Comment by mvandemar | Hacker News Reader

Comment by mvandemar | Hacker News Reader

The only issue I contend with personally on porn is the number of women who create it in order to support a drug habit, thus removing a portion of the voluntariness from it. I know that factor does not apply to all women creating porn, not by a long shot, but by knowing the stories of women in the exotic dancing industry, where many porn actresses are recruited from, it's hard to ignore the reality once you become aware of it.

Also, like any fantasy based pasttime porn has it's own addiction dangers that would not necessarily be considered 'healthy'. Although this of course would not apply to people who are not prone to fantasy addiction in the first place, there is a reason that internet porn is a multi-billion dollar industry.

>Note: Just to clarify, I don't have any issues with the act of making, staring in, or viewing porn itself. I do watch porn. And I know that addiction occurs across all industries and walks of life. It does happen to have a higher occurrences in certain industries though, such as, for example, adult entertainment or telemarketing. I personally do not view porn as either bad or immoral.

Couldn't that be an issue with virtually any job? Do you take issue with factory jobs, due to the number of alcoholics working there just to support their beer-purchasing habits?

It is an issue for sure, but not one specific to pornography.

The social stigma applied to porn actresses is enormous. Working a factory job will not exclude you from other lines of work later in your life, nor is it necessary to hide former factory work from your parents or acquaintances. Even a brief stint in porn can cause long lasting deleterious effects in a woman's life.

conversely, there are many people who look down their nose at you if you do a factory job, and many people who admire or desire women who worked in porn/stripping.

That argument doesn't hold. No one ever lost custody or a subsequent job because they were formerly a factory worker. A former porn actress is treated by the bulk of society much the same way a sex offender is treated.

I wouldn't go as far as sex offender. It's true among prudish areas of society there is stigma (but then would you want to deal with those type of people anyway).

A lot of former porn actresses/dancers/strippers go on to marry wealthy businessmen, and many enjoyed their work. The same can't be said for factory workers.

I didn't see how this related to the drug habit for a second; you're saying that women turn to pornography in order to support their drug habit, not paying attention to the negative consequences, right? I want to make sure I'm understanding correctly before I reply and sounds like an idiot.

I think that may be outdated. There are intelligent, interesting actresses that are covered in main stream media, best known current example is Sasha Grey but there are many others.

How do you know that "even a brief stint in porn can cause long lasting deleterious effects", have you talked to them? As in any job, e.g. programming, IT, etc. there will be people who hate their job. I think the relevant question is whether someone is forced to a job they hate or has "deleterious effects"?

The idea that all porn actresses are clueless feather brains who were tricked into this trade and continue to be victimized is condescending.

> The idea that all porn actresses are clueless feather brains who were tricked into this trade and continue to be victimized is condescending.

That's not what I'm saying at all. You are not a realist if you think a resume that includes porn or other sex work will not very much damage a woman's life. Find me one instance of a factory worker facing these kinds of consequences:

http://www.salon.com/life/broadsheet/2009/07/08/mzberlin/

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2009/08/31/2009-08-...

The conclusion I deduce from these news stories is that there is still quite a bit of prejudice against porn workers (one can argue esp. in the US; in Europe I have the feeling that they are more accepted). This, of course, doesn't make their profession inherently bad.

You cannot have it both ways: You are either (i) against the widespread stigmatization of porn workers (female and male, you don't see the male stories because they don't make for juicy journalism) and fight for them to become legitimate members of the society; or, (ii) you hold that porn is a dirty thing that should be eradicated (along with its workers). In the end, you can't be against porn and for porn workers (this actually was/is? the self contradictory stance of feminist activists against porn in the 70s). A lot of them see that as their job.

I'm not taking a stance on the inherent goodness or badness of porn at all,I'm merely pointing out that sex work is in no way equivalent to factory work.

"The only issue I contend with personally on porn is the number of women who create it in order to support a drug habit, thus removing a portion of the voluntariness from it."

You could say this about any actor. I heard David Bowie didn't even know he'd starred in Labyrinth until he saw the video on sale at Blockbuster a couple years later.

I think your contention better supports an argument for the decriminalization of drugs than it does regarding the social ills of porn. As far as "voluntariness" goes I have known a number of high billing IT contractors over the years that work to support an expensive cocaine habit.

We should just decriminalize everything, which would completely eliminate every legal problem on the books.

There's little doubt there's still a very seedy side to the business despite it being commercialised and regulated to a high extent. Although it's worth mentioning that a lot of the stars aren't your regular girl or boy next door types, they often have a troubled past and their own emotional luggage before they get into pornography. In many cases, the problems you outline are an extension of that.

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