The Future of Looking at Porn

Hello. I hope you’re well.

This post is slightly different from what you usually get in your inbox from me. It’s about the future of this Substack and how it will be changing, and it’s about finally taking myself seriously.

I began writing Looking at Porn in February 2021 when I was entering the final year of my PhD and writing journalism on trans health inequalities. I wanted to write something fun and playful that would allow me to interact with audiences beyond niche academic conferences or the (frankly damaging) chaos of being a trans journalist on Twitter. A newsletter about kink fit the bill.

Those of you that have followed this Substack since the beginning - and truly, thank you to those who have - will know that it expanded exponentially beyond those analytical first essays on piss play and tickle porn to be something wholly more personal. I have written through debilitating chronic pain, the death of my dad and the joy of trauma recovery through this newsletter when there were no other outlets for me to do so. Writing is how I understand myself, and this has been a space for me to unpick the knotty complexities of my life through the lens of sexuality.

And here we are, two and a half years later and with well over a thousand subscribers. I am so grateful to each one of you. I have historically had a habit of playing down my desire to be an established writer and diminishing my writing in general by brushing it off as a hobbyist pursuit. It can very difficult to be candid about what you want most in the world, because you there is the risk embarrassing yourself if you don’t get it. However, if I have learned anything from my dad’s death, it is to shamelessly pursue what makes me happy. Writing is my passion, and it is time to take it more seriously.

Thus far, I have published a long-form essay for free on this Substack about every 2-3 months. This will not be changing, I will continue to share essays on sexuality at the same rate as I have always done, and they will always be free.

What is changing is that I will be offering paid subscriptions in addition to this free content. Paid content will be more frequent and personal - while the regular free posts will remain focused on sex, this additional content will discuss other subjects close to my heart, such as gender, mental health, literature, faith, grief, and so on. They will also be more personal than the free content and less stringently edited - more of a traditional “newsletter” where I discuss what’s going on in my life and how I feel about it.

This additional content will give me more space to be informal and to interact with you, the readers, more directly. It will also be a space for me to experiment writing in different forms and styles and get your feedback on what you’d like to read. It will allow me to grow as a writer and put more energy into Looking at Porn (!) to make it even better.

The subscription options are as follows:

Monthly (£4/month)

Access to paywalled posts, regular newsletters and discussion threads.

Access to the full archive.

Support my writing for the same cost as buying me a coffee.

Yearly (£40/year)

The same as above, but cheaper than paying for a monthly subscription.

Founding Member (£80/year or whatever amount you want)

The same as above, plus my gratitude for supporting my writing in such a generous way! This option is for those who want to go above and beyond.

Additionally, if you want to access the paywalled content but can’t afford a subscription due to your circumstances, drop me an email at robinccraig@gmail.com and I’ll give you access.

Thank you to everyone who has subscribed to Looking at Porn, and thank you to those who have chosen to pay for your subscription. I can’t wait to talk to you more.