What the Porn Industry Needs Is a...
What the Porn Industry Needs Is a Consumer Boycott
I have always questioned the motivations of adult film actresses, but believe that it’s their prerogative to work in whatever medium they’re comfortable with as long as they are paid and treated fairly (“See No Evil,” by P.J. Huffstutter, Jan. 12). I’m not a puritanical reformer. However, Huffstutter made me question the very existence of unexploited porn in her excellent article, which illustrated the substandard and dangerous conditions under which adult film stars work.
Boycotts of clothing companies that employ child and slave labor, and fast-food chains that mistreat animals, have shown that the power of reform often lies with the consumer. It’s a stretch to imagine that consumers of porn will push for industry changes such as health coverage and regulated testing. But if they continue to watch pornography, knowing that they’re watching women contract deadly diseases, they’re essentially deriving pleasure from long, drawn-out snuff films, and that has to change.
Erika Higgins Ross
Los Angeles
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As the owner of an employment agency in California, I am outraged. How is it possible to have a legal industry that is not regulated by California’s employment laws? Not only am I worried about protecting the individuals who are being mistreated, but I am baffled that the porn film industry does not have to adhere to the same employment standards that I do. It saddens me that California officials will not take notice of the issue and the industry’s inhumane working conditions. Perhaps if we all declare our employees as independent contractors, who are not subject to employment taxes, someone will take notice. I sincerely hope that the case of former porn star Anne Marie Ballowe brings some long-overdue attention to this matter.
Gina Viola
Los Angeles
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Your story on porn stars and the diseases they get on the job implied that there is no regulation of this business in protecting the performers. I believe there is. Title 8, Section 5193 of the California Code of Regulations regulates exposures to blood-borne pathogens in the workplace. It applies to “all occupational exposure to blood or other potentially infectious materials” that “results from the performance of an employee’s duties.” This regulation requires employers to have a written plan to protect their employees and to provide them with protective equipment applicable to the hazard. It seems the people at Cal/OSHA have dropped the ball on this one.
Vance Bennett
San Luis Obispo
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So the “stars” of California’s porn film industry are contracting VD at an alarming rate. So what? Who cares? As my grandaddy always told me, “You sleep with [prostitutes] my boy, you’re bound to get infected.”
Joseph A. Lea
Mission Viejo