General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I'm The Duke University Freshman Porn Star And For The First Time I'm Telling The Story In My Words [View all]zazen
(2,978 posts)I'm extremely familiar with their financial aid packages and I do think the reason provided is an excuse for something she's doing for other reasons, because otherwise she's been given false info by the financial aid office (and they wouldn't do that). I'm not qualified to identify and assess her other motives.
I also know that porn doesn't pay any better (1k/film?) as some of the lucrative summer internships that Duke helps one land (15-25k/summer), in addition to the really great work study opportunities that pay far more than minimum wage. (Of course, some people might feel that working on Wall St. is another form of prostitution. Or pimping in training. I'll refrain from opining about that too.) From a financial perspective, being an escort on Sugar Daddy would probably be more lucrative and much less public.
I hope people will just leave her alone. Given the amount of sexting, live video sex scenes, shared recordings, etc., these days, the line between "porn" and many females' personal lives of deliberate or unintentional sexual objectification has become blurred.
I just don't see what's the big deal, except to the frat boys. For some reason, some guys just go nuts about "porn stars" when they could be sleeping with someone even more conventionally attractive in their own life. Something about knowing everyone else is watching her makes the ultimate trophy. That's what grosses me out and frankly angers me more than anything else.
It also reminds me about that scene toward the end of Boogie Nights, where the skate-girl is harassed in class by a guy familiar with her work. (Of course, she gets a nice revenge.)
See, these guys won't leave her alone, because that's the point. And as much I as abhor violent pornography, she's made an adult choice to participate in a regulated American business, and there are thousands of women in these films. But these guys somehow find it intolerable that she's as brilliant as them and walking among them. It's messing with all of their categories--she's a thing to be whacked off to, but they're being asked to treat her as a peer. It must be driving a lot of them crazy (and according to the students I know there, it is).