Abby Winters is a subscription website that has beeen around since 2000. It was originally produced in Australia but is now based in Amsterdam, for reasons described on their Wikipedia page. The site features solo female masturbation, mutual female masturbation, some "girl-girl" sex (their term), and a little bit of heterosexual sex. It would generally be classified as "reality porn", though that classification includes so many obviously faked sites that it is almost an insult. The site itself describes its approach as "documentary". What makes it a feminist site is its approach to its models.
Before we describe the content of the videos, a brief word about technical aspects. The videos are, the site claims, shot entirely by women, which one would expect to make the mostly amateur models more comfortable. The videos are generally very well shot, with a mix of full-body shots and close-ups. Since late 2010 or so, videos have been available as MP4s in HD quality (1280×720), as well as at lower resolutions, and they can be downloaded or streamed. From mid-2008 or so, videos were available at 1024×576. Before that, they are available only at 352×288, usually as both MPEG and WMV, the latter being higher resolution.
Abby Winters strives to present its models as whole people, and not simply as sex objects, and it encourages interaction between members and models on forums associated with the site. The first video that features a particular woman is usually what they used to call a "Solo" video but now call a "Nude Girl" video. A typical such video is shot as an interview, often in what appears to be the woman's own home or bedroom. The model will start fully clothed, with limited (or even no) makeup, and with the interviewer asking about her life and interests. As the model undresses, the questions become more sexual, such as when and how she first had sex, what she likes and does not like, and how she masturbates. The overall feel is extremely natural, and the women are engaging and interesting. Often, though not always, these videos, which tend to run 15 to 20 minutes or so, will end with the woman masturbating.
There are often follow-up "Nude Girl" videos as well, that have the same sort of structure. There are also a few "Nude In Public" videos, which are what one would expect, and there is a series called "Girls In Lingerie At Night" (previously, "After Dark"), that is a bit more experimental and artsy.
The "Video Masturbation" videos (previously, "Intimate Moments") are focused on masturbation. They seem usually to be shot with one or two cameras mounted on a tripod, and with no one else in the room with the model. Most of these feature just one woman, but some of them feature two women masturbating together. They are extremely natural, as well, and one rarely has any sense whatsoever that the model is performing for anyone. Rather, the ethos is of a woman masturbating as she would were no one watching, something that seems to be confirmed by the fact that, if one watches more than one such video with a single woman, one often finds that she masturbates in almost exactly the same way.
The "Nude Girls" and "Video Masturbation" videos are extremely well done and will appeal to anyone who likes watching women masturbate to real, authentic orgasms.
The "Girl-Girl" videos, on the other hand, we have found to be somewhat inconsistent. They are, to be sure, realistic, but as often as not the women seem uncomfortable. The models are often not professionals, and one has the sense that the idea of having sex in front of a camera with a near stranger may have seemed like more fun than it has turned out to be. We also have the sense that the women are not always very experienced having sex with other women, and it can sometimes feel as if they are not sure what they should do, or even what they want to do. There are exceptions. Some of the models who have been with Abby Winters a long time have an amazing ability to put the other models at ease. But one has to sort through rather a lot to find the good stuff.
There are also a handful of "Girls With Their Boys" videos (previously, "Girl-Boy"). Lately, there seem to have been about two of these a month, for a total (in July 2013) of 27 sets, as contrasted with over 2,300 solo shoots, 1,200 masturbation shoots, over 500 girl-girl shoots. Abby Winters claims that they "only ever shoot with real-life partners". While there is no way really to be sure, the couples do seem at ease with each other, and the sex is generally very realistic and convincing. Usually, there will be three videos in such a series: A "Before" video, in which they talk about their sexual relationship; the main video, in which the couple has sex, though this is sometimes split into two or more videos; and an "After" video, in which they reflect a bit on their experience.
The heterosexual videos are often quite long, 45 minutes or more, since one is seeing a complete, unedited sexual encounter between two people. Frankly, we would be happy to have seen a bit of editing in most of these, and that applies as well to the mastubation and girl-girl videos. There's something to be said for the documentary style and for presenting sex as it is. But these are not really documentaries, and it can get a little boring watching someone do exactly the same thing for five minutes. We're sure it feels great to them, but, speaking as the audience, it isn't always so great for us.
Abby Winters is an extremely popular site, and with good reason. We recommend it highly as "ethical" porn that treats women with respect. It will appeal most to people who enjoy watching women masturbate. But it probably isn't worth joining the site if you are looking primarily for heterosexual content, since, though that is quite good, there just isn't enough of it to justify a membership.
