I’ve been industry for a long time, and I’ve heard countless rumors, misconceptions, or just plain nonsense when it comes to our industry and the people in it. Sometimes it’s humorous, and sometimes is just plain sad, so today I will address some of those myths and rumors.
1. “There must be something wrong with you because you’re a porn star.”
Everybody has their issues, insecurities, problems, and baggage. Whether you work as a neurosurgeon or at McDonald’s, people are people, human beings are human beings, but in no way, shape, or form, are people in our industry more damaged or disproportionately have more issues. Most of us didn’t enter the adult industry because we were out of options, or suffered some type of mental or physical trauma. Not to say that there are people in our industry that haven’t suffered from this, but the newer generation of performers have shown that this can be a thought-out, well-planned career choice.
People have asked me: why would you go and have sex with a complete stranger for money to be found and put on the internet? I will ask them: why would you work a dead-end job for minimum wage with all of the unnecessary stress and very little financial or personal gain?
Many of us who decided to work in this business in some capacity have made the emotional decision that we can handle the blowback from society, and we’ve chosen a career path based on the fact that we enjoy sex and money. We are comfortable enough to live with ourselves every day, and smart enough to take the revenues from this line of work to better ourselves and the lives of those we care about.
2: “Porn stars are rich.”
I hate to say it and admit it, but the late-90s, early-2000s are over. The days of porn stars living like rock stars no longer exists, well at least not for the most part: performers are not making thousands of dollars a week. At times it can be sporadic, and you have to do a lot more work to make the same amount of money you would’ve made years ago just doing scenes. It’s a small trade-off: you could work a regular job 9-to-5, five days a week, and you could make anywhere from half to 3x times your bi-weekly salary performing in one video. That’s a lot of money to most people, and if you can do that consistently throughout the year then it’s absolutely worth walking away from your day job in those cases. Unfortunately, most porn stars nowadays are part-time performers, meaning that they still keep their day jobs. I have other revenue sources as well.
3: “If you’re a male porn star, you have to do gay scenes before you can do boy/girl.”
This is a myth that I have heard for years, and in fact the complete opposite is true: we have to admit that there’s a certain stigma in the industry towards performers that have worked on both the straight and gay side (also known as “crossover performers”). There is a fear that if that male performer is involved in gay or bisexual acts on camera, what he does off-camera may be more risky sexual behaviors. So, many performers option out of working with male talent that they know have done work in the gay, trans, or bi sides of the industry. Now I’m not one to say whether or not this concern is realistic or not, but that stigma exists. So, in fact, the men that think they need to do gay scenes first in order to cross over may actually have less opportunities on the more-mainstream side of the industry because of this stigma. You do not have to start off doing gay-for-pay in order for the major producers to give you a shot as talent.
4. “Porn stars are dirty.”
When was the last time you got an STD or STI test? If your answer to that is that you don’t know, or don’t remember, you’re not alone: millions of Americans every year are left undetected for STIs and STDs. Most Americans only get tested when they have their yearly physical, and in many cases they have to ask specifically for STD and STI testing to be done. I can’t tell you how many numerous times I’ve seen or heard someone talk about having a one-night stand or hooking up with somebody, but never have I heard someone say, “Hey, I think you’re really hot and I want to have sex with you, but first can I see your four-panel STD test?”
This happens on a regular basis with adult film stars who are actively working in the industry. We are properly tested anywhere from every 14 to 30 days, so at the very least being tested and showing that everything is negative lessens the risk of that person passing on STDs or STIs. From my experience, many cases where I’ve seen adult performers contract an STD usually occurs from their partner who has been promiscuous outside of their personal relationship and brought something back to the star in question. Then, the star’s test comes back positive. Also, as an agent I can name numerous times that a girl has decided to get in the industry, gets tested for the first time ever in her life, and it comes back positive for an STI. They’ll sit in my office crying, telling me about how they’ve only been with one person, or they been with their boyfriend for months or years and they’ve never cheated, and they have no idea how this would’ve happened. I always reassure them by telling them that at least they found out now. If it wasn’t for you attempting to get into the industry, you could’ve potentially carried this infection for quite a long time and infected other people. Porn stars aren’t any dirtier then that sexy guy or girl you met at the club, bar, or party and hooked up with… without asking to see if they had been tested recently or ever for an STD.
5. “A porn star will get more money if she waits until later in her career to do interracial or anal scene.”
Let’s be honest: the industry can be a little racist at times, and many agents follow old business models. When DVD and VHS were king of the industry, there may have been a little bit more of a thought process on these types of career planning. There was a time that some agents believed that they didn’t want their prettier models doing anal or interracial, as if it lessens the value of their performer (which is completely not the case).
Let’s go back in time, close our eyes, and pretend like it’s 2000. There literally hundreds of VHS and DVD companies and not that many Internet companies. A new girl comes into the industry in January after the convention season. Maybe from January to June, she’d work just for girl/girl companies. From there, June to December, she’ll shoot for all the boy/girl companies. At the next convention in January, the company she shot boy/girl scenes for has her plastered all over box covers and will use her name and likeness to market the DVDs the VHS tapes to help grow her brand. Now that she’s got to her first year in the industry, it’s time to up the ante, so she’ll want to do harder scenes. Maybe now she will start doing anal or interracial, and she can go to her agent or to the companies and start a bidding war for her first major gangbang, anal, or first interracial. The production companies might be pitted against each other to pay her more money to get her first, so they can quickly shoot her, create a box cover, and get that sold out to the masses as quickly as possible before their competitors. Back in those days, having a DVD with the girl’s name on it as her “first” could be profitable if she wanted to have an extended career and possibly make more money down the line.
Now let’s open our eyes and look at today’s market: the Internet has killed those companies. VHS is dead, DVD is dying, and anybody with a decent cellphone can make a porno. Production companies are now forced to shoot models as quickly as they can, whenever they can, based off of their budgets and their looks. If you’re not willing to do anal or shoot interracial, those companies could care less if you’re not willing to do it. They’ll just find somebody else who will, because they have to. They’re not going to wait three months to a year for you to decide that you’re ready to do it now and pay you a big check for it. If you’re not willing to do it now, they will just find somebody else who is, because they have to create content every month whether you’re in it or not. You’re fighting against time and competition and if a prettier girl steps up to the plate by the time you’re ready to move forward, the production companies may not care. I can tell you a dozen or so girls who waited to do their first anal or interracial scenes expecting to get a large paycheck and weren’t offered anything more than the industry standard. Some companies that are willing to offer more for the shoots are paying for the exclusivity. A company may pay you an additional couple hundred dollars for your first scene under the agreement that you’re not going to shoot for any other company during a specific timeframe. They want to be able to have your only anal, boy/girl, or interracial scene on the market, but the question becomes: is the money worth waiting for? Is the money you’re getting upfront worth not being able to shoot that type of scene for a certain amount of time?
Hope this helps give you some insight into the business and help break some of the industry myths.
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