Well, it seems that if something is worth doing, it’s worth banning. SRL is banned in many places — we got kicked out of Japan, were banned and escorted out of Austin, Texas by officers of the law, and are banned from performing in San Francisco, our own hometown. To make my fellatio book’s "forbidden" status at public libraries official, my publisher has issued this press release.
The HIV in porn issue rages on within the industry, and discussion among fans, performers and producers on messageboards and other places has reached a passionate, fevered pitch. I posted a link to an AP article about AIM’s Sharon Mitchell and was met by this link to a discussion thread, and apparently much in the industry is being called into question now. It should be noted that I love Adult DVDTalk, and highly recommend their discussion boards. It’s good that all of these questions are finally being asked, and I hope they are answered. One woman wrote:
"I guess I’m mostly lamenting the fact that right now, I don’t feel I can fully trust even the supposed "good guys" in this business. I’m disappointed by things industry leaders have said; I’m even more disappointed by things some fans have said. My attitude about porn these past few weeks has become very confused and not terribly positive.
Somebody restore my faith, please."
My response earned me a lot of email, so I’m reposting it here:
After reading the Adult DVD Talk thread, one thing I’m sure of is that there are two women I don’t want to be right now — one is Condolezza Rice and the other is Sharon Mitchell.
This post may get me in trouble too, and it is all from my POV, but here goes…
Porn industry, meet the sex ed industry. The sex ed biz is a can of worms, and it is equal part scammers, backstabbers and bullshitters, and the rest are continually educating themselves, honest, and work on the front lines helping people. It is often hard to tell these people apart.
There are plenty of people who are accredited in a dozen different ways (and not) who give false or misguided sex information out, advice that can be dangerous. Just read the SF Bay Guardian or the Playboy Advisor, or even any number of "sex ed" books from people who do no more than play parts on TV shows (Kim Cattrall, Sex and the City, et. al.).
I do know that school has a bad rap among the other sex ed communities here in SF, especially among those who work the front lines answering crisis phones and working in clinics, but I don’t know why. I visited them for an opening one night, and no one there had any idea who I am. (hope that’s not too egotistical) What I do know is that their students have come into our stores on field trips, and I have given them "store tours" that last for about an hour. They often have little knowledge about how sex toys work, current sex ed books out there, and safer sex supplies. They leave the store knowing more than when they arrived, and I’ve had them hang around afterward and ask me further questions about things like cock rings.
I don’t know what Mitchell’s other education might be, but I would hope that she will get a chance to explain to the porn community any supplementary education she might’ve had, hopefully, say in HIV crisis clinics. But the thing is, she’s the most qualified person for the job in the porn community, and the most accepted. No one else has ever really given a shit about the performers as far as I can tell. So maybe she’s not a doctor, and she needs to watch her step very carefully right now, but she’s been fighting guys for years like Jim South who attack her for "scaring off new talent" when she educates new starlets about the physical and mental aspects of the biz. She at least has Nina Hartley working with her at AIM, and Hartley is an RN.
I am right there with you, angered by comments from industry people and fans alike. But I have to say, I’ve felt this way for years, more so when I wrote my porn book and included a chapter on safer sex in porn. I felt that my role was to at least educate viewers, and become a viewer advocate, since the industry could care less about both their viewers *and* performers.
We are after all talking about an industry, that for the most part, derives its revenue from sexual shame. It’s up to us to make it a sexually healthy place, mentally and physically, for ourselves and others who care to read what we write.
And for me, that means picking and choosing sexually healthy videos, bringing attention to people who want to celebrate healthy sexuality through their careers and work — and being loud, obnoxious and disliked for drawing attention to things like racism (comments by starlet Violet Blue; what Sean Michaels lived through), abuse (Max Hardcore), murderous sex practices (John Holmes, et. al.), and blatant disregard for the sanctity of other peoples’ lives (Jim South, AVN, August 2003, page 60).
Believe me, worse things are happening with HIV transmission and lies in our own country, as well as in places like sub-Saharan Africa. At least we can talk about it, and make a difference every chance we get.
It’s long past time for the porn industry to grow up and meet the level of sexual sophistication and intelligence of its viewers — and especially its critics.
