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Why mum Jane quit Channel 4's controversial Mums Make Porn

Photo credit: Channel 4 Television / Emma
Photo credit: Channel 4 Television / Emma

From Digital Spy

Mum Makes Porn is a controversial three-parter from Channel 4 which features mums making – and most definitely not starring in – an ethical porn film after they're exposed to the often violent and misogynistic world of hardcore pornography.

The first episode begins with five mums from across the UK meeting over a breakfast of tea, jam and croissants while crusading to make porn consider consent, intimacy, equality, fun, and er, tickling.

Mums Anita, Jane, Sarah, Emma and Sarah-Louise get together and are shown snippets of aggressive porn by producers, and are left visibly upset and disgusted. They devise to make their film feature body positive and diverse adult performers, and promote healthy attitudes towards sex and relationships for the next generation – rather than coercion and abuse.

Jane in particular is cautious. As a religious woman from a community where sex is taboo, her faith and beliefs eventually led to her leaving the project, although her input remained, and she was proud of the eventual outcome.

Photo credit: Dave King - Channel 4
Photo credit: Dave King - Channel 4

She was also concerned that their film would be seen as just another pornography film, rather than one that has been ethically made with an intention to educate viewers about consent and respect.

"What it came down to... I'm a practising Christian and it was about the morality of what I was going to do," Jane told Digital Spy and others at a screening of the first episode.

"You think about the consequences... I thought I could make this movie and I know it would have been made ethically. But it would have been just the one film.

"Nobody would have looked it and thought, 'Oh Jane is sanctioning this one movie', it would have been all of porn. And I just thought about the consequences and ramifications, and that is something I didn't want to be part of.

Photo credit: Dave King - Channel 4
Photo credit: Dave King - Channel 4

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"I didn't want to be part of something that places such a burden on young people. You've seen young people talking about porn (on the show) and my own daughter who feeds into the body image of the world that she lives in, and that's what it came down to basically."

On the positive sides to contributing to the programme and acknowledging the upside to porn, Jane ruminated: "It allowed me to think of so many aspects. There's a lot of women who enjoy porn as well... It empowers, [because it can show] it's the way women should be made love to, and make love. So that part of it was a real eye opener."

Jane admitted it improved her relationship with her daughter as she finally addressed female sexuality with her.

"I can't tell you how much of an impact it has had on me in two ways: firstly, I realised I can be quite a self-congratulating mother because I have a high-achieving daughter. I realised I had not addressed her female sexuality. And she was 19, and we spoke about consent but I hadn't addressed female sexuality," she explained.

"And there she always wanting to look nice and I was always thinking in terms of body image but I it is part of adulthood. And this is the biggest takeaway for me. I am a better mother I even spoke to her about threesomes!"

She also disclosed that women from her community had reached out to her as a result of the series, adding: "There's a huge societal impact on this as well that is going to create ripples in the Asian community - and this one of the reasons that I really wanted to take part. I'm really grateful for my involvement. The Asian community is not seen talking about sex, sex is a taboo, and I've had two women reach out to me already who have been affected by porn in different ways.

"So if that's the impact the film has had then that is a huge success."

Mums Make Porn continues next Wednesday at 10pm on Channel 4.


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