- Tuesday, October 28th, 2008
- Written By Guest Author
- Categories: Porn Industry, WRAP Week Back to Blog Home
Ex-Porn Star Tells the Truth About the Porn Industry
The following is a guest post by Shelley Lubben. Shelley, a former porn actress, is the founder and president of The Pink Cross Foundation. Through the Pink Cross, Shelley is a missionary to the sex industry, reaching out to adult industry workers offering emotional, financial and transitional support for those who want out of porn. She also helps those struggling with pornography and victims of pornography. Her heart is to share the truth about porn and expose the darkness of it.
. . . .
Chatsworth, California produces 85% of the world’s adult content. All of the top female talent agencies are located in or within the Chatsworth local radius. Female performers are flown or fly to Chatsworth to work in the adult industry. All of the world’s top male talents live or travel to Chatsworth California for work. Every major and minor adult DVD Company is in the local Chatsworth radius.
The California pornography industry is a destructive, drug infested, abusive and sexually diseased industry which causes severe negative secondary effects on female and male adult industry workers as well as the general public. I am confident of the above because not only was I a stripper, pornographic performer and escort in the California pornography industry from 1986 to 1994, but I have also counseled with or spoken to over 300 female and male workers in the pornography industry as well as those struggling with pornography addiction.
. . . .
General Statistics
I have been working with adult industry workers since 2002, when I began volunteering as a teacher and counselor at local rescue missions and prisons in the State of California. I have worked at Madera Rescue Mission, Bakersfield Rescue Mission, Central California Women’s Facility Prison, and Valley State Prison for Women and have traveled throughout the United States as a speaker and counselor on the negative effects of pornography at various churches, recovery programs and secular organizations. My team and I currently work with hundreds of people struggling with pornography addiction in the Pink Cross Foundation Help Forums.
In my daily work of assisting women and men recovering from the pornography industry as well as those struggling with pornography addiction and gathering research over a period of several years, I have learned significant facts to prove that indeed the California pornography industry is causing severe secondary negative effects on adult industry workers as well as the general public, which is involuntarily exposed to pornography, especially children, whose average age of first Internet exposure to pornography is eleven years old.
- It is estimated that there are 4.2 million porn Web sites—12% of the total amount of sites—allowing access to 72 million worldwide visitors monthly.
- One-quarter of the total daily search engine requests, or 68 million, are for pornographic material, where 40 million Americans are regular visitors.
- According to comScore Media Metrix, 71.9 million people visited adult sites in August 2005, reaching 42.7 percent of the Internet audience.
- The United States adult film industry produces 4,000–11,000 films a year and earns an estimated $9–$13 billion in gross revenues annually.
- An estimated 200 production companies employ 1,200–1,500 performers. Performers typically earn $400–$1,000 per shoot and are not compensated based on distribution or sales.
- Lobbyist Bill Lyon told 60 Minutes that the porn industry employs 12,000 people in California and pays the state $36 million in taxes per year. When 60 Minutes first spoke to Lyon, he was running the free speech coalition, a trade organization that represents 900 companies in the porn business.
. . . .
Porn and STDs
Adult film performers engage in prolonged and repeated sexual acts with multiple sexual partners over short periods of time, creating ideal conditions for transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). All the more concerning, high-risk sex acts are on the rise. At the same time, condom use is reportedly low in heterosexual adult films—approximately 17% for adult performers. In 2004, only two of the 200 adult film companies required the use of condoms. Performers report that they are required to work without condoms to maintain employment.
These practices lead to high transmission rates of STDs and occasionally HIV among performers. After four performers contracted HIV in 1998, Sharon Mitchell, a former adult film performer, founded Adult Industry Medical, a clinic to counsel and screen performers monthly for HIV.
The current practice of periodic HIV and STD testing may detect some disease early, but often fails to prevent transmission. The most recent HIV outbreak occurred when three performers who had been compliant with monthly screening contracted HIV in April of 2004. At that time, a male performer who had tested HIV negative only three days earlier infected three of 14 female performers.
In statements I have received from females and males working in the pornography industry and those who previously worked in the industry, at least 80% admit to catching an STD while working in the California pornography industry. I personally caught the non-curable disease Genital Herpes in 1994 and was not given any information or help from porn producers or the adult industry. Recently, Jan Meza, a former porn actress who left the pornography industry in October 2007, publicly shared of late that she discovered she has Herpes. She is totally devastated in that she caught a non-curable disease. Belladonna, a well known pornographic performer states: “99% of the porn industry has Herpes.” One male pornographic performer, Rocco, 600 films and 3,000 women later says: “Every professional in the porn-world has herpes, male or female.” Tanya Burleson, formerly known as Jersey Jaxin, caught Chlamydia her first year working. She exclaimed, while speaking with me, “I don’t believe I worked with one person who didn’t at one time have an STD.” Tanya made over 200 movies in her three year career. She also says, “Performers have to pay for their own testing, their medicine and lose at least eight days of work every time they catch a sexually transmitted disease.”
Sexually transmitted diseases are highly prevalent in the pornography industry. Among 825 porn performers screened in 2000–2001, 7.7% of females and 5.5% of males had Chlamydia and 2% overall had gonorrhea. Dr. Sharon Mitchell confirms the STD prevalence in an interview with Court TV, in which she states: “66% of porn performers have Herpes, 12-28% have sexually transmitted diseases and 7% have HIV.”
. . . .
Escort Services
Pornographic performers and adult industry workers also engage in prostitution through escort agencies such as Body Miracle, Dreamgirls, and Porno Star Escorts, where they not only risk sexually transmitted disease but also HIV and hepatitis C infection.
Pornographic performers usually prefer escorting because the pay is much higher and sex acts are not as degrading or physically demanding. They receive approximately $100 an hour for working in pornographic films or $1500 an hour for escorting. Adult industry workers who are also pornographic performers get paid higher than other adult escorts due to their celebrity status and can book 2-3 hour appointments and make approximately $3000 a day. Agents also lie to women in the adult industry and lure them into prostitution. Porn Star Erin Moore says, “some agents lie to the girls and tell them they are shooting a scene when instead they set up prostitution acts for them.”
While I was a pornographic performer in 1993-94 I was flown to different parts of the United States by porn companies where consumers of pornography sometimes paid me thousands of dollars to spend a weekend with them where we engaged in unprotected sex. During one appointment with a man and his wife, we engaged in unprotected sex and I passed the disease to both of them. Pornographic performers and adult industry workers definitely spread sexually transmitted diseases to the general public.
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Shelley, remind everyone of the story about how you had Herpes but were cured through prayer and religious healing. That is inspiring and I think useful for everyone to understand where you are coming from.
I just have to say if you think God cured someone of herpes you are a complete idiot.
@Dan – Unless you’re saying God doesn’t exist, I’m not sure why it would be all that hard for the creator of the universe to cure herpes.
god doesnt help anyone, he puts oppurtunities in front of you. then he chooses at the end what your fate is. there is no cure for herpes just a simple pill that hides your breakouts, not make it completely vanish away.
Hi T.J. You’re making some pretty bold theological claim there. Care to tell us where you’re getting your information about God?
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Thank you for this article. There is a darker element to the porn industry that people don’t really realize. Slowly but surely, certain things are creeping into the mainstream.
“Extreme is the new hardcore” one performer once said.
Where is it heading?
I have just started a sex addiction outpatient program. abstinant now 105 days. Thank you for your insight into my addiction. My addiction is rooted in dilusion. I want to know reality. What you write is stuff that will keep me in reality no matter what the cost and that will return me to sanity.
I just wanted to say that this exposure of the depravity of the porn industry, and the abuse of women in the industry is amazing. I believe that many christians have labeled female porn stars as guilty and this article along with several others shows how much pain and agony these women face, and also how desperation and lies put them in these positions. I hope and pray that this exposure will one day put a stop to the porn industry and all it stands for.
why is this all about god?
porn industry will never be shutdown because of how much taxes they pay, same with medical marijuana.
pornstars wont stop making porn because its easy money.
$400-1000 to have sex and up to $3000 for a few hours having sex? whats she complaing about beats working on a oil rig for less pay much more dangerous??
But oil rig workers aren’t degraded beyond recognition. They are forced to do despicable sexual acts. It’s better to die a good person than live as a monster. Are you forced to put a mans genitals in ur mouth daily? What about anal? Both careers have extremely high costs, oil rig can damage you physically, while porn has a 100% chance of emotionally affecting you. Think about that, and get back to this post.
@Drake — you make it seem as if sex workers in the US have NO other options. I know a lot of successful women who work in all types of jobs. Porn workers CHOSE to do porn. No one is forcing genitals anywhere — it is all a voluntary economic exchange. Both male and female workers can walk away at any time and need not choose to go into the porn industry in the first place. Attractive, sexy women can pursue modelling or PR quite easily if they are into that. They can also go to school and become doctors, lawyers, or any type of professional. But the men and women in porn chose it for some reason
@Mike – I don’t think anyone is disputing that women choose to do porn. The problems being discussed are (1) the unlawful and immoral manipulation and coercion that happens on the job, (2) the lies told to these women that they are protected from various harms, and (3) the conditions in a man or woman’s life that leads her to believe a life in the commercial sex business is a good idea.
Go ahead and become a porn star but what will ur kids think of u later when u try to find a wife who knows and excepts all the diseases you have caught making yourself rich. Money is nice but not when u find urself with an STD or two and no one to love u for who u r and not just ur money. Seems kinda pointless in the end when u can’t find true happiness, which is love. Buying items will never make you 100% happy, there is always a void there and often times stds cause depression cuz everyone makes fun of them, like herpes so no one opens up to talk bout it.
More people need to hear about the dangers of pornography. somehow i feel if men who use pornography understands the pains and horror porn stars go through, many would hate themselves for using it.
Jon, I can’t even believe that someone would say that. The dangers may be different, but they are just as real. The amount of money never makes the degradation and humiliation worth it.
While I support anything that leads or better mental health, I am not certain that programs such as these ever get to the root of the problem. In my experience, most people “addicted” to pornography, or involved in the adult industry, were abused as children in a way that has altered their brain chemistry. It’s possible for some that antidepressant medication will work to reduce the pain that causes compulsive behavior. But it’s just as likely that it will not, and the individuals will struggle with the damage done to them until they die. I am living proof of this: A person with a hardcore anxiety disorder that has resisted every kind of treatment out there. I am still plugging along and will never give up the fight. However, I also realize that those promising “miracle cures” usually do not have the solution for most people, either. Good luck.
This article is really interesting and eye opening, but I am going to have to say that the idea that prayer cured your herpes is just ridiculous. There are plenty of other reasons why an outbreak has not occurred, or that her body has gained an advantage in subduing the virus through a healthy lifestyle.
David you sound like most of the world that does’nt want to give God the glory for healing, maybe one day you will have the faith to believe it. Because I have experienced a miracle in healing from the Almighty and know many that have. This lady made a move of faith to live for God and help people trapped in the same situation she was. Thats how He works, she knows what they are facing. So why is it hard to believe God did the healing because she turned her life to Him. I will pray for you brother. God bless.
@ Tim, shut up man, god dosent exist! why so many natural disasters whch kill so many INNOCENT people, surely he can stop that…? why has my best friends mother father and grandmother died of cancer in less than a year when they all prayed to god, but he wasent there for them! god (almighty)…(almighty prick) is not there and your pathetic for believing he is, complete muppet! btw the bible contradicts itself in a number of ways with its own words!!!!!!!
Ah, the pink cross, kind of like the red cross except instead of helping the needy she helps the lazy sluts that didn’t want to work a regular job so they spread their legs and opened their wallets, I’m truly touched.
@Drew – I assume by your expression “lazy sluts” you believe nobody should try to help them. Interesting perspective.
Drew you are a coldhearted insensitive person that is blind to the fact many of these women are trapped into this industry. You are definitely touched but not with real vision.
Being degraded is something that happens in any job. Just depends on whose letting it happen. It is hard to stand up for what you want in a career. How do you think the union started. Lotta hungry mouths went in to standing up for what we believed was fair.
Whore’s know that the money out weighs the commitments so they don’t do anything about it. Nor do they think ” Hay. I’m gonna need a back up plan.” .
You have to pick up a book AND a line of coke if you want something different.
Lazy. Absolutely. Dumb? I think yes. So go work towards a real long term job instead of that $500 hand bag that will eventually be full of so many cum stains you’ll have to toss it out anyway.
And by ” lazy sluts” means don’t help?
I don’t see an interpreting job in your future guy.
Lazy people need help not to be lazy. Just as the biggest looser helps fat asses not be so fat. The way it works is if you realty want to do or be something different. IT WILL HAPPEN. And the general public loves changing peoples lives who deserve it. A little leg work and a bit of determination will show results.
So please offer a hand to that lazy person. But do not hand out a two year plan that comes with leather and ac. We reap what we sew.
I have a friend of mine who was a former female pornstar. She is a sweetheart in a half and a dear dear friend. I have heard much of the things that go on in the industry myself and I can back up this article 100%. But with a few other things added. The women of the industry are being harmed, its not right and its not something I like to look at. These women need to be helped for the better. Its things like whats happening in the porn industry that the men portray as an image to be “the man” is what kills it for us good guys. I would like to help and or give my support in anyway that I am capable for these women who are abused and degraded in the industry. Women are to be loved and protected, not harmed and degraded.
Are you kidding me? The women in porn ask for it. You think they go into it thinking “oh… Its going to be cherries and apples. What a great life?” They’re degraded because they want it!! Do I respect a woman that wants to sleep with me in the first night i met her? No… She doesn’t deserve any respect. Just like these nasty women who go into porn asking to get it. They want it!!! Why feel sorry for women who walk into the belly of the beast?! Do you feel bad for a guy that drinks a 5th of whiskey and drives drunk, gets in a car accident and loses a leg? No… They DESERVE everything they get. I have no sympathy for action and reaction from stupid decisions.
@Rocky – Wow. I suppose because these women deserve it they are thereby not due any sympathy. Of course: we all deserve the wages of wrongdoings. But Shelley is demonstrating compassion by ministering to these women. Why in the world would you ever look down on this?
The porn industry is not exacly honest, it has influence from crime lords and othrs wt tht kind of talent. Some people join it willingly and others d not have a choice in th matter.. u occassionally hear abt people havin sex wt minors in their movies, i honestly doubt tht a 15 yr old gal wants to be slut… Anyway my point is a billion dollar company based on sex has to hve alot of crooks involved… and wts wt all this talk abt woman being degraded, porn has bth male and female actors
So a girl who was abused as a child by perverted men and decides she might as well get paid for it deserves no sympathy? There’s decisions and then there are compulsive decisions which are what alot of these actors make due to unknown history people such as yourself don’t even bother to look into. Not knocking you for being unsympathetic(probably due to your own history) just trying to point out not everything is as it seems
It’s very simple. Lotta money for little effort. No more no less. I’m gonna have to take door no. three on this one. It doesn’t matter what happened I. Their past to bring them there but what can be done about it now. Only the willing will change.
And yes I’ve known many who say to hell with a job. Up until the botched surgery and now they can’t be the door man at Walmart.
Options people. You can’t bank on one thing your whole life. Think about it please if just for a minute.
Where’s the porn 401k? Retirement? And after you’re sagging to low to pay the bills. Do you have enough time to make it back up? Hell no. Sex for money is a job just as McDonald’s is. A dead end. So wise up and start your future now. With a career. Not an hour long car payment.
i like the “lazy slut” comment. it really is true that most of them do not want minimum wage jobs and would rather prostitute themselves. almost all these women are able bodied and can hold 1 or 2 jobs easily. i would sypathize with prostitutes who are deaf, mute or disabled but not these physically able women.
ask any sex worker why they dont want regular job. they will elude the question and give excuses, always.
do not believe the lies these sex workers people tell you. they would rather be “degraded” as long as it pays. most of their complaints are related to MONEY (not being paid enough) not the sexual acts itself.
@devski – I have no doubt some sex workers do not want a regular job. But most porn actresses don’t last more than a year and a half in the sex-for-pay industry. The point Shelley is making here is that these women, though they have chosen an awful line of work, are also victims of many injustices while they are working. I think she is trying to show the love Jesus showed to prostitutes in his own day, that although they had chosen degrading lifestyles, he still did not call them “lazy sluts” and look down on them. He befriended them and helped them to leave their lives of sin.
It’s wasn’t that Jesus didn’t judge. He forgave the things that could be judged. And I do believe sloth is in there somewhere too.
don’t judge people as lazy sluts, u dont know why anyone does what they do. only they know. fyi: people w/ criminal records have less job choices so mind ur own biz. lastly i dont see anything in here about men just how women are hurting………women want equal rights yett we still live in a society that cares nothing about men and overly concerned and worshipping women.
Lazy is an observation.just as something is black or blue. Saying one is good or bad for it is judgement. Just sayin.
It is quite refreshing to read that someone was able to quit this spiritually and physically dangerous job by the grace ofGOD and is now helping others in similar circumstances. I see her as a woman of exemplary courage and others still in this sordid industry should emulate her good example. Let no self righteous fellow judge the csw’s because if Jesus should defy them to cast the first stone if they had no sin, they, like the pharisees wouldn’t have the courage to do it. Sin is that inborn propensity to do wrong which manifests differently in different people and commercial sex work is just one of these manifestations. It should be understood that anyone who has tasted of sex outside marriage without being raped is as guilty before God as the porn workers.
So I’m as guilty as the porn workers because I had sex before marriage! What a load of bull and you forget their all man made rules! Religion causes most the wars in the world and most religious ppl are hypocrites makes me fume!
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I was a stripper who got into it by choice. At the time I thought it would be fun to be admired by members of the opposite sex. Looking back I only did it because I grew up (according to a psychologist) emotionally neglected. I was also bullied. (mainly by boys). I was looking for approval, acceptance etc. I wanted to feel wanted. And I temporarily felt that, but In the long run, I got addicted to alcohol and my self esteem plummeted even further. As you think it would after dealing with drunk guys for a living who treat you like a piece of meat. Even the nice ones, and though there were plenty of them, liked me for my physical attributes. They didn’t know the real me, as a dancer it’s all an act. So soon you start believing that this is now what your worth is. I would say that the number of emotionally healthy dancers I met over the years is about 5%. I mean the amount that didn’t suffer sexual or other forms of abuse and enjoyed the job, and used the money to further their studies, pay off property etc. It could only be worse in the adult film industry. An emotionally healthy individual would not allow themselves to be degraded like that.Can you imagine how much worse it would all be in the adult film industry? Clearly you would have to have some serious emotional scarring to be able to turn up to your 1st shoot, and justify to yourself that it’s ok. To have degrading sex on camera!! These girls are real people with real feelings and they mostly would have had a pretty sad life to choose this line of work. Than the drugs, and alcohol and lifestyle kick in and before they know it they are stuck. HAVE SOME COMPASSION. If they want to get out there should be help there for them, and the people who do help should get a bit of respect. These are people’s daughters, sisters etc.
Your website has detailed information about the porn industry. You have done a great job. Keep Updating your site.
Thanks
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Grow a spine, ladies. I am an escort and I would never do porn bc its unprotected but I love what I do, I make great money, I don’t feel “degraded” whatever that means. Think about it, if a man is an escort would he complain about being “used”? Heck no! I am an independent liberated woman who enjoys life. Degraded are the needy, silly wives that think their husband would never cheat. But hey if you want to be poor and whiny and your self worth depends on a mans love then to each his own. Tata;)
Is Labelle your real name?
I guess that the end justifies the means for you. You earn big money in the industry but for how long?
The author of the article knows the porn industry inside out. After all, she was part of the whole sordid business (as a prostitute and in movies) from a very early age.
maybe you should look a little harder at the dangers of the job.
Hahaha Labelle I see why you are an escort. It’s evident in your lines. The truth is everyone somehow manages to find a reason as to why they do the things they do. But when it starts becoming a ‘defense’ for what I do, i smell a rat. Sure when you were younger if someone asked you; what do you want to become? it wouldn’t be an escort. Well this is because I have been in a classroom too and such a question have been asked. Remember the voice of the people is the voice of the god. Most people think being an escort, pornstar are all degrading, so you r in the few who think otherwise. Keep it up Labelle, we will see your fate after this life!!!
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ok only one thing she choose that life style nobody forces nobody to joint porn
It is also one-sided, don’t paint us all with one brush. Many of us have done porn and are not harmed, it depends on your mindset when you go into it. Also many of the “amateur” studios the actors are not all pulled from that city you mentioned. We shoot in other states and also other parts of Cali.
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WOW… after reading this all i can say is WOW. There are good women, and there are sluts.
If all you think you have to offer the world is your sexuality then you get what you get. This is the USA. if you are from here then you have a choice. if you need money that bad then join the miatary. there is no other reason to
be a escort, stripper, or porn star other than the fact that you chose to do so. me and other men well luv to watch
you do what you do, but we will not feel bad. We did not push you there. You did that yourself. i will never call
you a slut, but your life choice is yours. what comes from it is of your doing. this is the life you wanted
because real work was too much for you. So what you get feom it is what you get.
Here here.
Victim? Tell me about the gun that was put to your head every time you drank and doped your way through this life; tell me about how awful and guilty you felt going to the bank, spending the money you were earning. If you were victomised, how many times did you call the police? There should be a crapload of police reports on file, if you were being victimized. You made bad choices, didn’t want to own up to it, and so blame the industry (and others and other stuff — whoever and whatever they are –) for YOUR mistakes. I’m no porn-advocate, but porn, is a victimless crime. Like every other trade, its supply is in direct proportion to its demand. A better strategy would be to walk away, move on with your life and celebrate the change. It’s great that you walked away, but you were not in prison, nor forced into anything. The reality is, like most porn actors, you used your body to make cash. Period. You also knew it was VERY risky, but did it anyway. and if you didn’t you were braindead, which I doubt. You signed contracts, and performed a “service.” Morlalizing about it after the fact cannot mask that. All of us have walked on the dark side in moments of desperation. (including me.) But it takes determination (and a shitload of rationalizations) to stay in that life. You stayed. Now you’re not “there” any more. All you did was leave the business. At most that makes you an ex-hooker. So what? You want glory and fame? Do something glorious and become famous.
Wow, some folks just have no sympathy or compassion for people. yes everyone one makes decisions and they must live with them. However young women and men are impressionable,some times desperate and gullible. Women fall into and yes are victim to preditory and unscrupulous producers ,pimps and pandering. please read here for my experience with pornography.http://gerilewis.wordpress.com/2011/10/10/the-continuing-tale-of-mary-the-brutality-and-dehuminization-of-pornography/
I have written above, and have this to add. Yes these women have chosen to do porn, but often when young you cannot foresee the consequences of your decisions. I went into stripping for several reasons and enjoyed it for the 1st two years, but by the last 4 I felt stuck, had low self esteem and couldn’t easily get out. I am just trying to draw a parallel between stripping and sex work. I honestly don’t think any young woman chooses to do porn and think ” this is great, I’ll have sex with 10 men today, drink some semen or lick it off the floor and come home with a pocket full of cash. What a great life”. In reality in porn they cannot stick to vanilla (though they may initially think they can) because the nature of the industry is to push boundaries. What was exciting yesterday is boring today. They need fresh faces and the only way to stay in work is to do more and more extreme acts. Apparently ‘extreme’ is today’s hardcore. I am sure there is a small number of women who enjoy what they do but i think the percentage would be VERY low. Certain kinky sexual acts when done with people we are attracted to can be enjoyed but it’s very different when you do these things with people who don’t care about you and people who you are not attracted to but just happened to be cast with that day. Also, of course in theory they should get out and walk away at the first sign of trouble but that is not that easy when your mental health is not right. It took me a full 4 years to get out of dancing after 2 years of wanting to be there. It has to be said though that I and almost all other girls drank on shift to put make the acting easier. Drugs were also common. I would imagine it to be the same in the adult film industry. It’s a lifestyle and it’s not that easy to walk away. I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me because I made decisions by myself but I would think the issues pornstars deal with are tenfold of what I dealt with. I honestly didn’t come accross many girls who didn’t have issues ranging from past sexual abuse, other abuse, absent fathers, addictions etc. I don’t regret dancing because it was at times fun but it’s fun like alcohol.. Superficial and damaging in the long run. I just hate the fact that men think it’s something those women enjoy. Seriously, have you not ever watched a porn flick and though WTF? What is that? And still got off on it and possibly felt guilty afterwards? I’ll wind up now by saying that I like the fact this issue is being talked about so that if someone wants to consider a career in the porn industry they have a bit more knowledge. Have some respect, these people help you get off how many times a week? You watch their movies, yet think of them as lazy sluts. 5 or more hours on a set in strange contorted positions is not lazy. The poles weren’t exactly easy either. And the constant chatting to men about stupid stuff drumming up business. Don’t feel sorry for me, don’t feel sorry for them but accept reality.
Everyone is blaming and criticizing the women in the porn industry, but no one is blaming the male consumers who are buying the porn videos and supporting the porn industry. Without oil your car will not run. Without the consumers the porn industry cannot operate. It takes two to tango. If you are watching porn videos and at the time putting down the porn actresses, then you are a hypocrits! Take a good look at yourself in the mirror before you point fingers at someone else.
If you ever watched porn videos or go to strip bars or pay for prostitute, then you are just as guilty as the female porn actresses that you are putting down.
It is depressing to see all these anti-porn sites are playing the religion card. Where are the people who can see that its unhealthy…Never mind all the supersticious gobbeldygook. It’s UN-NATURAL thats all.
NATURAL and WELL BALENCED healthy people don’t view themselves or others as PRIMARILY sex objects. But rather ae persons of value. Even when they do, Most NORMAL people will be inhibited from rape, incest, child molestation etc.by their CONSCIENCE and/or the NATURAL instinct to see others as we see our self….Another human being with VALUE. Who is MORE than their genitalia.
It’s about VALUE. IT’s about self esteem…It’s not about “SIN” per se, it’s about health vs. sickness. It takes a SICK person to enjoy watching other people have sex ( it’s called VOYERISM…PEEPING TOM..etc)
The sexual guilt beat into our children from the cradle on under the guise of religion is part of the PROBLEM! These sexually/psychologically abuse kids grow up feeling they are “BAD” “GUILTY” “WORTHLESS” little wonder that tend to “act-out” in adulthood the script handed to them as a child. ie. they live their lives so as to PROVE they are who they have been taught to believe thay are by dissaproving, shaming, ABUSIVE PARENTS!
I REFUSE to be reduced to being ONLY a penis, and refuse to see women as nothing but a walking VAGINA! It is a DEGENERATE VIEW OF LIFE!….pornography is a LIE….simple.
@Henry – People play the “religion card” (as you call it) because they are adherents of that religion. They see this issue, and all issues, through the lens of their spiritual beliefs. You obviously don’t share those beliefs, but why would someone give up their beliefs or ignore them when talking about an issue like this?
I’m glad to see that this this issue is being discussed more and more every day. I’ve always had a negative view of pornography since I was raped while being forced to watch porn and recreate the acts in the film. Porn to me is vile, disgusting and dgrading to both men and women. When I try to discuss my views on porn, it is difficult for people to know where I am coming from because I can’t tell the the root of my hatred. Even if that hadn’t happened to me, I would still feel the same about porn. Some people accept porn as a normal, everyday thing in their lives. They think I am some what of a bigot when it comes to porno. I am a very open, accepting person, but I believe that every single person, man or woman, that is in porn has to be a slut. My thought process is that these people go into this “industry” (if that’s what you want to call it) knowing that they are going to be screwed by mutiple partners and that they are going to be required to do obscene sex acts with a complete stranger. What does that say about their hearts? What does it say about their “souls” if believe in souls. Some argue that some of these women who become stippers, escorts or porn stars are doing it possibly to support a family. They argue that the sex industry is “hard” work, no pun intended. I guess worrying about stds constantly and having to be pounded or pound somone or multipe people is a difficult job! It isn’t fair for me to say they are all lazy people who are just looking to make easy money and the rest of them are just in it because their chemistry in their brains are all fucked up, some would say. Maybe they are single mothers is another classic justification. These ideas and oppinions others have and present to me in debates on this subject are translucent to me. They think I see things uh n black and white when it comes to porno. I do, There is not an acceptable “reason” for any person, male or female to whore them selves out. None. Period. I agree that some people might not have a full understanding of what they ‘might’ have to do in the business in their future, but the basis is obvious and I believe that if these people are adults they should be able to* somewhat predict * where the porn industry may take them. In my mind, these pornstars are fully capable people just like you and I. They should go to college on loans, grants, scholarships. They should actually work for something in their life, not take a short cut and then expect people to feel sorry for them. I am a very empathic and sympathetic woman, but I feel little to zero of those emotions for individuals who put themselves in that situation. I always say, there is a reason for everything. I try to understand a persons background to undefstand why they do or say the things they do and say. Why they are who they are, but with porn stars, I just can’t understand why anyone would do that to themselves. I see the”reasons or excuses” , like money, being sexually assulted or malested at a young age, needing attention,having father issues or commitment issues, none of these things justify their actions for me. Expressing my views on pornography has caused so many arguments and fights between myself and loved ones, friends and boyfriends, even my fiancé. It makes me upset because I really feel like they don’t understand fully why I feel this way about porn. It’s easy to say here because no ome knows who I am here. I felt alone in my views on
pornography, Although some of my friends do agree. It makes me feel better to know that people are starting to talk more about how detramental porno is on our culture and society. It effects relationships all around. These pushers of porn won’t stop unless we who feel this way speak up.
Is it possible to start a company of women who produce porn in a manner in which the industry workers are stock holders or owners of the company? I understand that this will not eliminate the problem, but if the abuse is one in which the actresses make money and then fall into the cycle of drugs depression etc..would a female ownership have any impact on a subtle regulatory system..
@peter – Of course that is always a possibility. The issue is more cultural than anything else: by in large, much of the pornography industry in California is still a dirty business. When you have a bunch of men driven largely by greed and lust, it is isn’t advantageous to give the women who are objectified more power.
Take, for example, a study done in 2007 by Robert Wosnitzer, Ana Bridges, and Michelle Chang. They looked at the 50 top selling adult DVDs (as published by Adult Video News). After analyzing the scenes in these films, they found 3,376 acts of verbal or physical aggression—that’s an act of aggression every minute and a half or so. In 73% of instances, men were the aggressors, and when women were the aggressors, most of the time they were being aggressive to another woman. Clearly, there is a premium in these films on women being depicted as tools for male pleasure. (Learn more in my e-book, Your Brain on Porn). It is degrading and dehumanizing. It is eroticized violence.
To give women a stake in what happens would run contrary to the overall business model they’ve set up.
Just my take on the conversation: I don’t believe that women or men for that matter are “lazy sluts.” They do make a viable descision to do porn in hopes of making money or some other means of reason. I guess the women do have a hard time doing porn for a number of reasons and turn to drugs and alcohol to ease the pain whether for physical or emotional reasons. One thing that puzzles me the most, is why do so many people do porn when the chances of contracting an incurrable disease is almost certain! After doing so many films unprotected and people outside of work, its really hard not to get some sort of STD. I don’t know; I suppose the money is just to good to turn down.
I watch porn, and to be honest, I don’t like that I do it. In fact I hate it! But the truth is that there is no other means of convenience for physical pleasure than porn! I am a Christian and I believe in God with all of my heart, which makes my situation even worse. I really hate the fact that porn feeds off of a very primordial, physical urge. I mean looking at it from a basic idea we as people have to eat, sleep, and reproduce. I know that is putting it very basic and it probably sounds like an excuse but that is how it seems to me. I’m sure there are lots of people like me, torn between their religious beliefs and physcial urges. Oh, in regards to the person who was talking about porn is not natural. I don’t think he quit right. Porn is based off of what is natural. What I mean is sex is natural! The other degrading parts of porn is feeding off of people’s inhibition to withdraw from sinful acts which everyone in this world deals with everyday. Thank God for Jesus! He paid for our sins so that we may be forgiven.
@B-Rad – I hear you when you say that you hate looking at porn, the tension you feel between what you believe and your physical urges. But I would urge you to reconsider your understanding of watching porn as “natural.” Sex is natural and good, meant to bond us to another person in love. But porn is solo-sex, bonding you to images and fantasies. Plus, watching porn endorses the industry that encourages the kind of abuses these women suffer.
It is good that Jesus forgives us, but that same grace is also available to change us. I would really encourage you not to give up or lower God’s standards for your sexual life.
(In response to a post from November and continuing) One notable difference between oil rigging and the porn industry is that oil rigging isn’t a sin against God (YHWH of the Christian faith). According to Christianity, sex is intended for only a husband and a wife to share; it seems to be an uncommon practice now for a number of reasons. Those reasons could include: moral rebellion, uncontrolled lust, desire for money, peer pressure, cultural pressure, and ignorance (and a plethora of other reasons).
No doubt, it is possible that a person could enter the porn industry, become rich, and extract no diseases and live a happy and stable life. Of course this isn’t very likely, but I am speaking strictly of logical possibilities. However, if you were to observe the chance of extracting a disease or diseases at work and compare it to the chance of receiving a physical injury at work, then you might be liken to stick with oil rigging. 1: The people running the rigging company are very likely to be highly motivated to keep their employees safe by following a set of rules, regulations, and safety procedures. However, the agents of a porn industry are more likely to be negligent of a persons physical safety; not to mention that fact that even if the greatest possible safety measures are taken, repetitive sex with multiple partners still has a very high risk of disease extraction. Finally, consider for a moment that as a person working in the porn industry you aren’t going to gain a positive reputation, and you aren’t helping the public (except to support those who have pornographic or sex addictions). On the other hand, working an oil rigging job can gain a person a respectable reputation while doing work that benefits the economy in a positive way.
So, even from a non-religious standpoint, it seems to me that the money one might earn from sex/porn is not worth the cost or the risk that is involved.
However, from the Christian standpoint I personally make the claim that living a life in submission to God’s will is worth your life’s focus. You might realize God’s love that does not discriminate or hold grudges.
I fear that I have opened up quite a much larger issue that is too large for this forum. I want to recognize that much of what I have mentioned is controversial, even the processing of oil can be argued to be destructive or wrong, let alone the controversies that a religious argument can bring. I want to just say that I do not mean to impose any opinions on anyone, and I don’t mean to offend anyone. Finally, I say what I do about Christianity because I thoroughly believe it, and would be willing upon request to offer logical, philosophical, scientific, or theological evidence to back my claims. Thank you.
what is with all this god talk
@rich – The “god talk” is because Shelley Lubben is a Christian, as are many of the readers of this blog.
God is a lie! he is non existent, he lets thousands of people (kids) die everyday, what a great god…..! its a total load of bollocks!!!!!
is everyone forgetting the most addictive thing of all isn’t the money, it is the dopamine from the sex.. many of the workers are slaves to their very high release of dopamine since they are usually the few that have explored sex enough to find the most potent type of kink that gets them off. Not all sex release is the same in everyone and not all types of sex gives the same level of release in each person. It is not just the users of porn that get addicted. The performers can be chained by their own sexual releases. Those are almost impossible to break without some serious deep love to absorb one from it
If sex is addictive outside of marriage by way of the porn industry, then it is most certainly addictive within marriage. So is addiction to sex really evil?
@dennis – Is sex in marriage addictive? Yes and no. Porn/sex addiction is what’s known as a “arousal addiction.” With all arousal addictions the operative drive is the desire for variety. For a man addicted to sex and porn, he will be prompted to seek out different images, different experiences, different women. A man who stays faithful to his wife isn’t seeking this variety, rather he is building a habit of intimacy with his spouse, which in turn bonds her to him. While both porn and monogamous sexual relations tap the same neurochemical and hormonal systems, they do not produce the same results.
Aside from these facts, the nature of your question is related to morality: Is addiction to sex evil? The answer to this question is based more on your frame of reference: What is meant to guide our morals? I would argue, from a Christian perspective, that addiction to anything is inherently wrong, merely because the addictive behavior or substance becomes the all-consuming reality of one’s life, and this is a position that only God is meant to occupy for us. To let anything become our greatest longing and desire (even a good thing) is to, in a sense, let it become our god.
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I am a Christian and I know that watching porn is sinful. But there are times when my natural urges do get the best of me, but I am in no way condoning what I do.
However I do know about all the abuses that go on in the porn industry esp. the degrading and emotional and physical abuse of women. For such reasons I do not watch heterosexual porn. However girl/girl porn appears to be a different story entirely. The women are not abused, in fact they very much enjoy what they are doing and performing with consideration for each other
I do not doubt that I grieve the HS and show contempt for the sacrifice Jesus made for me. For this I remain sorry until my hormones again get the best of me. May God have mercy on all pornographers and the people who support this vile industry by purchasing their movies. And please God have mercy on me.
@Luke
If God cured her herpes why did he give it to her and let her transmit it in the first place? Lol you dumbass Christians
@Ray – I haven’t said anything here about her being cured of herpes. I assume your question is for Shelley.
Ok people, the GOD thing…..if you think the almighty took time to cure a pornstars herpes your a jackass. Period. And you keep saying “degrading” and “despicable”….but to whom? so if YOU think something is degrading then it just is for everyone? spoken like a true self important fool. I guess everything not Allah is horrible too, i mean the Taliban thinks so, so it must be true. Yes there is some shady stuff in Porn….kinda like every other enterprise on the planet….and the church is up near the top of that list. Your free to have your opinion, but that doesnt make it correct and dont tell me im wrong just cause i dont believe what you believe
@Jordan – I think the thing that is important to understand is that Christianity is going by an objective standard. Christians believe God has actually acted and spoken in history. This anchors our beliefs about morality in something objective. So when you ask “to whom” is porn “despicable”? The answer is: God. So it isn’t that: “We think its true, therefore it is.” That would be ludicrous. We believe in Christ for the same types of reasons that people believe in George Washington: they existed and people knew them and saw them and spoke to them.
Since girls are not being raped left and right, how about you dish out some accountability? I have removed myself from several bad situations because i have common sense. Nobody tried to gag me and hold me hostage when i left the set!
i really admire your work shelley,porn destroys more than young actors, it destroys marriages and future relationships,and causes rape! I am married and thought nothing of viewing porn, until i tried to turn fantasy into reality with a another very sexy women,i could not have sex with her no matter how hard i tried.then i realized that its not what she looks like but how you feel about her, if shes your soul mate then worship her! porn should be made illegal because its addictive and its more of a slavery to young actresses, and if you want it bad enough your fantasy will come true.and to all you males,you only get one chance for a soul mate/with great sex
Sex is part of life, not Heart of life.
nothing comes as only good. If u think quick money follows the foremost (sexual) pleasure of the life, it’s just a fallacy. When somethings come together, expect good if bad come or anticipate Bad if good has com.
In hinduism also we beleive sex is meant for procreation not recreation. It’s the strength that God has bestowed us to exchange between husband n wife for procreation n let live two together for this reason which u don’t have to buy for one another.
With, how many u enjoy sex, the pleasure is till it last. Better, enjoy with ur wife or husband so, thence u’ll get extra pleasure…..
@ Luke Gilkerson
#1 there’s only 1 story in the New Testament were “Jesus” helped a gentile(non Jew) so for you to say that Jesus showed love and compassion to everyone isn’t true, in fact, Christians pride themselves on the fact that they are gentiles but Matthew 10:5 clearly tells you that Jesus meant for his message to be given to jews only, so i agree with Dan when he says ” if you think God cured your herpes your crazy”
#2 do you seriously think these woman got tricked or forced into doing sexual acts that they don’t agree with?? the problem with this argument is that the woman ACTUALLY has to perform by herself, its not an indirect act! she knows what she signed up for and she has a daily choice of doing it or not. That’s like someone signing up for the ARMY and saying they were tricked into going to war. With that being said this whole situation is a waste of thought! There’s many more things going on in the world right now.
Hey Ben,
#1: Actually you are incorrect. Jesus lived in Capernaum, a leading city in what was called “Galilee of the Gentiles,” regular with Greek speakers from outside Israel. He traveled to Gentiles regions outside Israel. He preached to Greeks. Any cursory reading of the Gospels will show you this.
#2: I can only report on what numerous former porn actresses tell me. When they sign on to do a particular kind of sex scene and show up to the set and are told to do another, this is a breach of contract. Those who enlist in the army know they could go to war. To equate to the two is insulting both to porn stars and military personnel.
There are many difficult things going on in the world right now, you are right. But to ignore one injustice just because there are many more is itself an injustice.
There is a cure for herpes: it is called c vitamin give it a try & also there are herbs that fight herpes also
I find it ridiculous of how much of the junk (meaning porn) is on the internet… And yet those people in the porn industry make MORE money than an average working citizen who is in a DECENT job! I mean that’s just sad and its not fair on everyone else.
I think porn is degrading, stupid and in some circumstances wrong… Yet the politicians are happy to tolerate such a high percentage of it over the internet which makes it easier for young children to accidently access it and be exposed to it at an early age – That’s what disappoints me the most.
Eventhough it doesn’t effect me personally (because it has no space my daily life) it would be nice to see some changes being done to it, e.g. put more restriction on it or something before it eventually gets out of hand.