# Why don't female porn stars get organized? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 22, 2003, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-female-porn-stars-get-organized/170284 "2003-04-22T10:41:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-female-porn-stars-get-organized/170284/21 "2003-04-22T15:12:54Z")
It’s spelled Asia Carrera. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-female-porn-stars-get-organized/170284/22 "2003-04-22T15:17:31Z")
To actually answer the OP, female porn stars are already organized, albeit in an unofficial way. Why do you think AIDS testing and condom usage is now mandatory? Because the majority of actresses refused to work otherwise and the producers had to give in. The demand for new “faces” in the porno business is constant, so women quickly realize the power they have in the genre. Actresses can dictate who they will work with, what acts they will perform, and their working conditions. A mid-level star can receive over a thousand dollars for a single day’s work. So the reason porno actresses don’t unionize is that they’ve already got every reasonable advantages a union could bring. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-female-porn-stars-get-organized/170284/23 "2003-04-22T15:22:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Little Nemo \* > \*\*To actually answer the OP, female porn stars are already organized, albeit in an unofficial way. Why do you think AIDS testing and condom usage is now mandatory? Because the majority of actresses refused to work otherwise and the producers had to give in. \*\* It’s admittedly been a few years since the newest porn film I’ve seen was produced, but last I checked condoms were few and far between. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-female-porn-stars-get-organized/170284/24 "2003-04-22T15:53:10Z")
> [@](#): > > If this is the case, what happens if a girl doesn’t want to do anal? Does she get work, or is she shunned? What about a girl who refuses to do facial cumshots? Well, like you said in the OP, “There are hundreds of men waiting to become porn stars (admittedly only a couple per cent of them will be able to), but beautiful women who want to do porn are far more scarce.” So that would lead me to believe that if a director wanted a girl for use in his porno, he’d be willing to accept any (many) demands she put forth. The dime-a-dozen guys would be far less able to issue demands and have them met. So, from a labor-relations standpoint, the workers that already have decent pay and leverage would not need to organize. (the porno women) The workers that get paid less, and don’t have any leverage with management, these people would be the ones more likely to form a union. (the porno men). I have no experience in the porn industry, but from the interviews I’ve seen and the stories I’ve read, the women _do_ wield much of the power. It _is_ more difficult to find an attratcive woman willing to perform sexually on camera than it is to find a man to do the same. So, if a director wants to keep working with women, he needs to meet the demands they set forth. Unions are a means for workers to get management to listen to their demands. The porn women already have “management” listening to them, to a certain degree. So why bother organizing? Happy ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-female-porn-stars-get-organized/170284/25 "2003-04-22T16:03:35Z")
The reason female pornstars don’t get organized is because female porn actresses are usually women who don’t have a lot of alternatives: how many little girls do you think want to grow up to be pornstars? Not a lot I’ll wager. Because of the inequities in our current system, inequities which show no real signs of being improved, there will always be a class of powerless women available for porn producers to take advantage of. So porn producers would just ignore the union and go scoop up the next abused teenager off the bus from Omaha. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-female-porn-stars-get-organized/170284/26 "2003-04-22T16:15:05Z")
So, let’s review. The reason that porn actresses don’t get organized is either that (1)there are so few willing porn actresses that they already wield all the power and call all the shots, thus eliminating the need for organization, or (2)that there are so many willing porn actresses that anyone who won’t play ball is discarded for whoever comes along. Anyone have a cite that’ll clear all this up? The closest I’ve come is these two quotes from [www.asiacarrera.com](http://www.asiacarrera.com): > [@](#): > > This must be the only place in the world where guys get paid less than girls, and we call all the shots. (feminists take note!) > [@](#): > > Directors (…) simply refuse to hire new guys. The way to get around this is by bringing a hot new girl with you, and saying she’ll only work with you. Fresh meat is worth its weight in gold around here. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-female-porn-stars-get-organized/170284/27 "2003-04-22T16:43:09Z")
From reading her site, I got the impression that Asia’s pretty responsive to fan mail. Maybe someone should write her, including a link to this thread, so that she can weigh in. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-female-porn-stars-get-organized/170284/28 "2003-04-22T16:48:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ultrafilter \* > \*\*From reading her site, I got the impression that Asia’s pretty responsive to fan mail. Maybe someone should write her, including a link to this thread, so that she can weigh in. \*\* There’s this problem: > [@](#): > > If you’re looking for my e-mail address - it’s not on my site!! Being a webmaster is a full-time job, and combined with shoots and promotional appearances, I’ve pretty much given up on eating and sleeping. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-female-porn-stars-get-organized/170284/29 "2003-04-22T16:59:23Z")
Relevant to this somehow is the fact that most gay porn stars are straight men. It’s women who become stars in straight porn; very few men are considered stars. If a man wants to be treated (and to earn) like a star, he has to go where the money is: gay porn. So most gay porn stars are just “gay for pay.” ---
**Author:** ![Misery\_Loves\_Co](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Misery\_Loves\_Co](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misery_Loves_Co)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-female-porn-stars-get-organized/170284/30 "2003-04-22T17:21:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Priceguy \* > \*\*So, let’s review. The reason that porn actresses don’t get organized is either that (1)there are so few willing porn actresses that they already wield all the power and call all the shots, thus eliminating the need for organization, or (2)that there are so many willing porn actresses that anyone who won’t play ball is discarded for whoever comes along. > \*\* Why are these mutually exclusive? From what I see, like any entertainment there are different eschelons of “actresses” - a bunch on the bottom and a few that have that “special something” that allows them to climb to the top (for the purposes of this post I’ve turned my Double-Entendre Meter to “low”). An average starlet just-starting-out can decide whether she’ll do girl-on-girl or anal or whatever. She gets paid more based on what she’ll do, and if she won’t do something that’s vital to the “plot” _cough_, then they’ll find another. In that regard, it’s pretty much like any market: you pay more to get more, but if you can’t get it one place you’ll prolly find it somewhere else. Now someone like Carrera, who can sell porn based on her name alone, can choose what she’s going to do as anything she puts on the market will get sold. In that case, she’s like any other big name - she’s cornered a commodity: her face/body/personality/image, and people will pay to get what _she_ is offering. Granted, I’m sure that a starlet’s eventual power is based on just how “nasty” she can get, but still. . . ---
**Author:** ![Payton\_s\_Servant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@Payton\_s\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Payton_s_Servant)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-female-porn-stars-get-organized/170284/31 "2003-04-22T19:49:45Z")
Guys, guys ,guys. Female porn stars are usually paid _per scene_. Some female stars do upwards of 100 _scenes_ a year. The pay rate per scene varies depending on what happens in the scene. An anal scene pays more then your standard sex scene. A double penetration may pay more then an anal scene. An _ass to mouth_ scene may pay more then a double penetration. Also, female stars can make much, much more money dancing then they usually will doing movies, so what tends to happen is that an actress will do a few scenes so as to get her name out there and then do a tour of the strip club circuit. A number of porn stars also get income by working in brothels in Nevada or being “escorts.” ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-female-porn-stars-get-organized/170284/32 "2003-04-22T20:03:55Z")
ABC’s Primetime had a story on the porn business a few months back. The story is summarized on the [Primetime website](http://abcnews.go.com/sections/primetime/DailyNews/porn_business_030128.html), which says, in part: > [@](#): > > **The Reality of "Pornoland"** > > At conventions and other public events, the adult industry tends to portray itself as a happy family promoting shame-free sexual enjoyment. But privately, many performers say the reality is very different. > > “There’s some unwritten law or agenda out here in Pornoland that … if we tell the truth about what’s really going on here, the fan will get turned off,” said Ona Zee, a former performer who is now an advocate for reform. > > While a hit movie can bring in as much as $1 million — adult movies have a very long shelf life, and can keep selling for years after their initial release — most performers see little of the profits. They are seldom paid residuals, and often get only a flat fee. The fees vary from $350 to $1,000 for a conventional sex scene to a few thousand dollars for more extreme sex. > > Few of the companies provide health insurance, and most performers find they must work without condoms if they want to keep getting jobs. “The fans don’t like to see condoms,” said performer Belladonna, reflecting a belief that is widely held in the industry. Like many other performers, Belladonna started in the business when she was 18, the legal minimum. > > “The person that packs the porn in a box in the warehouse… is entitled to hepatitis B vaccines… But someone that’s having unprotected anal sex, hmm. There is no standard,” said Sharon Mitchell, a veteran performer who now heads a clinic for sex workers, the Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation. > > According to [Former Surgeon-General C. Everett] Koop, many producers and distributors argue that performers are independent contractors, not their employees, so they don’t have any responsibility for them. But Koop calls that a “copout.” > > “These youngsters are not unionized, they don’t know how to do anything for themselves, and they’re really stuck,” he said. > > Mitchell believes that the producers have an obligation to care for the performers in their films. “This is not a moral issue. It’s an issue about disease, about HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea, young men and women entering an issue that they often don’t know enough about.” > > Bill Margold, a veteran porn star who now counsels young people entering the business, says 18-year-olds are too young to make the potentially life-altering decision to go into porn. > > “I get 18-, 19-year-old girls who just don’t understand that once you do this, you are sociologically damned forever,” he said. > > Koop believes that to prompt reform, Congress should hold hearings on regulating the industry and “subpoena some of the people who run these shows.” > > If nothing is done, “it’ll just get worse,” he said, adding, “The appetite for pornography seems to be insatiable.” If you’re interested in the experiences of one young woman who went from a large, rather devout Mormon family to the California porn industry, read [this](http://abcnews.go.com/sections/primetime/DailyNews/porn_love_030123.html). ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-female-porn-stars-get-organized/170284/33 "2003-04-22T20:20:24Z")
Oh, and i forgot to add something. On the show, it was evident that **Misery Loves Co** ’s point about the different levels of pornstar fame and clout rings true. Some production companies put the women on contracts that pay annual salaries rather than a per-scene amount, insist on condoms, and take care of health benefits and other issues. In other words, the women are treated like regular employees who happen to have sex for a living. As the second link in my previous post says: > [@](#): > > At the high-end companies — which produce a small proportion of the thousands of adult titles released each year — performers often have contracts and can make six figures by shooting just eight to 10 movies a year. They can pick their own partners and condoms are generally required. Shot on film with elaborate, sets, costumes and plots, the movies can have budgets up to $250,000. But there is much less choice and far more danger for a young woman just entering the business. The companies often insist on working without condoms, and, as happened to the woman they featured in the story, the women sometimes turn up to a shoot to find that, instead of having sex with one guy, it’s going to be a gangbang. Of course, they are free to walk away, but the pressure to stay and do the scene is great, and these struggling young women also find it hard to turn down the extra money they are offered to do the more “extreme” scenes. The women are also sometimes faced with male actors who treat them badly. The second site i linked to in my previous post talks about the friendly banter between the male and female actors before a shoot, then added: > [@](#): > > But when the director finally got the pair to settle down to the business at hand — filming a sex scene — the tone changed. Without any prompting, Vidal got rough during the sex, slapping Michelle’s face violently from side to side, and choking her. > > Afterward, she looked shaken, her face reddened and her eyes watery. But she insisted she was OK. “I look torn up — can you tell?,” she asked an ABCNEWS producer who was following her progress for Primetime. Laughing and wiping her eye, she turned away and said without conviction, “I took a beating today, and it was great.” When the story aired on Primetime, they made it clear that this rough treatment had not been planned by the director, nor had it been discussed with the actress beforehand. Not exactly the sort of thing she signed up for. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-female-porn-stars-get-organized/170284/34 "2003-04-22T20:37:52Z")
Gregory Dark (a very in-demand music video director, but he made is bones in the 80s as a porn director) was interviewed a couple of years ago by **Esquire**. The interviewer asked him how he got people to do the freaky, disturbing things they did in his signature works. His response (I’m paraphrasing; I can’t find the actual article) was “I kept waiting for someone to say ‘F— you, I’m not gonna do that!’, but it never happened.” Porn actors are seldom, in any sense of the word, “organized.” ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-female-porn-stars-get-organized/170284/35 "2003-04-22T20:49:44Z")
Another thing to consider: Lavish, well-filmed porn with attractive actors and aesthetic values makes less money than ugly people in a cheap motel room doing ugly things to each other, shot directly on videotape. They learned this in the early 80s and adapted quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-female-porn-stars-get-organized/170284/36 "2003-04-23T03:46:46Z")
A few cites and quotes [http://www.rame.net/faq/part3.htm](http://www.rame.net/faq/part3.htm) - the official faq site for rec.arts.movies.erotica > [@](#): > > How much do porn stars make? > Jerry Butler in his book “Raw Talent” discussed the inequity of pay for porn actors versus actresses. He claimed that actresses made in the $1000-1500 range as their day rate, which the male actors made about a third of that, $300-500 a day. Of course, considerations for number of scenes and star power were made for the women. Rumors had Savannah making $10,000 per film and Seka allegedly wants $100,000 to do another film. Neither of these figures have been verified. > > Frontline’s 1987 documentary of the Shauna Grant suicide, “Death of a Porn Queen” mentions that actresses got as much as $1,000 a day for making videos. > > Brandy Alexandre says: > Video performers are only paid the day they shoot the video. There are no royalties for sales or rentals, and there are no extra payments when footage is used in another feature like compilations of facial shots, or “Best of…” titles. > > Most movies are shot in a single day. Most of the time they are shot in twos - two movies in two days - to cut down on equipment rental costs. The men are paid between $250 and $400 a day and women are paid $300 to $700 a day. The variations depend on what is called for in the individual scenes and how many scenes you will be doing that day. > > Girls make much more money on the road dancing. A great number of actresses today are doing movies just to enhance their marketability as strippers. I do not have plans to go on any dance tours. I wish I could just come to your area and sign autographs at a book store or do those “chat booth” things. Those are a lot of fun. 🙂 > > An adult film star who asks not be identified says: “Females make from $300 to $1000 a scene, unless they are under contract, in which case the price jumps considerably. But contract girls only work a fraction of the time of freelancers, and won’t make as much in the long run. Guys make from $200-$500 a scene, unless they are under contract, etc. (i.e. Steven St. Croix and Jon Dough)” > > Jim Gunn, producer/director of the Strap-On Sally series (among others) down at Pleasure Productions has this to say: > > Most actresses get paid by scene. Pay anywhere from $200-1000 for a scene depending on who, what, to whom etc. Anal, D.P., Gangbangs, ‘Big Stars’, all get paid more. > > Scenes do not take all day typically. Several hours is common, and many performers are watching the clock to run to a second set that same day. Only certain contract girls may get paid per movie. Each of these deals are unique of course. Many movies are shot two at a time over a two-three day period with the relevant performers only sticking around while they have upcoming scenes. Again, this depends on the scale of the movie (big budget with acting or one- day-wonder) and the performers. > > Are people fired on set ever? Man you can’t believe the shit that’s occasionally happened on my sets. No-shows, late shows, no i.d. documents, o.d.'s on drugs (once); fistfights, etc. Not usually, but sometimes things happen. Most shoots run smooth with some performers complaining and allowances are made to accommodate people who must leave early, get special food, and the like. > > I’m sure that it’s the same in Hollywood… > [@](#): > > How do porn stars prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases? > Condoms mostly, and an HIV test. [http://www.pub.umich.edu/daily/1997/mar/03-20-97/week/arts1.html](http://www.pub.umich.edu/daily/1997/mar/03-20-97/week/arts1.html) - an online newspaper article > [@](#): > > After briefly leaving the porn industry for a boyfriend who wasn’t happy with her occupation, Lexus decided to return to adult videos to support herself while enrolled in Southern California’s Ventura College and while taking real estate courses. The adult entertainment industry has a lot to offer a beautiful, young woman who is willing to perform; women are paid high salaries and treated like the royalty of the business, unlike the men, who are seen as disposable pieces of meat and as mere “accessories.” > > “Women have a lot more jobs than men,” Lexus said. “The women are the centerpiece and the men are accessories.” > [@](#): > > While the average guy might take home anywhere from $200 to $500 a scene, women usually make double that. One of the biggest worries in the porn industry is the threat of disease, especially the AIDS epidemic. While the actors’ on-screen promiscuity might trigger thoughts of walking biohazards, people in the industry claim that’s actually far from the truth. All performers are required to have documented AIDS tests every 30 days, and the testing system has thus far prevented the disease from spreading into the ring of actors. Some of the stars, like Lexus, take extra precautions and have clauses in their contracts that require their male partners to use condoms in sex scenes. [http://erosfilm.ru/finding/finding\_04\_eng.html](http://erosfilm.ru/finding/finding_04_eng.html) - a European site that apparently hires performers > [@](#): > > Nowdays my actresses earn from 100$ to 300$ a day. Truth that we pay 200$ or more only beautiful girls or professional actresses. > We are ready to pay 200$ a day professional actors and 100$ a day if they are only preety. > Just imagine, if actors could be shooted at least 20 days during a mounth, they would have 2000$-4000$. Is it much money or not? If we take our standard salaries - it’s a lot of money! A couple of articles at Luke Ford’s website. No direct link because of nude ads. (hint - try [www.hisname.com](http://www.hisname.com)) > [@](#): > > Look at Anita Blond. She acted up and her career ended. She was Private’s number one girl. Then she started showing up late, did a few things wrong and bang. That was it for her. She didn’t retire, her career just went. I remember this guy calling her at nine in the morning and she was coked out of her head. And in her Hungarian accent she slurred, ‘I do not get out of bed for less than $1000 U.S. dollars a day.’ > > YYY says: Niki Anderson doesn’t get out of bed for less than $2000 a scene now and that’s just for a girl\girl. She charges $500 extra for dialogue and another $500 for a boy\scene and guess what? She gets it… that is between her trips to Abu Dabi and Regents Street in London on “other” jobs, like many of the other top girls in Budapest today. > [@](#): > > Adams figured prominently in a long Los Angeles Times profile of the industry in February 1991. She says that performer salaries have dropped steadily over the past four years from over $1000 a day to around $200. ---
**Author:** ![abby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@abby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abby)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-female-porn-stars-get-organized/170284/37 "2003-04-23T05:07:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lissener \* > \*\*The reason female pornstars don’t get organized is because female porn actresses are usually women who don’t have a lot of alternatives: how many little girls do you think want to grow up to be pornstars? Not a lot I’ll wager. > \*\* and > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lamia \* > \*\*…women in the porn industry are neither as powerful nor as well-paid as you might think. They probably do not organize for the same reasons that other groups of workers who are largely undereducated, poor, and prone to substance abuse problems do not organize. \*\* Jeeze, talk about stereotypes. What happenned to the Straight Dope? These kinda comments should be in IMHO, not GQ. I DO produce porn for a living, and I can tell you that there are few “professional” porn stars (ie, they do nothing else but perform in porn flicks). I do four shoots a week, for the last few years, and I can tell you that most people in the biz are well adjusted, happy, sensible, (otherwise) employed people, who have indeed, entertained ideas about doing this (or something similar) for some time. Of course, there are some under-educated people, but that’s not limited to porn, is it? Nor is substance abuse, or being poor. For you to think (let alone say!) that it does just goes to show how little idea you have about the real world. I do need to say that I produce in Australia, where the scene is a little different to that in the US, and as a company, we go to great lengths to ensure fair pay and conditions for models - we’re pretty new. The biz has changed a lot int he last few years, and slowly the dodgy operators are being weeded out. I suspect (hope) a lot of these prejudices waved about here are based on old annecdotes. Next time, think before you offer an _opinion_ in a GQ thread, please. – abby ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-female-porn-stars-get-organized/170284/38 "2003-04-23T06:14:50Z")
Well, abby, what are you waiting for? Spill the beans. Do the women have the power in the porn industry? What happens if an actress refuses to do something you (or the director) want her to do? How much are they paid? And the big question: why aren’t they organized? ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2003, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-female-porn-stars-get-organized/170284/39 "2003-04-23T12:36:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by abby \* > \*\* > Of course, there are some under-educated people, but that’s not limited to porn, is it? Nor is substance abuse, or being poor. For you to think (let alone say!) that it does just goes to show how little idea you have about the real world. > \*\* I did not say it was limited to porn. Quite the opposite, in fact. When I alluded to “other groups of workers” I wasn’t talking about other porn workers, but poor, undereducated workers in _other industries_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-female-porn-stars-get-organized/170284.md?page=1)