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(Redirected from Porn stars)
A 'pornographic actor/actress' or a 'porn star' (also spelled as 'pornstar') is somebody who appears in pornographic films or photographs, live sex shows or peep shows. Many actors and actresses may appear nude in films (usually filmed in explicit sexual genres). Most genres have specialists who achieve most of their recognition in a specific niche market such as bondage or strap-on sex.
Some legal jurisdictions consider commercial pornography as a form of prostitution, though most commercial sex film performers do not regard themselves as prostitutes for various reasons. Most notably these performers are usually not paid directly by their sexual partners for the sex but through an agency and directly choose their partners themselves. Some sex film performers do not receive money at all for their inclusion in such films. In this instance, they do so for promotion of their other works such as artistry paintings and sculptures, or have no sex in the films such as repeat performers in the famous ''Girls Gone Wild'' film series.
Many different performers had performed in various sex films since the beginning of photography. Many so called "penny arcades" of the early 1900s had early frame flicker hand cranked films and "rotoscope" (Holmes-style Stereoscope) glasses that featured "racy" pictures of women, mostly in bare breasted pictures, though a few actually showed women in full frontal nudity with fewer still showing them in actual sexual couplings. There have been many films and photographs that showed sexual acts including the World War II series of erotic German home movies known as the "Sachsenwald films", recorded secretly in Nazi Germany 1941.[1] But most performers of these early photograph and film recordings usually chose to remain anonymous due to extreme social pressure and legal banning against open sexual actions.
The generally acknowledged first porn star with specific (stage) name recognition was Linda Lovelace from the United States, 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''), and Bambi Woods (''Debbie Does Dallas'').
This era has been termed by some to be ''The Golden Age of Porn'' when porn films were being shown in public theaters and thus accepted for public consumption or at least tolerated for such.Second wave: Feminism and porns golden age. ''Radical Society'' Oct 2002 by Loren Glass This time frame lasted until the late 1970s, with some saying the early 1980s, whereby these sex films had specific story-plots and promotional budgets and the performers became notable. Such legendary performers of this era include John Holmes, Ginger Lynn Allen, Veronica Hart, Nina Hartley, Seka, and Amber Lynn became well known in this era.
Attempts were made in the 1970s to outlaw pornography in the United States by prosecuting porn stars for prostitution. The courts in California were where the case was initially made, and stopped short of advancing the case to the United States Supreme Court for a final decision. It was this decision and acceptance to let stand whereby the California Court made a legal distinction in the case of People v. Freeman between someone who took part in a sexual relationship for money (prostitution) versus someone who takes on the act of merely ''portraying'' role where a sexual relationship was engaged in on-screen act as part of their acting performance. It is this specific legal distinction between pornography and prostitution in California law that has allowed California to become the porn center of the United States.
At present, no other state in the United States has either implemented or accepted this legal distinction between commercial pornography performers versus prostitutes as shown in the Florida case where sex film maker Clinton Raymond McCowen, aka "Ray Guhn", was indicted on charges of "soliciting and engaging in prostitution" for his creation of pornography films which included "McCowen and his associates recruited up to 100 local men and women to participate in group sex scenes, the affidavit says."[2] The distinction that California has in its legal determination in the Freeman decision is usually denied in most state's locale prostitution laws, which do NOT specifically exclude performers from such inclusion.
In some cases, some states have ratified their local state laws for inclusion to prevent California's Freeman decision to be applied to actors who are paid a fee for sexual actions within their state borders. One example is the state of Texas whose prostitution law specifically states:
:An offense is established under Subsection (a)(1) whether the actor is to receive or pay a fee. An offense is established under Subsection (a)(2) whether the actor solicits a person to hire him or offers to hire the person solicited.[3]
The ability for people to view adult movies in the privacy of their own homes, owing to the popularity of the VCR (and now DVD) created a new adult market that has exceeded the scope of the previous theatre centric era. Additionally, the prevalence of the Internet has served as a catalyst for the increased sale of pornography. In the late 1990s, Jenna Jameson, Juli Ashton, Ashlyn Gere, Asia Carrera, Racquel Darrian, Tera Patrick, Briana Banks, Stacy Valentine, Jill Kelly, and Silvia Saint emerged as new wave of porn stars.
Some state that the production values of adult films have decidedly declined in the attempt to create a constant amount of new films to fulfill the ever increasing demand. Other argue that sex films are merely being more true to their source as some have stated that people only watch these films in order to see these performer have sex - paraphrased from (To which the only answer is "No, they watch her movies to see her fuck."[4])
As a result of this, there are hundreds of adult film companies today, releasing tens of thousands of directly recorded-on-video with minimal set including so called web cam recordings annually, with thousands of people working on both sides of the camera to meet the demand for these films.
While the primary focus of sex films are the women in these sex films, who are mostly selected for their on-screen appearance, there is a definite focus on the male performers who are able to fulfill the desires of the male watching audience as their on-screen proxies. Most male performers in heterosexual pornography are generally selected less for their looks than for their sexual prowess, namely their ability to do three things: achieve an erection while on a busy film set, maintain that erection while performing on camera and then to be able to achieve ejaculation on cue (and not prematurely).
Ron Jeremy, Peter North, and Scott Schleisman are probably the most famous male performers. North is known for his ability to launch above-average amounts of semen at notable velocity from his penis on-screen which most other male performers can not do. Schleisman is known for his 9.75 inch penis and an appearance very unusual for a porn star (he is overweight with copious amounts of body hair). Adding to his fame, Ron Jeremy has been a staple in the industry since the 70's and has become something of a cultural icon.
According to some sources, most male performers in straight porn are paid less than their female counterparts. Ron Jeremy has commented on several times regarding the pay scale against the women and the men of the sex film industry: "The average guy gets $300 to $400 a scene, or $100 to $200 if he's new. A woman makes $100,000 to $250,000 at the end of the year."[5] and "Girls can easily make 100K-250K per year, plus stuff on the side like strip shows and appearances. The average guy makes $40,000 a year."[6]
Some state that gay male porn generally pays men much more than heterosexual porn, a number of male performers, including North, who has appeared in both heterosexual and gay pornography. However North strenuously denies that he has ever actively performed in homosexual acts other than his earliest times. Ostensibly, men who perform in gay pornography but identify themselves as heterosexual are said to do gay-for-pay; that is, perform in gay movies only for the paycheck, not because of any personal attraction they have to other men.
According to notable producer Seymour Butts who runs his own sex film recruitment agency as well as produces sex film "depending on draw, female performers who perform in both straight and lesbian porn earn more than those who do normal sex (Boy/Girl) usually make about US$200-800 while those who only do oral sex (blow job) usually only make about US$100-300 for the scene.[7]
While some pornographic actors perform in a wide range of genres, most genres have specialists who achieve most of their recognition in a specific niche market such as bondage or strap-on sex. With over several thousand usually one hour long sex films produced each year from several countries, the most accessible usually made and released from within the United States, many performers will complete a film every one or two weeks. However, many of the highly regarded and thus highly paid performers, such as Jenna Jameson, only star in actual sex films a few times a year, due to the substantial pay rate they charge for their inclusion in film releases.
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 and actresses, including John Holmes. 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 lead to 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, though some suspect that Lara Roxx is truly "Patient Zero," and started the epidemic, as she was previously working as a street prostitute (where she had sex without a condom) before coming to LA. It is also believed by some that James contracted it during a film he made in Brazil and was himself "patient zero", which is more likely, seeing as when performers enter the porn industry HIV tests are done. 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 rigorous studies. The existing data suggest that pornographic actors have a much higher rate of STD's than the general American population. 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. In addition, medical evidence on the occurrence of HPV and genital herpes among the general population (who comparatively have fewer sexual partners) suggests that it would be highly unlikely for any experienced pornographic actor to not have at least one of these two STDs.
1. Porn und Drang
2.
3. Texas Penal Code, Chapter 43: Public Indecency
4.
5. Ron Jeremy: Penetrating society since '78
6. Jeremy spoke in class today: An exclusive interview with porn movie legend, Ron Jeremy
7.
★ Internet Adult Film Database (contains nudity)
★ Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation: Frequently asked questions
A 'pornographic actor/actress' or a 'porn star' (also spelled as 'pornstar') is somebody who appears in pornographic films or photographs, live sex shows or peep shows. Many actors and actresses may appear nude in films (usually filmed in explicit sexual genres). Most genres have specialists who achieve most of their recognition in a specific niche market such as bondage or strap-on sex.
Some legal jurisdictions consider commercial pornography as a form of prostitution, though most commercial sex film performers do not regard themselves as prostitutes for various reasons. Most notably these performers are usually not paid directly by their sexual partners for the sex but through an agency and directly choose their partners themselves. Some sex film performers do not receive money at all for their inclusion in such films. In this instance, they do so for promotion of their other works such as artistry paintings and sculptures, or have no sex in the films such as repeat performers in the famous ''Girls Gone Wild'' film series.
| Contents |
| History |
| Male performers |
| Pay rates |
| Pornographic actors and STDs |
| References |
| External links |
History
Many different performers had performed in various sex films since the beginning of photography. Many so called "penny arcades" of the early 1900s had early frame flicker hand cranked films and "rotoscope" (Holmes-style Stereoscope) glasses that featured "racy" pictures of women, mostly in bare breasted pictures, though a few actually showed women in full frontal nudity with fewer still showing them in actual sexual couplings. There have been many films and photographs that showed sexual acts including the World War II series of erotic German home movies known as the "Sachsenwald films", recorded secretly in Nazi Germany 1941.[1] But most performers of these early photograph and film recordings usually chose to remain anonymous due to extreme social pressure and legal banning against open sexual actions.
The generally acknowledged first porn star with specific (stage) name recognition was Linda Lovelace from the United States, 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''), and Bambi Woods (''Debbie Does Dallas'').
This era has been termed by some to be ''The Golden Age of Porn'' when porn films were being shown in public theaters and thus accepted for public consumption or at least tolerated for such.Second wave: Feminism and porns golden age. ''Radical Society'' Oct 2002 by Loren Glass This time frame lasted until the late 1970s, with some saying the early 1980s, whereby these sex films had specific story-plots and promotional budgets and the performers became notable. Such legendary performers of this era include John Holmes, Ginger Lynn Allen, Veronica Hart, Nina Hartley, Seka, and Amber Lynn became well known in this era.
Attempts were made in the 1970s to outlaw pornography in the United States by prosecuting porn stars for prostitution. The courts in California were where the case was initially made, and stopped short of advancing the case to the United States Supreme Court for a final decision. It was this decision and acceptance to let stand whereby the California Court made a legal distinction in the case of People v. Freeman between someone who took part in a sexual relationship for money (prostitution) versus someone who takes on the act of merely ''portraying'' role where a sexual relationship was engaged in on-screen act as part of their acting performance. It is this specific legal distinction between pornography and prostitution in California law that has allowed California to become the porn center of the United States.
At present, no other state in the United States has either implemented or accepted this legal distinction between commercial pornography performers versus prostitutes as shown in the Florida case where sex film maker Clinton Raymond McCowen, aka "Ray Guhn", was indicted on charges of "soliciting and engaging in prostitution" for his creation of pornography films which included "McCowen and his associates recruited up to 100 local men and women to participate in group sex scenes, the affidavit says."[2] The distinction that California has in its legal determination in the Freeman decision is usually denied in most state's locale prostitution laws, which do NOT specifically exclude performers from such inclusion.
In some cases, some states have ratified their local state laws for inclusion to prevent California's Freeman decision to be applied to actors who are paid a fee for sexual actions within their state borders. One example is the state of Texas whose prostitution law specifically states:
:An offense is established under Subsection (a)(1) whether the actor is to receive or pay a fee. An offense is established under Subsection (a)(2) whether the actor solicits a person to hire him or offers to hire the person solicited.[3]
The ability for people to view adult movies in the privacy of their own homes, owing to the popularity of the VCR (and now DVD) created a new adult market that has exceeded the scope of the previous theatre centric era. Additionally, the prevalence of the Internet has served as a catalyst for the increased sale of pornography. In the late 1990s, Jenna Jameson, Juli Ashton, Ashlyn Gere, Asia Carrera, Racquel Darrian, Tera Patrick, Briana Banks, Stacy Valentine, Jill Kelly, and Silvia Saint emerged as new wave of porn stars.
Some state that the production values of adult films have decidedly declined in the attempt to create a constant amount of new films to fulfill the ever increasing demand. Other argue that sex films are merely being more true to their source as some have stated that people only watch these films in order to see these performer have sex - paraphrased from (To which the only answer is "No, they watch her movies to see her fuck."[4])
As a result of this, there are hundreds of adult film companies today, releasing tens of thousands of directly recorded-on-video with minimal set including so called web cam recordings annually, with thousands of people working on both sides of the camera to meet the demand for these films.
Male performers
While the primary focus of sex films are the women in these sex films, who are mostly selected for their on-screen appearance, there is a definite focus on the male performers who are able to fulfill the desires of the male watching audience as their on-screen proxies. Most male performers in heterosexual pornography are generally selected less for their looks than for their sexual prowess, namely their ability to do three things: achieve an erection while on a busy film set, maintain that erection while performing on camera and then to be able to achieve ejaculation on cue (and not prematurely).
Ron Jeremy, Peter North, and Scott Schleisman are probably the most famous male performers. North is known for his ability to launch above-average amounts of semen at notable velocity from his penis on-screen which most other male performers can not do. Schleisman is known for his 9.75 inch penis and an appearance very unusual for a porn star (he is overweight with copious amounts of body hair). Adding to his fame, Ron Jeremy has been a staple in the industry since the 70's and has become something of a cultural icon.
Pay rates
According to some sources, most male performers in straight porn are paid less than their female counterparts. Ron Jeremy has commented on several times regarding the pay scale against the women and the men of the sex film industry: "The average guy gets $300 to $400 a scene, or $100 to $200 if he's new. A woman makes $100,000 to $250,000 at the end of the year."[5] and "Girls can easily make 100K-250K per year, plus stuff on the side like strip shows and appearances. The average guy makes $40,000 a year."[6]
Some state that gay male porn generally pays men much more than heterosexual porn, a number of male performers, including North, who has appeared in both heterosexual and gay pornography. However North strenuously denies that he has ever actively performed in homosexual acts other than his earliest times. Ostensibly, men who perform in gay pornography but identify themselves as heterosexual are said to do gay-for-pay; that is, perform in gay movies only for the paycheck, not because of any personal attraction they have to other men.
According to notable producer Seymour Butts who runs his own sex film recruitment agency as well as produces sex film "depending on draw, female performers who perform in both straight and lesbian porn earn more than those who do normal sex (Boy/Girl) usually make about US$200-800 while those who only do oral sex (blow job) usually only make about US$100-300 for the scene.[7]
While some pornographic actors perform in a wide range of genres, most genres have specialists who achieve most of their recognition in a specific niche market such as bondage or strap-on sex. With over several thousand usually one hour long sex films produced each year from several countries, the most accessible usually made and released from within the United States, many performers will complete a film every one or two weeks. However, many of the highly regarded and thus highly paid performers, such as Jenna Jameson, only star in actual sex films a few times a year, due to the substantial pay rate they charge for their inclusion in film releases.
Pornographic actors and STDs
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 and actresses, including John Holmes. 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 lead to 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, though some suspect that Lara Roxx is truly "Patient Zero," and started the epidemic, as she was previously working as a street prostitute (where she had sex without a condom) before coming to LA. It is also believed by some that James contracted it during a film he made in Brazil and was himself "patient zero", which is more likely, seeing as when performers enter the porn industry HIV tests are done. 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 rigorous studies. The existing data suggest that pornographic actors have a much higher rate of STD's than the general American population. 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. In addition, medical evidence on the occurrence of HPV and genital herpes among the general population (who comparatively have fewer sexual partners) suggests that it would be highly unlikely for any experienced pornographic actor to not have at least one of these two STDs.
References
1. Porn und Drang
2.
3. Texas Penal Code, Chapter 43: Public Indecency
4.
5. Ron Jeremy: Penetrating society since '78
6. Jeremy spoke in class today: An exclusive interview with porn movie legend, Ron Jeremy
7.
External links
★ Internet Adult Film Database (contains nudity)
★ Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation: Frequently asked questions
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psst.. try this: add to faves
