Pornographic film actor
A pornographic actor or a porn star is somebody who appears in pornographic movies, live sex shows or peep shows. Many actors/actresses may appear nude in films (usually rather briefly) or on stage but even if they depict sexual behavior they are not considered erotic actors. To be considered a porn star, one must appear chiefly in porn movies and be filmed in explicit sexual acts, usually with close-up shots of the genitalia during sexual acts and where explicit nudity is involved. Due to longstanding stigma associated with this profession, it is almost universal for porn stars to use stage names and keep their real names secret; with the rise of the Internet, however, the real names of most porn stars are now commonly available.
History
The first porn star with name recognition was Linda Lovelace who starred in the 1972 feature, Deep Throat. The success of this movie, which grossed hundreds of millions of dollars worldwide, spawned a slew of other films and pornographic film stars such as Marilyn Chambers (Behind the Green Door), Gloria Leonard (The Opening of Misty Beethoven), Georgina Spelvin (The Devil in Miss Jones), Jeremy Cohen ("the Speed Demon Of Porn"), and Bambi Woods (Debbie Does Dallas). This was followed by what is called The Golden Age of Porn in the early and mid-eighties. Such legendary performers as John Holmes, Seka, Ginger Lynn Allen, Annette Haven, Veronica Hart, and Hyapatia Lee became well known in this era. Jenna Jameson and Silvia Saint are among the most well known porn stars of the late nineties and the early 2000s
Attempts in the 1970s to outlaw pornography in the United States by prosecuting porn stars for prostitution failed, as the courts made a distinction between someone who took part in a sexual relationship for money, and the act of portraying a sexual relationship as a performance for money.
The ability for people to view adult movies in the privacy of their own homes, due to the popularity of the VCR (and now DVD) created a new adult market that could not be ignored. The production values of adult films declined dramatically in the attempt to create product for ever increasing demand. As a result of this, there are hundreds of adult film companies today, releasing tens of thousands of shot-on-video titles annually.
As a result, there are thousands of people working as pornographic actors to meet the demand for these films.
Since the main market is for pornography aimed at a heterosexual male audience, the primary demand is for good-looking female performers. Female performers in pornography aimed at the heterosexual male audience are generally expected to perform with both male and female partners.
Male performers are generally selected less for their looks as for their ability to get and maintain an erection for a long period on a crowded movie set, as well as the ability to ejaculate at will. Ron Jeremy is probably the most famous male performer in heterosexual pornography. A number of male performers perform in both heterosexual and gay male pornography. Male performers are, in general, paid substantially less than female performers.
As the popularity of titles increases (profits are in the billions of dollars a year in the United States as of 2005), numerous niche and fetish markets have arisen in recent years. The vast number of titles has created the urgency for companies for stand out, and recent years have seen increasing numbers of risque and shocking video components, often involving pain (forced oral sex or "gagging" videos), simulated rape or the consensual physical assault of actresses during filming.
Pornographic actors and sexually transmitted diseases
Because of the nature of their work, usually involving sex without condoms, pornographic actors are particularly vulnerable to AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
In the 1980s, an outbreak of AIDS led to a number of deaths of erotic actors. This led to the creation of the Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation, which helped set up a system in the U.S. adult film industry where erotic actors are tested for HIV every 30 days. All sexual contact is logged, and positive test results result in all sexual contacts for the last three to six months being contacted and re-tested.
This resulted in low rates of HIV transmission, and hence low rates of infection among erotic actors: it has been reported that not a single HIV test was positive in the four year period prior to 2004.
In 2004, a male performer, Darren James, tested positive for HIV. One fellow porn star, Lara Roxx, was identified and tested positive for HIV. James apparently had contact with 12 other women since his previous negative HIV test. Following the release of this information the heterosexual porn industry voluntarily reduced their workload for the next 30 days, as various contacts with both individuals, as well as others within the industry, re-evaluated and expanded upon their original programs dealing with this possibility.
However, accurate information about the extent of infection among those in the adult industry is unknown because no organization has ever done proper studies. What little data that does exist is alarming. The Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation administered voluntary tests to a group consisting primarily of adult film workers. Of 483 people tested between October 2001 and March 2002, about 40% had at least one disease. Nearly 17% tested positive for chlamydia, 13% for gonorrhea and 10% for hepatitis B and/or hepatitis C.
The media
Pornography is available in nearly all kinds of print media from magazines, video-tapes, CD-ROM, DVD etc. The most important means of spreading pornography in the 70's were magazine and in the 80's were video-tapes. All kinds of hardcore pornography is prohibited or at least very limited in the classic electronic media (TV, radio), in nearly all countries of course excluding the internet.
See also
- Pornographic movie
- Glamour model
- Bondage model
- List of big-bust models and performers
- Sex worker
- List of porn stars
- AIDS and the porn industry
- Pornography
External links
- Internet Adult Film Database
- Anna Span's Advice on Becoming a Pornstar: warning, sidebar images contain nudity
- Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation: Frequently asked questions