The Adult Entertainment Industry
New Study Debunks Myth That All Porn Stars Are “Damaged Goods”
By Alex Henderson
RealmNoir, November 28, 2012
The Christian Right and radical feminists of the Catherine MacKinnon/Andrea Dworkin persuasion don’t agree on much, but one thing they do agree on is the notion that porn stars in general are “damaged goods.” However, a new study that researchers at Texas Woman’s University (TWU) and Shippensburg State University in Pennsylvania conducted with former adult film actress Sharon Mitchell debunks the “damaged goods” theory on adult stars, demonstrating that many of them are actually well-adjusted and self-confident.
The “damaged goods” theory on female porn stars is as follows: actresses get into the adult entertainment industry because they suffer from extremely low self-esteem and were sexually abused growing up. And that theory has been tossed around by everyone from the anti-sex school of radical feminism (which is exemplified by law professor MacKinnon and the late Andrea Dworkin) to Christian Right zealots such as the Family Research Council, the Christian Coaliton of America (CCA) and James Dobson’s Focus on the Family. They come at it from different perspectives; MacKinnon sees porn as a manifestation of brutal patriarchy, while the Christian Right (which is quite comfortable with brutal patriarchy) views porn as an attack on “family values.” But when it comes to painting porn stars as victims, MacKinnon finds some common ground with the Rev. Pat Robertson, the Rev. Tim LaHaye (of Left Behind fame) and former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum. When Dworkin died in 2005 at the age of 58, Christian Right columnist Maggie Gallagher praised her anti-porn crusade. Gallagher disagreed with Dworkin on many things (especially abortion and gay rights), but they agreed with the “damaged goods” view of porn actresses—and it is safe to say that Gallagher won’t be happy with the new TWU/Shippensburg/Mitchell study, which was published in The Journal of Sex Research.
The researchers surveyed 117 women who had performed in adult films, and the study found that “in terms of psychological characteristics, porn actresses had higher levels of self-esteem, positive feelings, social support, sexual satisfaction and spirituality” compared to women outside of porn. The study found that female porn stars, as a rule, are “not less psychologically healthy” than women who don’t appear in adult films.
Of course, none of that is to say that women who don’t appear in adult films necessarily lack self-esteem or that the adult entertainment industry hasn’t had its share of tragic figures (both male and female) over the years. But truth be told, the mainstream entertainment world has had plenty of tragic figures as well; one could write a book about all the great rock and jazz musicians who were as self-destructive as they were talented. And if there is a major lesson to be learned from the TWU/Shippensburg/Mitchell study, it is that painting porn actresses in general as hopelessly broken victims of low self-esteem is very flawed thinking. If anything, having above-average self-confidence is a useful quality if one earns a living getting naked in front of a camera.
The study explained: “Porn actresses are typically nude in their scenes and appear in front of camera crews and audiences who later watch the movies in which they appear. It is likely that low levels of embarrassment are experienced among porn actresses, and being able to be completely naked in front of others might be associated with an elevated self-esteem.”
One area of the study that did show some risky behavior among porn actresses is in the area of drugs. The study examined female use of ten different drugs (including, among other things, marijuana, heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, tranquilizers and barbiturates) and found that “porn actresses were approximately 3 to 9 times more likely to have tried each of the ten drugs.” But it’s important to put that data into context. First, trying a drug—although not advisable—is not the same as continuing to use it. And going back to the adult entertainment/mainstream entertainment comparison, there is no evidence suggesting that people in porn are more likely to use drugs than people in mainstream entertainment. Some of the finest jazz musicians of all time (from Charlie “Bird” Parker to Chet Baker to Dexter Gordon to Bill Evans to Stan Getz) battled heroin addiction at some point, and alcoholism has been a recurring theme in country music. But there are also plenty of jazz and country musicians who aren’t self-destructive, just as there are countless porn stars who don’t use drugs. Risky behavior among people who are creatively inclined certainly isn’t limited to either adult entertainment or mainstream entertainment.
Quite predictably, critics of the adult entertainment industry will be dismissive of the TWU/ Shippensburg/Mitchell study because Mitchell, a former porn star, was involved. But Mitchell (who founded the now-defunct Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation) didn’t conduct the study all by herself, and the TWU and Shippensburg researchers were people in academia—not employees of Larry Flynt.
The study won’t discourage either MacKinnon or the Christian Right from bashing the adult entertainment industry, but it’s good to see some informative porn-related research for once.
Alex Henderson is a veteran journalist whose work has appeared in The L.A. Weekly, AlterNet, Billboard, Spin, XBIZ, Creem, Skin Two, The Pasadena Weekly, JazzTimes, Cash Box and a long list of other well-known publications. He can be followed on Twitter @alexvhenderson.
