Here is a YouTube linksponsored by an anti-pornography organization called the Pink Cross Foundation. Founded by former porn actress Shelly Luben, Pink Cross exists to – well, I’ll just quote the mission statement on their website:
[QUOTE=what did I just say?] Pink Cross Foundation, a humanitarian outreach and international movement will respond to needs of people who are victims of pornography and sex trafficking. Our mission is to share the good news of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination. We also combat community deterioration due to pornography and sex trafficking through attempts to educate legislation about the illegally operating porn industry, to educate the general public and to toughen laws to protect women and children from modern-day slavery.** This outreach is motivated by the amazing love of God.**
[/QUOTE]
I realize the video is quite long, so I will summarize its points briefly. Luben and her co-star in the linked video, one Jenni Case, both allege that their experiences in porn were not entirely of their own volition. Though neither claims to have been outright forced into the business, both say that
[ul]
[li]they and most if not all other female form performers are the victims of manipulation, deceit, bullying;[/li][li]that most if not all porn actresses are addicted to drugs, and that said addiction contributes if not causes their willingness to perform;[/li][li]that the conditions under which they worked were highly unsafe, unsanitary, financially exploitative, and and destructive to their dignity;[/li][li]that many if not most porn actresses work as prostitutes;[/li][li]that both porn performers and porn watchers get highly distorted and healthy ideas about human sexuality from their experiences;[/li][li]and that the porn industry (or at least the heterosexual arm) amounts to sexual slavery.[/li][/ul]
At one point I believe Case alleges that female porn performers are being functionally raped. They ask for financial contributions to Pink Cross at least twice, and end the presentation with a Christian prayer for persons addicted to pornography.
Let’s assume that Luben and Case are giving a truthful account of their own experiences. Do you think it’s fair to extrapolate from that to a general condemnation of the pornography industry? If so, does that give you any qualms about partaking of cinematic porn? Why or why not?
Wikipedia says thatLubben appeared in about 30 hardcore movies between 1993 & 1994. A cursory (i.e., less than three minute) scan of Google uncovers no specific information about Case, but I’ll look later.
Well, yes. We are kind of curious where they are coming from. Did they just act in 5 movies? Or 30, as Skald says? It makes a difference as to how much they actually know.
I am not really sure what their motives are. I mean, if they are actually trying to get rid of porn, by outlawing it or something, may as well wish for the moon in a hat. If they are trying to clean it up and regulate it, that would be a little better. I guess I’ll have to check out the youtube link and the website at home.
My initial thought was that it didn’t matter, but after more consideration I decided that it might. If the two women had each done one movie each and left the business afterwards, one might reasonably be dubious of their overall knowledge. Contrariwise, if they were both five-year-veterans who’d done 1500 movies each in multiple genres and for multiple producers, their claims of expertise would have a great deal of weight.
Lubben was in the industry for just a year almost twenty years ago, and blames her std problems on the industry although she was already a prostitute before she started acting. I’m betting she makes more money through her Pink Cross Foundation then she ever did, and she gets to be a bigger “star” now thanshe ever was in the past.
I think that Lubben would say that there is no valid distinction between working as a prostitute and acting in porn.
I’m not saying that, by the way. My primary problems with pornography are other than those Lubben and Case discuss (and outside the scope of this thread).
I suppose I’m going to come out as the first heartless dick and say no, it doesn’t give me pause. I’m not convinced by most of those claims, especially the ones that claim the performers are helpless victims.
It’s not being a heartless dick to say it doesn’t give you pause. If you were convinced by all or the worst of their claims, then not being given pause would make you a dick. I see four possibilities:
Lubben & Case are entirely or mostly correct in their accounts of their personal experiences, and those experiences were typical of porn actresses;
Lubben & Case are entirely or mostly correct in their accounts of their personal experiences, and those experiences are not typical of porn actresses;
Lubben & Case are entirely or mostly incorrect in their accounts of their personal experiences, but the alleged experiences are nevertheless typical of porn actresses;
Lubben & Case are entirely or mostly incorrect in their accounts of their personal experiences, and the alleged experiences are atypical of porn actresses.
Case filmed under the name “Veronica Lain” and did about 20 movies. Both ladies were also prostitutes(their own admission). Considering that, how long ago and limited their stint in the biz was, and their current charity business, I’d take anything they say with a grain of salt.
Porn actresses and actors are prostitutes by definition. I find it rather easy to believe that many or most prostitutes are messed up in the head.
In theory one could choose prostitution as the best career alternative open, but that’s in theory. I expect the reality to be more based on desperation than rational choice. Although I would expect “going into prostitution” to be at least as much a result of being messed in the head/heart than a cause of it.
But are they basing their claims on their personal experiences, or are they basing them on having talked with and ministered to other people who have been involved in the porn industry a lot more recently than they have?
(I’m guessing there’s something about this at the site, but I’m not comfortable perusing it here at work.)
Their mission statement is nonsensical. There’s the Jesus bullshit, and…
“…community deterioration due to pornography…??” What is that? Ok, porno theaters were in pretty skeevy areas, 20 or 30 years ago. But now we can all watch porn in our own homes. I suppose sometimes the lawn doesn’t get mowed because the homeowner is too busy jerking off.
“…attempts to educate legislation…?” Someone needs to explain their time would be better spent educating legislators.
It’s hard to believe that Asia Carrera, for example, fits in any of the categories they state. She wrote and talked a lot about her experience in porn and I listened to it - why wouldn’t I? Here was an Asian woman totally brooking every stereotype and expectation.
I admit it’s been a while and I’d have to go back and read some of her stuff again. But I’m pretty sure she wasn’t being raped, not even functionally. And she wasn’t on drugs.
And I admit to having some suspicion on someone coming down on porn and following Jesus, as Sitnam says. Are they trying to help women or preach the gospel?
It’s nothing new. The same claims are denied by other current and former porn stars. Not totally denied, there’s plenty of reason to believe their claims are true in some cases, but it doesn’t fit with the statements of others as a way to describe the entire porn industry. Linda Lovelace went down this path, before changing her mind and returning to the porn industry before her death.
A young woman hight Sierra Sinn was ostensibly saved by Lubbben, but I have located one interview in which she Sinn claims to have been exploited by her.
I recall reading an PF interview with Sinn; here is a video, which I have not yet watched.
Here is an interview in which Sinn seems to feel exploited by Lubben.
Given that the organization is for the support of prostitutes as well as porn actresses who wish to get out of the life, it makes sense that their spokespeople would include one person with more experience in prostitution as well as one with more experience in porn.
From my reading and my conversations with women in sex work, their experiences as indicated are pretty typical. The job attracts almost entirely women who are heavily psychologically damaged (history of abuse, drug addiction, etc), and damages them further. To consume photographic porn or to pay for sex is to be complicit in their damage.
I’m not a fan of the Jesus pushing, but anything that helps women who are caught up in the cycle of exploitation is a good thing.