Is the porn world sleazy?
I had the chance to interview a former gay porn star a couple of weeks ago, and I was curious to hear about the behind-the-scenes stuff. What surprised me after talking to him was how professional he said it all was. He said that the studio he worked for was like a regular office, and there were never any drugs on the set, and guys weren’t going at each other in between takes. After I told a few people about the interview, many of them said he was probably protecting his former employers. I really don’t know.
Soon afterward, a woman I know was telling me horror stories about the straight porn business—she worked for one of the biggest companies. Perhaps I’m biased, but my gut tells me that the straight porn world is a lot sleazier. The reason I think this is, in part, because men are less likely to be taken advantage of than woman, and have more self-confidence (and, no, I don’t think that’s always the case). Most women in porn are extremely young, and it’s a male-dominated business. I’ve been told they’re threatened a lot, treated horribly, encouraged to do a lot of drugs, and, of course, told they won’t work if they insist the man wears a condom.
I haven’t seen a lot of female porn stars interviewed, but the few that I have usually seem naïve. It doesn’t seem like a great business for women, unless you’re very secure and strong. Also, I think there’s a bigger stigma, socially, for women who do porn than for men. Face it; women are not supposed to act like whores, whereas men are supposed to brag about it. Hope that changes.
-David
Leave a Reply