Pornstar Question

[MrHide-Patten]

Isn't that part of the job description, to be shameless. I don't feel bad for porn stars the same way I don't feel bad for circus performers that hurt themselves, you knew what this was all about. If you didn't do the research on the dangers of putting a fist in your ass, well then you get what you have coming... it happens I think, I totally don't watch that stuff. 'cause that's be weird.

 

[Vigormortis]

Well I think we're agreed here. What happens now? Do we do some kind of special handshake? It's very rare this happens on message boards.

I'm...not sure. Um...

Maybe share a pair of internet cupcakes?

 

[KOMega]

Even if the pain is brought upon themselves where no one forced the pornstars to choose the path they chose? Does the viewer bear any responsibility whatsoever for the pornstar's pain?

Well when you put it that way. No.

For example, there is a story every few years about a teacher losing their job because some kid found their teacher in an old porn vid.

I find that to be silly. Not that I don't believe that exists or anything.

I just don't understand why being in porn makes someone unhireable.

 

[J Tyran]

Interesting question. I'm leaning towards the response that if the pornstar willingly gave their consent, without any coercion or lack of other options, then they're responsible for their own career choice and any negative consequences that may come of it.

It becomes greyer though if they chose that option to avoid otherwise crushing poverty, similar to Fantine's choice to become a prostitute in Les Miserables to keep her young daughter from starvation, in that case arguably the consumers hold some responsibility. But then again, if those consumers didn't exist then she might have no options at-all and have died much earlier... it's complicated.

In many ways the porn industry is little different to any other, look at the exploitive abuses that take place to bring us our consumer goods and dispose of the items we are finished with.

The consumer electronics industry for example is far more destructive than the porn industry, tens of thousands of people are murdered, mutilated by warlords or killed in accidents due to the primitive working conditions just to provide the raw materials for our computers and TVs.

Then there are the dangerous processing foundries for those raw materials with poorly paid workers because the big companies hide the fact they use conflict minerals, finally there are the soul crushing factories where people live in barracks with 40 other people per room and often they commit suicide in groups.

By the end of it all that iPad or Galaxy S4 has contributed to the suffering of millions of people, I wont even get into the food and waste disposal industry. Farmers in impoverished nations get a fraction of the real value of coffee, tea or coco beans and the so called "recycling" industry simply ships the waste elsewhere and the way the waste is handled causes some of the worst and deadliest pollution on the planet (even kids under 5 are dying from industrial related respiratory cancers).

I am not trying to dismiss or diminish the negative effects of the sex industry, I am simply pointing out that porn is a consumer industry and like every other consumer service someone, somewhere is suffering horrible exploitation to bring us that product.

 

[Caiphus]

I'm no expert on the quality of life that pornstars enjoy. I imagine it's similar to regular acting; the most famous stars get treated rather well, and it quickly tails off the further down the pyramid one gets.

It's a life choice that they made, so I wouldn't view them as totally helpless, aside from those victims of sex trafficking or child abuse (who clearly deserve sympathy and justice of course, there's no argument, but this thread isn't about them).

However, even if it is a choice, it's certainly not a job that I would enjoy doing. I do hear that a lot of male pornstars get bullied into doing gay porn if they want to get paid. The women probably expect a glamourous job, or do it out of desperation, and then get treated like shit and socially ostracised. So yeah, it probably sucks for a lot of them. Should you feel bad about watching porn? Like J Tyran posted above me, probably about as bad as you should feel for, say, buying an iPad or something. Unfortunately, our monkeyspheres only extend so far, and it would be difficult to care about every person that might have been tangentially wronged through our consumption habits. Unless what you're viewing is illegal, or clearly distressing for the participants, then yeah. Watch away.