like it. We commit to models that they will never be touched on shoots with abbywinters.com, and it’s a major point of differentiation for the company.
It’s not ok to touch models.
We tell models from when they first encounter us that they will not be touched by anyone – not just “not have their boobs groped” or “not be required to give the SP a blowjob” – but that they will not be touched at all. We make this commitment to models in the FAQ’s on our model recruitment site and in our Models Charter.
Here’s why we have a strict policy of not touching models;
- Models should never feel assaulted
- It’s classy
- Build trust in the company’s professionalism
- Improves reputation of the Shoot Producer and Company
- Increases new-model recruitment
Let’s look at each reason in a little more detail;
Models should never feel assaulted
Assault is defined as the act of inflicting unwanted physical contact upon a person (it also has more serious definitions regarding physical harm, but we consider that to be out of scope in this context).
A model feeling assaulted is the most important reason for our no-touching policy. A model should never feel like being touched is something she has to “put up with” or endure on a shoot (nor should anyone in any workplace, regardless of the nature of the work).
While a seemingly-platonic shoulder-touch can seem “normal” in many workplaces, porn shoots are not normal situations. Models are “on guard”, tend to feel vulnerable, and genuinely consider that rape is a real possibility on a shoot. So, models are especially sensitive to touching that might escalate, when they were promised they would not be touched at all. Many models will perceive this as assault – and indeed it is.
Model Lotte shared this story;
…One photographer told me, “You have STD’s but I can cure them when I put my fingers into your vagina, but if it is really bad I need to put my penis inside of you” – I was 17 at the time.
But after all of that, I came to abbywinters.com and the crew made me love myself again…
(see Lotte’s full feedback on the Model for abbywinters.com Testimonials page)
It’s not ok to touch models.
It’s classy
We know that being touched is the reason many prospective models choose not to work with companies like ours. Stories of being touched (or sexually assaulted) are so common in the industry that it’s become the standard expectation. Some models see it as “the cost of doing business”.
Not touching people in sexualised environments takes organisation, training and control, but it’s well proven that models have a more enjoyable experience when they can “let go” on a shoot without the fear of being touched.
This has become a point of differentiation for abbywinters.com, a safe space where models can make shoots and know they will not be touched.
It’s not ok to touch models.
Loss of trust in the company’s professionalism and trustworthiness
Loss of trust in our professionalism matters: Once the trust is gone on a shoot, the model’s performance will be more-reserved (that is, she won’t take risks, for fear of more touching).
The model will tend to be disengaged in the process, being in “survival mode” (not being raped) instead of opening up to being engaged in the shoot. This will result in a shoot that is less-valuable to our customers because our core product is happy models.
Once the trust is broken it cannot be easily restored. One small bad thing, even one done by accident, can invalidate every good thing done.
So, it’s not ok to touch models.
Loss of reputation of the Shoot Producer and Company
The company succeeds or fails based on its reputation. If we have a reputation for working with Shoot Producers who touch models, these models will not return to work with us and will not refer their friends.
When it comes to touching between a Shoot Producer and a young naked female model, regardless of the facts the “fault” will always appear to lie with the Shoot Producer.
There are many historical cases across the performing arts industry of Producers / Photographers / Casting Directors etc overstepping the line and taking advantage of performers. Since the peak of the powerful #MeToo movement of 2016, society is more alert to signs of sexual misconduct and this has become the expected narrative, particularly in the “dangerous world of adult modeling”, where the public opinion is that everyone is “up to no good” anyway!
One unhappy model has the potential to reach a large audience through social media, and the story will only grow larger each time it is retold. A misunderstanding where;
“Shoot Producer brushes a loose strand of hair from a models face”
Quickly becomes
“Sleazy photographer touched up a vulnerable young woman against her wishes”
Even if the model is honest about what happened (but expresses some discomfort), this story will evolve by the time her friend Jessica has told Bethany and Bethany is recalling what she heard about abbywinters.com to Mary three months later!
We’re a place models can come to do sex work and know they will not be touched by Shoot Prodcuers. It’s a reputation that has taken more than 20 years to build, and we know models like that about us.
So, it’s not ok to touch models.
Negative effects to new-model recruitment
Existing models referring their friends is a major source of new models. The abbywinters.com paradigm requires amateur models, who tend to be more alert to rumours of Shoot Producers touching models.
Touching models has the potential to lose the company many prospective models as the news of what happened spreads throughout the model community.
So, it’s not ok to touch models.
Consider that everyone interprets a shared experience differently
While a Shoot Producer and a Model were on the same shoot together, their experiences and takeaways from that day will often be different, as each will see it from their unique perspective. Consider this scenario;
A Shoot Producer and a model are making a shoot. As the model moves around the set, she trips on a rug. The Shoot Producer leaps up to steady the lighting stand that seemed about to fall. The Shoot Producer’s body brushed up against the model’s hip and side and side of her breast.
When sharing the story with her friend a few days later, the model does not recall;
- The immediate and heartfelt apology given by the Shoot Producer, or
- That the Shoot Producer initiated a 10 minute break for them both to recover, or
- Throughout the day, the SP always explained what was about to happen, or
- The SP was professional in every other way.
This is not because the model is difficult or manipulative, it is just that in relation to the touching incident, everything else became unimportant in comparison and a deep memory was not made of anything else. “He touched my breast. He’s not supposed to do that!”
When I was a teenager my boyfriend took me to a house party. He left me alone, and one of his friends came to chat with me.
When my boyfriend saw us, he got jealous. Rather than “use his words”, he thought it would be funny to use a frying pan to the back of my head to get my attention (like in a cartoon).
He and I remembered this event quite differently:
From his perspective, he was being a goofball and ‘tapped’ me on the head with a frying pan. Then for “no reason”, he found his girlfriend ghosted him thereafter.
From my perspective, I was attacked out of nowhere. I suddenly became aware of my own vulnerabilities, and developed a fear of men who were physically stronger than me for a while.
We both lived the same events, but in our own minds these events were “recorded” differently. Neither of us were lying but our different realities didn’t match – we had different perspectives.
SPT Masie