# Har Har Har! Porn industry has major AIDS scare **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 17, 2004, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/har-har-har-porn-industry-has-major-aids-scare/240478 "2004-04-17T03:19:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2004, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/har-har-har-porn-industry-has-major-aids-scare/240478/121 "2004-04-18T17:58:10Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Skins have been worn thin and sensitive by this point in the discussion. Heh heh heh…“skin,” “thin,” “sensitive”…heh heh heh… > [@](#): > > **Evil Captor** , anal does seem “widespread” these days (Dog almighty it’s impossible to not use inappropriate accidental puns on this subject…) but that’s another supply/demand thing, a result of catering to the “raincoater” crowd who wants their porn “nastier”. FWIW the upscale “yuppie-porn” houses like Vivid hardly ever feature any anal, and it’s not uncommon for the really “high end” performers to specifically exclude it from their contracts. “Anal,” “widespread,” “high-end”…heh heh heh… > [@](#): > > The expectation that the men “not participate in gay sex” wouldn’t be too sound as many a porn-stud has done gay-for-pay, or even straight-for-pay – Peter North being a notable one. As I understand it the reason a lot of the gay for pay goes on is that str8 guys don’t make any money in str8 porn (the money goes to the women). > [@](#): > > And yes, **Otto** the standard money-shot in str8 porn IS the dude spanking it while hovering above his leading lady (and usually missing the target and hitting somewhere entirely off-camera 😛 ) Then I really don’t get what the problem is with using rubbers. In gay porn there are multiple camera angles and the money shot is staged and we seem to be able to deal with it just fine. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2004, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/har-har-har-porn-industry-has-major-aids-scare/240478/122 "2004-04-18T18:00:34Z")
It seems patient 0 is [missing](http://www.avn.com/index.php?Primary_Navigation=Articles&Action=View_Article&Content_ID=80820). ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2004, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/har-har-har-porn-industry-has-major-aids-scare/240478/123 "2004-04-18T18:03:42Z")
[This](http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&u=/ap/20040417/ap_on_re_us/porn_moratorium_5&printer=1) gives a bit more insight on how it’s affecting the actors. ---
**Author:** ![holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/holmes)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2004, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/har-har-har-porn-industry-has-major-aids-scare/240478/124 "2004-04-18T18:11:53Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Then I really don’t get what the problem is with using rubbers. In gay porn there are multiple camera angles and the money shot is staged and we seem to be able to deal with it just fine. You deal because you have little choice…there are far fewer gay production houses than straight and quite frankly you expect safe sex. Further barebare porn whether gay or straight is still a premium…even on something as wholesome as eBay…where pre-condom gay porn is sold at a premium, while the newer stuff is a dime a dozen. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2004, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/har-har-har-porn-industry-has-major-aids-scare/240478/125 "2004-04-18T19:18:49Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > And yet an American (Bill Gates) has made a nice chunk of change and set up a **BILLION DOLLAR** foundation for AIDS care in Africa. > > How much money will he make off them this year? :rolleyes: I’m sorry, I don’t think I understand your post. What exactly do you think I’m criticising. “And yet and American…” What you think I’m criticising Americans? Or Bill Gates? No, I’m being snarky over the ongoing issues surrounding the lack of access to affordable drugs. Legal and diplomatic battles have been raging for decades over patents, so that affordable generic drugs can be provided for nations that can’t afford the brand name price tag. From the BBC: > [@](#): > > Oxfam has also called on the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to change patent rules which, it says, result in restricted access to life-saving drugs. Under normal WTO rules, companies can patent drugs for 20 years. > > It is estimated that two billion people worldwide lack basic healthcare, and 11 million people die each year from preventable disease. > > Oxfam wants one of the world’s largest drug companies, GlaxoSmithKline, to drop legal action against countries that are producing cheaper drugs. > > One of those facing such action is Brazil, which manufactures and distributes drugs free of charge to HIV-infected people, a policy that has led to a 50% drop in the Aids death rate in the country. And forgetting the issue of generics for a moment… Doctors Without Borders had to lobby for the continued manufacture of a drug called eflornithine. That could treat a parasitic disease that affects 36 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 people are currently infected with this disease. > [@](#): > > Production of eflornithine, a safer and far more effective medicine, was discontinued in 1995 because it was not considered profitable by its manufacturer (now Aventis). > > Production of eflornithine resumed in 2001, after Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) discovered that a topical ointment containing eflornithine as the active ingredient was useful in removing unwanted facial hair in women. BMS received approval to market the ointment for cosmetic use in 2000. This is that attitude that I’m criticizing. That there’s not enough profit to make the drug in order to _save lives_ but we will make the drug if there’s profit to be found in cosmetics. Bill Gates is doing a great thing. His foundation is picking up where the pharmaceutical industries have failed. Bill Gates at least has the class to step forward and make a huge donation that will save lives, pity so many drug companies haven’t followed suit. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/har-har-har-porn-industry-has-major-aids-scare/240478/126 "2004-04-19T14:28:42Z")
Otto, you missed the most obvious one… “shooting”… heh heh heh ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/har-har-har-porn-industry-has-major-aids-scare/240478/127 "2004-04-19T15:55:37Z")
> [@holmes](#): > > You deal because you have little choice…there are far fewer gay production houses than straight and quite frankly you expect safe sex. Which leads me right back to my “straight porn consumers need to grow up.” hypothesis. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/har-har-har-porn-industry-has-major-aids-scare/240478/128 "2004-04-19T15:59:04Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Which leads me right back to my “straight porn consumers need to grow up.” hypothesis. Just what I was thinking. ---
**Author:** ![holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/holmes)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/har-har-har-porn-industry-has-major-aids-scare/240478/129 "2004-04-19T16:19:48Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Which leads me right back to my “straight porn consumers need to grow up.” hypothesis. Ignoring of course when given a choice, both Gay and Straight porn consumers prefer non-condom sex. Taking away the ability of a consumer to choose isn’t a sign of those consumers “growing up”, it’s forcing them to settle. Do you really believe if tomorrow I opened a bareback Gay video company, those “grown up” Gay consumers would run me out of business? Wouldn’t purchase my products? I’ll ask again, why does 15-20 year old bareback Gay porn on VIDEO no less, routinely outsell the newer stuff? Why does “home-grown” or non-pro bareback Gay porn sell? Who’s buying it…clearly not those grown up Gay people. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/har-har-har-porn-industry-has-major-aids-scare/240478/130 "2004-04-19T16:36:07Z")
Like I said before, porn is about fantasy, and few to zero people fantasize about using condoms. I agree it’s not “growing up”, it’s settling. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/har-har-har-porn-industry-has-major-aids-scare/240478/131 "2004-04-19T19:58:42Z")
> [@holmes](#): > > Ignoring of course when given a choice, both Gay and Straight porn consumers prefer non-condom sex. Cite? Something besides “it’s on eBay so it must be true”? > [@](#): > > Do you really believe if tomorrow I opened a bareback Gay video company, those “grown up” Gay consumers would run me out of business? Wouldn’t purchase my products? I think that in general, based on the porn I see for sale, that you wouldn’t do as well as you think you would. > [@](#): > > I’ll ask again, why does 15-20 year old bareback Gay porn on VIDEO no less, routinely outsell the newer stuff? Cite? > [@](#): > > Why does “home-grown” or non-pro bareback Gay porn sell? Who’s buying it…clearly not those grown up Gay people. If you can point me toward the post where I said that there were no immature gay men who, like their straight brethren, can’t get past the rubber, I’d certainly appreciate it. Certainly there are gay men who are as stupid as straights in their desire to watch (and participate in) unsafe sex. That doesn’t change the fact that straight porn consumers need to grow the fuck up. ---
**Author:** ![holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/holmes)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/har-har-har-porn-industry-has-major-aids-scare/240478/132 "2004-04-19T20:20:32Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Cite? Something besides “it’s on eBay so it must be true”? > That doesn’t change the fact that straight porn consumers need to grow the fuck up. What cite would you like to see? For every cite I find saying They love bareback, there’s another saying it’s murder. The reason I use eBay as a cite, is that you can see in black and white, what people are buying and compare prices and content without the filter of morality. Dollars, pure and simple. If you’re really interested go to the MA section and do a search on pre-condom Gay porn and see the selling prices and compare them to what the newer stuff is sellng for. Somebody’s buying it. > [@](#): > > If you can point me toward the post where I said that there were no immature gay men who, like their straight brethren, can’t get past the rubber, I’d certainly appreciate it. Certainly there are gay men who are as stupid as straights in their desire to watch (and participate in) unsafe sex. You gave the impression and perhaps I read more into than you meant, that the Gays had their act together and the straights didn’t, because of the ability to purchase bareback porn in straight porn and not in Gay porn. My point was and still is, until you have equal choice in purchasing similar subject matter; any attribution of “maturity” or intelligence is wishful thinking. ---
**Author:** ![holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/holmes)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2004, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/har-har-har-porn-industry-has-major-aids-scare/240478/133 "2004-04-19T20:39:41Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Certainly there are gay men who are as stupid as straights in their desire to watch (and participate in) unsafe sex. That doesn’t change the fact that straight porn consumers need to grow the fuck up. [www. bareback.com ADULTS ONLY!](http://www.barebackjack.com) > [@](#): > > [Barebackjack.com](http://Barebackjack.com) is the longest-surviving, 100-percent bareback content website on the internet. While our look and our contents are always changing, our commitment to the bareback community as a whole remains the strongest. Yep, I guess the Gay Community IS full of stupid, irresponsible people who need to grow the fuck up…just like the rest of us. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/har-har-har-porn-industry-has-major-aids-scare/240478/134 "2004-04-20T05:18:42Z")
L.A. County is discussing changing State regulations to enforce condom use in porn scenes. More news should be on [www.latimes.com](http://www.latimes.com). ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/har-har-har-porn-industry-has-major-aids-scare/240478/135 "2004-04-20T06:51:51Z")
> [@LaurAnge](#): > > I thought one could only be condescending to a group not including oneself. I disagree. One can condescend to anyone. You know **Starving Artist** , I don’t think she’s REALLY an elf. [/QUOTE] Well…I suppose you’d know. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/har-har-har-porn-industry-has-major-aids-scare/240478/136 "2004-04-20T23:45:47Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Not knowing how things work in str8 porn, can’t they just do the cum shot the same way gay porn does, with the guy jerking off for a few seconds and then shooting? I thought str8 porn was all about facials and cumming on tits and the like anyway. > > **sailor** , if rolling your eyes is the best you can do, then thanks for the conceding the point. > > I’m really intrigued by this whole notion of “straight porn consumers [in other words, straight men] won’t buy porn if the guy is wearing a rubber.” The people who say this seem to be the same ones who in every other straight porn thread go to great lengths (pun not intended) to proclaim their lack of interest in looking at male genitalia. If straight male viewers are so uninterested in penis, why care if the penis you don’t want to look at has a rubber on it? Not me. I consider myself straight, but I’ll bite the bullet and admit that I have a healthy admiration for the male member in the context of heterosexual pornography (and looking at myself in the mirror, but that’s another subject). Otherwise the only thing I’d be looking at would be lesbian porn and women by themselves. Porn is about fantasy, about doing stuff that you normally don’t have the luxory of doing in your actual sex life. I’m sure most men, if given the option of having safe sex without a condom, would prefer to forego using rubbers. Who wants to wear a raincoat in the shower? ---
**Author:** ![Tir\_Tinuviel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tir\_Tinuviel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tir_Tinuviel)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/har-har-har-porn-industry-has-major-aids-scare/240478/137 "2004-04-21T16:23:21Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > The taxes can be used to finance regulation and testing. Or monitor industry compliance with standards of testing. ISO 69? ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/har-har-har-porn-industry-has-major-aids-scare/240478/138 "2004-04-22T02:36:46Z")
> [@yosemitebabe](#): > > Yes, this is a good point, and I thought of that. > > When someone dies in a stunt accident, it usually is Big News in L.A. Injuries? Not so much. But deaths, yeah. > > A lot of these stunts _are_ definitely risky, but the risk can be anywhere from a sprained wrist, to several broken limbs, to death. With AIDS, there is one basic end result: death. Thank God that advancements in medicine have made the death a long way off (for those with the finances, anyway), but it’s still considered a fatal disease, no? Maybe they’ll only catch Herpes. 🙂 A little dated but from [a UIC paper](http://www.uic.edu/sph/glakes/harts/HARTS_library/stunts.txt): > [@](#): > > A study by the Screen Actors Guild in California found that > 4,998 SAG members were injured from 1982 to 1986 on motion > picture and television locations; during this time period there > was a 41% increase in compensable injuries. **Their statistics > also found a fatality rate of 2.5/1000 injuries, a rate that is > higher than in law enforcement, road construction or mining.** > Types of activities resulting in these fatalities and accidents > include car chases, helicopter scenes, fires and explosions, > blank ammunition and falls. (my bolding) Just to keep perspective on movie industry dangers. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/har-har-har-porn-industry-has-major-aids-scare/240478/139 "2004-04-22T03:30:11Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Maybe they’ll only catch Herpes. 🙂 > > A little dated but from [a UIC paper](http://www.uic.edu/sph/glakes/harts/HARTS_library/stunts.txt): > > (my bolding) > > Just to keep perspective on movie industry dangers. Wow. That is news to me. :eek: But it also reinforces what I was saying before: how many of us know this? How many of us think about this? We blithely think, “They know what they’re doing” on these stunts. And we also assume (rightfully so) that a slip-up or a mistake on a stunt is not an automatically fatal thing. Because it’s not. But most people know that no condoms is (in real life) considered not safe sex. And AIDS is still considered a fatal disease. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/har-har-har-porn-industry-has-major-aids-scare/240478/140 "2004-04-22T04:57:55Z")
> [@](#): > > _yosemitebabe said:_ > But most people know that no condoms is (in real life) considered not safe sex. And AIDS is still considered a fatal disease. Well sure, but the question is whether the industry precautions are proper and adequate, not exhaustive (imho anyway). Oral and manual “sex” are considerably safer sex, shall we mandate that? Sure it’s my favourite part but I feel the art form would suffer. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/har-har-har-porn-industry-has-major-aids-scare/240478.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/har-har-har-porn-industry-has-major-aids-scare/240478.md?page=8)