Bellesa

Bellesa was founded in February 2017 by Michelle Shnaidman, who felt alienated by mainstream pornography websites—she highlighted "grow your penis by 4 inches"-type adverts as a demonstration that the sites are not designed for her.[1] Shnaidman majored in Psychology and minored in Women's Studies at McGill University, graduating in 2014.[2] She told Bustle that her research had determined that women want more "authentic" performer pleasure and "relatable" bodies in pornography, with an increased focus on male bodies and noises.[1] According to a sponsored article in The Bull & Bear, Shnaidman named the website after the Catalan word "beauty".[2] Vice journalist Zing Tsjeng wrote in September 2017 that the website's official comments "leaned hard on the language of feminism and sex positivity".[3]

The website began by hosting user-submitted videos, pornographic fiction and other media.[1] It also hosted a blogging platform, The Collective. An early NowThis News video drew attention to the site.[2] In September 2017, complaints by pornographic actors including Kim Cums, Janice Griffith and Casey Calvert about the illegitimacy of the website hosting videos without the performers' consent or financial benefit led Bellesa to remove its video and picture sections.[3][4] According to Tsjeng, video clips were used without crediting the director or production company and appeared to be embedded from tube sites including Pornhub, SpankBang and XHamster. Mile High Media said that they had not given permission for their productions to be used on the website, but that it made up a substantial amount of the content.[3][5]

The owner of Takedown Piracy, Nate Glass, said that the website were not hosting the content, instead "curating" the "predominantly pirated content". Glass sent at least 20 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notices to Bellesa. Pornographic director Jacky St. James, whose content was used on Bellesa, criticized that the website was "faux-feminist" for making statements about ethics but using others' content without credit.[3] According to The Daily Dot's Ana Valens, the website's terms and conditions held the users who uploaded material, not the owners, responsible for copyright issues.[6] Jiz Lee, a producer for PinkLabel, commented that "piracy is the most destructive to independent creators, especially women filmmakers and female performers who produce their own content". Sociologist Chauntelle Tibbals wrote a piece for AVN strongly critical of both Bellesa and Suzannah Weiss's positive profile of Shnaidman for Bustle profile, which Tibbals said was what brought scrutiny to the site.[4]

Shnaidman apologized in a statement, saying: "it has become soberingly clear to me that the goal with which I created this platform has regrettably become in direct conflict with supporting and respecting the women of the sex-space". Brady Dale of The New York Observer commented that Bellesa's mission statement was solely about its audience, not sex workers, but that Shnaidman's apology "acknowledges that she also has a responsibility to the women producing this work".[5]

Bellesa.co underwent a website redesign in August 2019, and by March 2020 it had launched a sex toy shop, and a webcam model section. They formed contributing partnerships with Deeplush, Sweet Sinner and Vixen.[7][8] Their tiered susbcription plan scheme, Bellesa Plus, began in February 2021.[9]

In October 2017, AVN announced that Bellesa was founding a pornographic studio, Bellesa Productions, in co-operation with Mile High Media.[10] This manifested in April 2019 as Bellesa Films, with Jacky St. James as a director. It debuted with two box sets, First Times & Second Chances, and This Isn't Cheating, the first of which features Calvert and the latter of which features Carter Cruise.[11] In 2020, Damon Dice was the first contract performer for Bellesa Films, with an exclusivity contract for a period of one year.[12]

In December 2019, Bellesa Films launched an imprint, Bellesa House, with St. James as a director. According to Bellesa, the productions give performers a chance to choose their partners; it features movies that are unscripted and unedited, where performers choose their own clothes and do not wear makeup or have their hair done. In addition, no sex stills are taken. The videos have no dialogue and are not softcore. Shooting for the imprint began at the end of January 2020.[13][14][15]

Another original production series, Bellesa Blind Date, began in August 2021. Directed by St. James, two performers communicate with each other anonymously about their sexual fantasies, and then meet each other and have sex.[16]

The BIPOC Creators Program, launched in February 2021, earmarks $20,000 per month to projects involving BIPOC workers. Bellesa stated that the initiative was needed because "much of the adult content shot by studios with performers of color, even in 2021, is fetishized and problematic".[17]

In 2018, the company launched Bellesa Boutique, a sex toy shop.[18] They began partnering with BuzzFeed. Their first original product, the AirVibe, was released in November 2020. The Pebble debuted in February 2021. The dates were timed to arrive shortly before seasonal peaks in sex toy sales.[19] The AirVibe is a vibrator that uses suction and G-spot stimulation.[18] In November 2021, Bellesa Boutique launched the Demi Wand sex toy with American singer, songwriter and actor, Demi Lovato. The product is a wand vibrator charges in its casing. Lovato said in a press release: "There is nothing more empowering than taking your pleasure into your own hands ... We are all deserving of pleasure".[20]

Bellesa sponsors BuzzFeed's Sex and Love vertical, while BuzzFeed receive royalties when its readers are pointed to a Bellesa product and complete a sale. The companies cannot spend money on Google or Facebook-owned platforms advertising, as their terms and conditions forbid this, but they can post on Facebook and Instagram. They use information collected from BuzzFeed readers to inform their consumer choices.[19] Bellesa have also worked with The Daily Beast in promoting its sex toys.[21]

On August 19, 2021, the content creator platform OnlyFans—best-known for hosting pornography[22]—announced that it would be prohibiting sexually explicit material from October onwards. The same day, Bellesa declared that it would be launching a similar platform for sex workers and content creators later in the year. Individual creators will monetize their content through subscription fees and one-time tips.[9][23]

Bellesa are a sponsor of Rachel Kramer Bussel's Good Sex Awards, whose first ceremony was in July 2021.[24]