Sex for Sale~Prostitution, Pornography and the Sex Industry (10 page)

143. Amanda Milkovits, “Legislators’ Attempts to Quell Prostitution Stall,”

Providence Journal
, May 28, 2005; Denise Dowling, “Last Call for Sin,”

Rhode Island Monthly
, June 2007.

144. See Ronald Weitzer, “Legalizing Prostitution: Morality Politics in Western Australia,”
British Journal of Criminology
49 (2009): 88–105.

145. Hawaii State Legislature, House of Representatives, HB 982,

“Prostitution,” 2007, §3 and §6. The companion bill in the Senate was SB 706.

146. Herkes, quoted in Mark Niesse, “Prostitution Bill Gains Support,”
The
Star Bulletin
, February 13, 2007. The bill had 13 co-sponsors in the House, 1 in the Senate.

147. Thomas Hargrove, “Men Make Up One-Third of Prostitution Arrests,”

Scripps Howard News Service
, February 17, 2005.

148. Hargrove, “Men Make Up.”

149. Art Hubacher, “Every Picture Tells a Story: Is Kansas City’s ‘John TV’

Constitutional?”
Kansas Law Review
46 (1998): 551–591.

150. “Curbing Prostitution on Demand Side,”
New York Times,
April 20, 1992: B8.

151.
Newsweek
poll, January 26–27, 1995, N = 753.

152. Jordan Schrader, “To Reduce Prostitution, Cities Try Shaming Clients,”

USA Today
, August 29, 2008.

153. Miyoko Ohtake, “A School for Johns,”
Newsweek
, July 24, 2008.

154. On trends in the United States, see Chapter 14, and Ronald Weitzer,

“The Social Construction of Sex Trafficking,”
Politics and Society
35

(2007): 447–475. On Western Australia, see Weitzer, “Legalizing Prostitution.”

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1

PORNOGRAPHY

H A P T E

C

R

2

MOTIVATIONS FOR PURSUING

A CAREER IN PORNOGRAPHY

Sharon A. Abbott

Many people choose careers based on what the job can provide for them.

Benefits may include money, status and recognition, opportunities for career mobility, and social contacts. Some are drawn to jobs that provide a sense of freedom and independence, jobs in which they can forge their own paths, set their own hours, and be free from rigid demands of authority. Careers in the pornography industry offer several of the same benefits to workers as many other occupations. But despite these similarities, jobs in the porn industry have rarely been studied as
work
.

Instead, most research on pornography has focused on the effect and reception of pornographic materials after they have been produced and distributed. Numerous experimental studies have addressed such things as gender differences in arousal, the possible links between pornography and aggression and callous attitudes toward sexual violence, as well as pornography’s potential influence on gender equality.1 This research has treated pornography as a stimulus of behavior or attitudes but ignores other aspects of pornography. Similarly, feminists and legal scholars have engaged in theoretical debates on erotica and pornography,2 but fail to examine pornography as an industry and career choice and thus limit a broader sociological understanding of the medium.

As a form of work, pornography requires participants to enter its stigmatized world and to then develop strategies to maintain involvement in the industry. The structure of the industry influences these motivations.

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SHARON A. ABBOTT

Heterosexual pornography production can be broadly divided into three categories: “professional,” “pro-amateur,” and “amateur.” Professional companies are the largest and most organized, typically employing between 50

and 100 staff members for sales, marketing, distribution, promotion, and production scheduling. Each company releases more than 20 new videotapes a month featuring the most glamorous and popular talent in the industry.

Budgets for professional features range from $50,000 to $150,000, averaging closer to the lower end. In contrast, amateur companies consist of a few individuals who perform a variety of tasks, including acting, directing, sales, and marketing. Budgets range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.

Most commonly, amateur companies do not produce, but rather edit and market “homemade” materials that are sent in by interested participants. Pro-amateur or “gonzo” companies include small companies with large budgets, medium size companies with small budgets, and subsidiaries of professional companies. Budgets average between $15,000 and $25,000. Unlike the specialized employees of professional companies, the staff at pro-amateur companies perform many functions within the organization. Pro-amateur productions create a bridge between professional and “homemade” productions by offering products with high production quality, relatively low cost, and known performers.

This chapter investigates the work of actors and actresses in the production of pornography. I focus on the motivations for entering a porn career and maintaining subsequent involvement, and I describe the ways in which motives are influenced by two factors: actors’ gender and the type of production companies with which they are affiliated.

R E S E A R C H M E TH O D S

Data were collected in two primary sites of pornography production, Los Angeles and San Francisco, in 1996 and 1998. Access to the industry was gained through a former porn actress who retained high status in the industry and provided contacts to others, including someone who eventually became a key informant, a director involved in the industry for more than a decade.

The informant facilitated access to industry events and introduced me to a number of actors and actresses. Other opportunities to make contacts arose in the course of my attendance at several organized events—including a dance, an industry awards show, and the Video Software Dealers’ Association trade show. Field observations and informal interviews were conducted at these events.

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MOTIVATIONS FOR PURSUING A CAREER IN PORNOGRAPHY

In-depth interviews were conducted with participants involved in all facets of production, including producers, directors, company owners, magazine editors, agents, makeup artists, camera operators, and actresses and actors. Regarding the last group, who provide the core data for this chapter, I conducted in-depth interviews with 50 actors and actresses currently involved in the adult entertainment industry (31 actresses, 19 actors). Three-quarters of the interviewees were white, with the remainder being Asian, Latino, and African-American. Interviews typically lasted between 1 and 3 hours.

Whenever possible, interviews were taped; half were tape-recorded and, for the other half, detailed, written notes were recorded. All participants knew my role as a social scientist and were assured confidentiality. Respondents’

length of time in the industry ranged from 2 to 15 years, with an average of 4 to 5 years. As discussed later, this average was higher for actors than actresses. Most had acted in at least 50 videos, with the range being between 40 and 600 (typically corresponding to years in industry).

Initial respondents referred me to other people, and to give me a “full picture” of the industry, the key informant referred me to individuals whom he felt represented all aspects of the business. In addition, whenever possible, I sought out interviews with people I met in other situations who were not connected with the key informant. Both methods helped to increase diversity among the sample. Most of the interviews took place at the respondent’s home or office. Interviews at offices provided an opportunity to observe various settings in the industry and to meet other participants.

I also conducted observations on six production sets. This provided a unique opportunity to both observe the pornography production process and to “hang out” with the participants and discuss many aspects of the industry during low-activity periods in production. Such conversations provided some additional rich data, allowed me to build rapport with the participants, and led to invitations to other events.

E NTE R I N G TH E W O R L D O F P O R N

Respondents were asked what jobs they held before working in pornography, and what jobs they would likely hold if they were no longer involved in adult entertainment. These questions often led to discussions about the benefits of pornography over jobs in the “straight” (not X-rated) industries. In addition, actors and actresses were asked a series of questions about their involvement with different companies, their status in the industry, and relationships with their peers. This information shed light on patterns of mobility and
49

SHARON A. ABBOTT

organizational culture. Porn actors and actresses are often referred to, and refer to themselves as, “talent.” This term is used to differentiate their role from those who act in films that are not X-rated, while also providing a sense of legitimacy and normality to their occupations. “Talent” is less stigmatized than “porn star.”

Individuals enter the porn industry for five main reasons, as now described.

Money

Popular beliefs maintain that the lure of “easy money” draws people, particularly the young, to the world of pornography. This belief is supported by trade and fan magazines that glamorize the industry by focusing on the lavish lifestyles of its members. While the industry cultivates the idea of porn as profitable, income varies greatly by individual. Furthermore, rather than

“easy money,” respondents reported that most of the work is tiring, boring, or physically exhausting.3 Like prostitutes, a few make a great deal of money while most make a modest or meager living.

While money earned from appearing in pornography videos may seem high compared with many other jobs, annual incomes generated from porn alone typically approximate middle-class earnings. For example, respondents reported that at the “professional level,” actresses receive between $300

and $1000 for an individual scene.4 The fee is based on the actresses’ popularity, experience, and audience appeal, as well as what the scene entails.

Masturbation and “girl/girl” (“lesbian”) scenes pay the least, while anal sex and

“double penetrations”5 generate the most money. The most common scene combines oral sex and penile–vaginal intercourse, and pays, on average, $500.

Although the hourly pay is high, income is limited by the amount of work actresses are offered; this money must often stretch between extended periods of no work.

In addition, particularly at the “professional level,” actresses must spend a major portion of their income on their appearance. Cosmetic surgeries, such as liposuction and breast augmentation, are the norm in the business, and must be paid for out of the actresses’ earnings.6 Appearances at industry parties and local “gentlemen’s clubs” (erotic dancing) often require costumes, which consume a portion of earnings. While actors do not have these expenses, they do pay to support their images. Males are expected to look good and stay in shape, and are expected to have the status symbols associated with being a porn star (e.g., motorcycles and cars). Even the HIV testing, required every 30

days in order to work, must be paid for out of pocket.

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MOTIVATIONS FOR PURSUING A CAREER IN PORNOGRAPHY

Women earn more on average than their male coworkers.7 Respondents in this study reported that male talent earn approximately 50% less than their female coworkers. Pornography, therefore, is one of the few occupations in which men experience pay inequity. Furthermore, while actors often have more individual scenes per video than do actresses (with the exception of the star), they only rarely appear on box covers (which provide high fees).

Therefore, actors’ earnings are typically lower for the entire project. Since men in the industry make disproportionately less than women, money alone is an unlikely motivation for actors.

Earnings also depend on the category of porn. While money is a motivating factor at the professional and pro-amateur level, participants in amateur productions are often paid little, if anything at all. Individuals who sell amateur tapes to a distributor are paid, on average, $150. The fee is paid to the individual who sells the tape, not the participants, whose pay is unknown. When videos are produced by amateur companies, talent earn between $50 and $150 per scene. In addition to paying relatively low wages, amateur companies do not have the same connections to such moneymaking opportunities as erotic dancing and modeling, common at pro-amateur and professional levels. Therefore, actors and actresses at the amateur level were far less likely than individuals at higher levels to cite money as a primary motivation.

At the pro-amateur and professional level, the effect of money may be a key factor in keeping members involved in the industry even after they decide to leave.8 Accustomed to periods of time in which money is plentiful (albeit sporadic), actors and actresses have difficulty finding jobs that offer the (perceived) freedom and flexibility of porn work. This phenomenon is illustrated by the following exchange between a husband-and-wife acting team:

Tim
A friend of mine knew the contacts for porn, and another friend of mine really pushed me into it, and once I tried it, I got hooked into it. I liked the lifestyle. And then I didn’t like it. I went through a period where I didn’t like it, and it was too late, because I was already in it, and I already changed my cost of living. And that’s a mistake that porn actors and actresses make.

Keri
They start off making $5000 a month in the beginning.

Tim
They start off and bite off more than they can chew financially a month, and then you’re stuck, because most of us can’t turn around and go get a CEO job, because now we’re in the $80,000 to $100,000 a year bracket.

We are used to big houses and nice cars.

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SHARON A. ABBOTT

The inability to find jobs with similar benefits may keep participants involved in the industry. In addition, talent may begin to “live beyond their means,” and the need to support their standard of living serves to keep them in their jobs.