Tattoo aficionados rejoice! There’s a new era of inked superstars in adult films – and it’s been a long time coming.

Gone are the old days of pure white skin, and vanilla sex scenes in porn. For that you can thank a handful of pioneering women, who with their artistically modified bodies challenged the sex industry status quo, and in the process altered the standard of beauty in porn.

Tattoo Boom

Originally coined as “subcultural erotica” back in the early 2000’s, this genre of adult film also goes by other names like Alt Porn, Alternaporn, Punk Porn, Emo Porn, Goth Porn, and Tattoo Porn. There are several entrepreneurs with whom I credit for establishing the Alt Porn genre, the main one being Joanna Angel’s production company and website, Burning Angel, which to this day is still considered the industry leader.

The history of alt porn started back in 1999 with the first explicitly alt porn site, Blue Blood’s GothicSluts.com, which was followed by Raverporn, and NakkidNerds. Then came Supercult in 2000, and in 2001 Burning Angel, The SuicideGirls, and FrictionUSA all launched their sites. These companies and others were the early pioneers who paved the way for an ever-growing niche in the adult video market. VCA Pictures, Vivid Entertainment, Evil Angel, Naughty America, Kink.com, Digital Sin, Elegant Angel, and more have all capitalized on the alternative craze.

There are a handful of current performers in porn that I attribute with popularizing the tatted look, making it more ‘mainstream’ and accepted in the adult industry. Celebrities like Bonnie Rotten and Christy Mack are the girls currently winning the highest achievements in porn.

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