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]marions ghost
(19,841 posts)and neither to I. But it's still OK to speculate about this whole issue. To discuss the issue doesn't mean passing a judgement on her. She could be my sister, my daughter, my friend. I don't judge her. I do happen to know people who have done similar things as this girl and I have seen how/why in general they do it. It's not her fault that there is no privacy around the subject of her job. But she really had no reason to expect it, since none of us has real privacy anymore.
I think it's important to ask--what is this industry about and what does the depiction of violence and degradation of women mean if it is widely disseminated to children and teens (and immature or violent adults)? No, I'm not calling for censorship. I'm just asking people to think about it. Does it matter the condition of sex workers and how they are treated by a society that thrives on them? No harm done to the student in this speculation. In fact, if I saw this girl face-to face I would thank her for drawing attention to the problem of this "new norm" in porn that degrades women, and also to the problem of privacy.
This young woman likely went into this without knowing the ramifications of the long term mental and physical health effects that are reported by sex workers. The fact that there are so few protections for such a high risk job is appalling. She naively seems to believe that this has no impact on her law aspirations. Oh sure, it seems empowering at the time. But is it really empowering or is it exploitation? Is it just bad girl daredevil behavior, or is she pioneering new options for student employment?
There are questions that can be asked without casting blame on the girl.