Since the craze of pornography with magazines like Playboy and Hustler, pornography has become this taboo topic in the United States that no one wants to talk about but just fight against it. Personally porn is no different than any other weird hobby that Americans share to keep it under the rug, like hoarding and weird addictions; which has recently come into light by shows that bring these habits out of the closet and into our homes. I have to laugh at some of the politicians that want to get rid of the porn industry, while not knowing that a lot of their ties to companies like Verizon and NewsCorp, which probably gave them support for their campaign, own their own porn production companies. Also, that they think porn is so horrible, but I bet you money that they’ve seen porn, watched it, and enjoyed it, and their sons probably have their own collection of porn in their rooms.
Im not totally against porn, cause trust me I’ve seen my fair share, my problem is the hardcore porn where the safety and health of the stars is in question. I understand that it is their choice to perform these obscene acts with others, but the audience watching it is another issue to worry about as well. Is this specific audience the reason for the high numbers of rape in our country or is it another issue? Should there be more laws for porn to make sure that the safety and health of the stars comes first before their already high profits of the porn industry?
Personally knowing a porn star, another issue that comes up is the STD and HIV checks that are demanded to help stop the spreading of these diseases. These days, the industry is very strict on these regulations more with larger production companies where their stars are very valuable and bring in a huge profit. Another issue that is very relevant is drugs and alcohol problems that come with the package of the industry. To me this is no different than hearing about some Hollywood star that has drug problems, which is nothing new in our culture.
While you mention that rigorous and frequent STD testing is a requirement in the (heterosexual) pornography industry, you neglect to talk about the looser standards of testing in homosexual porn. According to a blogpost by pro-porn activist and director or pornographic films, Ernest Greene, "all performers in heterosexual pornography [are required] to be tested no less than once every 28 days for HIV, Chlamydia and Gonorrhea, every sixty days for Syphilis, and to authorize access to the results of those tests through a computerized data base to both other performers with whom they might be hired to work and to producers who might hire them. The gay side of the industry has opted for barrier protections and does not require performer testing." This more relaxed approach to STD testing in performers in homosexual porn is clearly to their detriment: last year there was a highly publicized incident of a male gay-to-straight pornography performer who was diagnosed with HIV. Until we have stricter regulations on STD testing for actors in homosexual pornography, it will be extremely unsafe for all the performers involved.
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