Sex for Sale~Prostitution, Pornography and the Sex Industry (13 page)

In contrast, some actresses enter at higher levels. Those who enter via modeling or dancing typically start at the pro-amateur level and, after proving their commercial value, are advanced to professional productions. Actresses who are considered exceptionally attractive and individuals with pre-estab-lished public recognition often start at the professional level. Once established in the professional scene, however, actors and actresses often appear in pro-amateur productions with no repercussions to their careers. Furthermore, because pro-amateur organizations are often owned by professional companies, this movement is supported by the industry.

Actresses who display little interest in moving up are often criticized by their coworkers and others as “fuck bunnies,” “sluts,” or “skags,” and are seen as lacking ambition, skills, or knowledge.19 This judgment is encouraged by the assumption that any pretty woman can make it in porn if she wants to. As unskilled laborers, the work of actresses is regarded as fairly easy, even in comparison with their male coworkers, who must “perform” to remain employed. In addition, because of higher pay and higher levels of publicity
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and fame, females reap more benefits in the industry. Therefore, those who cannot make it despite these advantages are assumed to be lacking personal ambition, with little consideration given to structural constraints.

Mobility is facilitated by longevity and commitment. “Sticking around”

and “taking it seriously” are observable qualities, and are often translated into

“having what it takes.” Moving between pro-amateur and professional productions and working outside the porn industry are essential for a freelance career, suggesting the importance of horizontal rather than vertical mobility.

The phenomenon of “working the circuit” is common in other industries where employers’ commitment to employees is low and employees operate as independent contractors. In sum, those who wish to stay in the industry must display a continuous interest in forming networks, choosing the right projects,

“looking good,” being seen, and getting along with others.

C O N C L U S I O N

Actors and actresses who are searching for quick money and/or sexual adventure quickly leave the industry once those goals are met, as do those who take one-time opportunities to act in porn videos. Those who remain must build a career for themselves in an industry that centers on the temporary.

Motivations change with experience and are replaced with other goals. Of the motivations that are associated with entry into the industry, fame and recognition appear to be the most sustaining. In addition, although the construction of fame differs between actors and actresses, the desire for admiration and renown does not appear to be limited to women.

Initial motivations may be replaced by more substantial goals once talent is established in the industry. For example, although many respondents reported that “being naughty” was a primary motivation for entry, this goal is met in a relatively short time. It does not take many video appearances to establish one’s rejection of traditional values. Over time, those interested in challenging mainstream societal values forge a career in which they receive approval for their actions and opportunities for recognition and exposure.

Being “naughty” gives way to longer term career goals. Those motivated by sex quickly learn that they must be able to perform on command in order to remain in the industry. Having sex becomes work, and actors and actresses are motivated to remain in the industry because they are among those who can

“do the job.” The motivation for sex is replaced by the desire to keep the job.

The careers of porn actors and actresses share some similarities with other deviant careers. Participants often have a difficult time “going straight” (or
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leaving the business) after growing accustomed to the money associated with their work. In addition, being part of a stigmatized group reduces one’s chances of achieving success in the “legitimate” world.

Finally, gender differences are also evident in other sectors of the sex industry. For example, research on male strippers suggests that males experience less social stigma than their female counterparts.20 In the porn industry, male respondents felt less stigmatized, and had greater opportunities for certain kinds of career advancement within the industry (e.g., working as editors or directors). In addition, just as many female strippers have held previous jobs that required some display of their body (modeling, go-go dancing, topless waitressing), porn actresses were far more likely than their male counterparts to have had previous ties to the sex industry. A final comparison comes from a study comparing male, female, and transgender prostitutes.21 The authors found that male and transgender prostitutes were more likely to report sexual enjoyment with clients than female prostitutes.

Porn actors, similarly, were more likely than actresses to report sex as a motivation, and were more dependent on enjoying the sex in order to maintain their careers.

N OTE S

1. Luis Garcia, Kathleen Brennan, Monica DeCalo, Rachel McGlennon, and Sandra Tait, “Sex Differences in Sexual Arousal to Different Erotic Stories,”
Journal of Sex Research
20 (1984): 391–402; Edward Donnerstein and Daniel Linz, “Mass Media Sexual Violence and Male Viewers: Current Theory and Research,”
American Behavioral Science
29 (1986): 601–618; Larry Baron, “Pornography and Gender Equality: An Empirical Analysis,”
Journal of Sex Research
27 (1990): 363–380.

2. Lisa Duggan and Nan Hunter,
Sex Wars: Sexual Dissent and Political
Culture
, New York: Routledge, 1995; Nadine Strossen,
Defending
Pornography: Free Speech, Sex, and the Fight for Women’s Rights
, New York: Scribner, 1995.

3. Sharon A. Abbott, “Careers of Actors and Actresses in the Pornography Industry,” Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Sociology, Indiana University, Bloomington, 1999.

4. Similar figures were reported in Chris Heath, “A Hard Man Is Good to Find,”
Details
(September 1996): 96–291.

5. Double Penetrations or “DPs” refer to either two organs (usually penises) in a single orifice, such as an anus or vagina, or penetration of two organs
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of a single individual (for example, one male penetrating a woman’s anus, and another her vagina). The latter is more common.

6. Because they are typically freelance employees, they are not offered health insurance by the companies they work for. Even the few talent on contract are not offered health benefits. Protecting Adult Welfare, an industry action group, is attempting to organize a low-cost health insurance package for the industry.

7. Similar findings were reported in Susan Faludi, “The Money Shot,”
New
Yorker
(October 30, 1995): 64–87.

8. Phasing in and out of the industry is fairly common, particularly for actresses. The most common pattern reported by trade magazines is for actresses to become romantically involved with someone outside of the industry, and to drop out for the duration of the relationship.

9. Interestingly,
Adult Video News,
the industry’s premier trade publication, reports that pro-amateur features have a higher sales and rental rate than professional features.

10. Emanuel Levy, “Social Attributes of American Movie Stars,”
Media,
Culture, and Society
12 (1990): 247–267.

11. Carol Rambo Ronai and Carolyn Ellis, “Turn-Ons for Money: Interactional Strategies of the Table Dancer,”
Journal of Contemporary
Ethnography
18 (1989): 271–298.

12. Interestingly, the likelihood of “being under contract” is not linked to years experience, as it might be with other industries. The reasons for this are twofold. First, actresses’ status typically decreases with years in the industry, becoming less profitable and thus less desirable with time.

Second, many experienced talent reported that contracts are often too restrictive and are not advantageous to a successful career.

13. Talent in the heterosexual porn industry are tested for HIV antibodies every 30 days, and must have their test results available on production sets.

14. Emanuel Levy, “Social Attributes of American Movie Stars.”

15. Professional companies usually make both a hardcore and a softcore version of each video produced in order to reach multiple outlets, including cable, home video, international, and hotel markets. Softcore versions show no actual penetration and are restricted in allowable language.

16. Laura Leets, Gavin de Becker, and Howard Giles, “Fans: Exploring Expressed Motivations for Contacting Celebrities,”
Journal of Language
and Social Psychology
14 (1995): 102–123.

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17. Most respondents reported that they watch videos they appear in only for the “acting” (dialogue), not the sex. Interestingly, producers interviewed suggested that the audience fast-forwarded through the dialogue to get to the sex scenes.

18. While being involved in the subculture is beneficial to actresses and actors, it does have its negative aspects. For example, there is a great deal of gossip in the porn subculture, which can damage a career. Several male respondents reported that at some point in their career, another actor had accused them of being gay or of appearing in gay pornography. While homosexuality is generally used to insult someone’s masculinity, in the porn world this gossip carries additional weight. Actors reported that female coworkers would often refuse to work with male talent “accused”

of homosexuality out of fear of HIV infection.

19. Each of these insults carries implications about women’s sexuality. In one regard, they may suggest that the woman in question was “too interested” in sex. Since sex is less commonly a primary motivation for female talent, it may suggest a double standard within the industry.

However, these insults may also be linked to a more general phenomenon of insulting women by referring to their sexuality or genitalia. See Kathleen Preston and Kimberley Stanley, “‘What’s the Worst Thing . . .?’

Gender-Directed Insults,”
Sex Roles
17 (1987): 209–219.

20. William Thompson and Jackie Harred, “Topless Dancers: Managing Stigma in a Deviant Occupation,”
Deviant Behavior
13 (1992): 291–311; Paula Dressel and David Petersen, “Becoming a Male Stripper: Recruitment, Socialization, and Ideological Development,”
Work and
Occupations
9 (1982): 387–406; Paula Dressel and David Petersen,

“Gender Roles, Sexuality, and the Male Strip Show: The Structuring of Sexual Opportunity,”
Sociological Focus
15 (1982): 151–162.

21. Martin Weinberg, Frances Shaver, and Colin Williams, “Gendered Prostitution in the San Francisco Tenderloin,”
Archives of Sexual Behavior
28 (1999): 503–521.

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H A P T E

C

R

3

GAY MALE PORNOGRAPHY

SINCE STONEWALL

Joe A. Thomas

Gay porn makes up a disproportionately large segment of the pornography market. Estimates of porn’s total economic clout range from $8 to $10 billion annually, with gay porn making up 10 to 25%;1 some industry insiders have even estimated as much as one-third to one-half of the adult industry is gay sales and rentals.2 Gay porn, however, has generally been neglected in the fierce debate over pornography during the past four decades. Perhaps the fact that the debate has largely been driven by feminist claims about pornography’s exploitation of women has led to gay pornography’s neglect. Yet our understanding of pornography cannot be defined solely in heterosexual terms, and an analysis of gay pornography may help to expand our knowledge of pornography in general.

What distinguishes pornography from other types of expression is its primary goal of sexual stimulation. Richard Dyer has noted that the goal of the pornographic narrative itself is sexual climax;3 there is a parallel between the activities depicted and the activities they are intended to inspire.

Pornography, as opposed to other forms of sexual representation, is recognized by both its creators and its consumers as an instrument of sexual arousal. Such sexually explicit material has a long history, dating back to prehistoric images of stylized male and female deities and continuing through classical antiquity; but despite pornography’s Greek etymology, its current classification as a media genre began during the 19th century. While the content of pornography has usually reflected the heterosexual orientation of the dominant
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culture, same-sex imagery and narratives have always played a role in the history of erotic expression. In the years since the landmark Stonewall protests of 1969, gay porn has developed into a significant force both in the pornography industry and in gay cultural life.

Understanding the history of gay porn in film and video is vital for understanding the gay video phenomenon of today. Many of its unique qualities (as well as those that it shares with straight porn) can be explained by tracing the stylistic and iconographic evolution of the gay porn film. In some respects, the development and growth of gay porn mirrors the political ascendancy of gays and lesbians. As the struggle for gay liberation expanded and gained a higher profile during the 1970s, so did the gay segment of the pornography industry. Similarly, the belated adoption of condom usage in gay films reflected the advent of AIDS in the 1980s. Gay porn also expressed changing gay cultural ideals of masculinity and beauty. Ultimately, because the sexual activity depicted in gay porn represented the basic difference that created the homosexual identity, gay porn’s popularity can be seen as an affirmation of gay life and culture.

This chapter describes and analyzes the history, production, and content of gay male pornography in various motion picture media. It focuses particularly on video (including videocassettes, DVDs, and other media designed for home use), which has been the most popular and prominent pornographic medium for gays since the 1980s. From that time most print magazines have assumed a supporting role to video, commonly featuring layouts of video performers, or stills taken from videos.4 The contemporary gay pornography industry thus centers on live-action features.