Adult Entertainment Myths Dispelled

In a business like adult entertainment that is littered with stigmas and stereotypes things are never quite what they seem. One has to be able put aside his or her own prejudices and expectations to see the truth. It doesn't help that the media likes to sensationalize things and only focus on the negative, what people want to hear and what will bring in ratings. This is why everyone focuses on what is perceived to be the negative side of the business. The picture that has been painted is a world where women are abused, degraded and exploited, a world where everyone is addicted to drugs and lives a sex filled live of debauchery and where everyone is at high risk for sexually transmitted diseases.

To be honest I have to say that I never gave any of these things a second thought before I started reviewing movies for Adultmaven. Prior to my first review porn was something I would watch occasionally with my husband for something different to do or new ideas. I never once considered the industry as a whole or the lives of the people in it. To me it had always been just another form of entertainment. When I started reviewing movies I started taking an active interest in the industry and the people in it. From my view point, I would be able to be a better reviewer if I knew about the companies and stars that were involved in making these movies. I started talking to people. That is something I have to say I really like about the adult industry. A good number of adult stars make themselves accessible to their fans in some way. I quickly learned that things were different than the picture that is commonly painted.

As with any industry, there is a negative. There are studios that will take advantage of women and put them in situations they don't want to be in. Being new to the industry they don't know that they are allowed to say "No" and that there will still be work around the corner. In the non-porn world there are businesses that will take advantage of and mistreat their employees. It's why there are unions and labor laws, to help prevent those things from happening. However, in both worlds, the negative isn't the norm. No one blames the restaurant business because waitresses and waiters don't make a decent wage. Most of the time whatever restaurant they work for still doesn't pay minimum wage and they are expected to make up the difference in tips. By the same token why should an entire industry be blamed because of a few producers like Rob Black of Extreme Associates choose to make movies where women are beaten and gang raped. Remember in school when the entire class would get in trouble because one person did something? That is the way the porn industry is treated because of those producers who choose to be exploitive of those entering the business.

Part of the problem is that no one points any fingers at the porn consuming audience who wants to watch and gains sexual enjoyment out of movies where women are abused and gang raped. There is a market for this material and there will always be someone out there to meet the demand. It is what keeps the Rob Blacks of the world in business. Sensationalism equals ratings and it's much easier to make a riveting story out of a pornographer who has done something to incur the wrath of the obscenity police than it is to make a story out of the Rodney Moore's and Dave Pounder's of the porn industry.

It's producers like Rodney Moore and Dave Pounder that are a better representation of the adult industry, however there is no sensationalistic story about pornographers with morals, pornographers that have set down their own rules and do not make anything that is violent or degrading and promotes safe sex. That is a big thing of Dave Pounder's, promoting safe sex to college age couples, and that is who he makes his movies for. At the very beginning of his DVD's there is a PSA for AIM, the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation, and his company has a condom only policy. In a podcast interview I conducted with Dave Pounder we talked about why he decided to do things the way he does. Its both an effort to appeal to mainstream audiences and because he feels that porn is as good as a teacher as anything for teaching about safe sex and STDs. In fact, Dave is one of a number of producers who wants more regulation of the adult industry. The adult industry is currently self-regulated, but many feel that it should be government regulated and have its own labor laws like every other business. As for the wild life of debauchery that one associates with porn stars, Dave doesn't live it. He's happy to live in a studio apartment, drive a Honda Civic and wear shorts and sandals to work every day. Most of the money he has made over the years has gotten put in the bank or invested. He didn't go into porn because he had no other marketable skills. In fact he holds a Bachelors degree in Finance and a Masters degree in Information Management. He entered porn because he didn't like the confinement of a 9 to 5 schedule in a cubical farm wearing a suit and tie. So much for the stereotypical porn star.

He's not the only one. Others have similar stories. By similar I mean they don't start with "I was just out of high school, didn't know what I wanted to do and needed money because..." Justin Syder was previously a pro-boxer and Alan Stafford worked with handicapped children. When not doing porn Justin is working on opening his own nightclub and helping ex-Skid Row drummer Phil Varone promote his Sex, Stand Up and Rock and Roll comedy show. Another adult performer, Jack Vegas, has just opened his own restaurant. Then there is Zak Sabbath who is also a well known contemporary artist who also does porn. These are not the exceptions to the rule of porn stars. This is the reality. Someone reading this is thinking that I just mentioned men, what about the women?

Destiny Day left the corporate world just as Dave Pounder did because it didn't agree with her and found her way in porn. It was something that interested her and she took a chance. She has big plans for the day she no longer performs in front of the camera that include having her own production company and opening a youth advocacy center. Charlotte Stokely got into porn the way a lot of young women do, she started out by dancing in a strip club and met people in the business, found out how much she could make and decided to give it a try. At 22 she is going into directing and is also going to school to be a nutritionist. Amber Peach, who recently retired, originally got into porn to make ends meet after dropping out of college. Now she is going to college to be an entertainment lawyer.

Not one of these people regrets their decision to go into porn and not one of them has any stories of those they have worked with doing drugs. In fact, Alan Stafford told me that porn is what keeps him sober. Prior to his porn career he had a meth addiction and more than his share of trouble with the law that included a rap sheet for being under the influence of an illegal substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, ID theft, credit card fraud, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary and vehicle theft. It was during a year in jail that he decided he would give porn a try and credits his career for keeping him drug free. "Those who are successful in their careers don't do drugs."

Destiny Day echoed the same thing. She hasn't seen a lot drug use and was surprised by that. She expected to see it, as that is what the media tells us, and it didn't happen. She will also be the first one to tell you how safe the industry is. "You know everyone the set, everyone is tested, you see ID's, the girls are taken care of and everyone is respectful."

Safe. That is a word that the general public does not associate with the porn industry. Every 30 days the studios require that the performers get tested for the full range of STD's through AIM. These test results get shared with everyone on set. When was the last time you knew the sexual health status of one of your casual sex partners? Outside of porn there are very few people, if any, who are tested this regularly allowing for early detection of sexually transmitted diseases that often have no symptoms that go undetected.

No, the porn industry isn't anything likeI expected. The people in the industry are not what I expected they would be. When not in front of the camera they paint, work out, participate in extreme sports, read, and manage their own businesses. These are educated and intelligent people making their way in life on their own terms. The norm is quite different than the media presents, maybe because the norm is boring and doesn't make for as interesting news as the exception to the rule. Maybe as a society we are just still too hung up about sex and the sexual revolution didn't bring us as far as we think it.