Porn Studies

Americans undeniably have a fascination with porn stars. Whether people are avid fans or virulently trying to get porn banned, it is obviously captivating enough that certain stars, Ron Jeremy, Jenna Jameson, and Tracy Lords, among others, have become household names. In the last few years, a number of interesting studies have come out about what it means to be a porn star. Here are two recent examples that I thought were relevant to share during Golden Age of Porn month, to hopefully challenge some preconceived notions.  

The first is from November 2012 and was published in the Journal of Sex Research, which means that it is a peer reviewed study. Titled Pornography Actresses: An Assessment of the Damaged Goods Hypothesis, this is concerned with examining the psychological state of female porn stars. Stereotypically, porn stars are thought to be emotionally damaged, victims of abuse, drug users and/or morally bereft. According to them:

"The present study compared the self-reports of 177 porn actresses to a sample of women matched on age, ethnicity, and marital status. Comparisons were conducted on sexual behaviors and attitudes, self-esteem, quality of life, and drug use. Porn actresses were more likely to identify as bisexual, first had sex at an earlier age, had more sexual partners, were more concerned about contracting a sexually transmitted disease (STD), and enjoyed sex more than the matched sample, although there were no differences in incidence of CSA. In terms of psychological characteristics, porn actresses had higher levels of self-esteem, positive feelings, social support, sexual satisfaction, and spirituality compared to the matched group. Last, female performers were more likely to have ever used 10 different types of drugs compared to the comparison group."

In other words, there is nothing to the idea that porn stars are “damaged goods.” Of course psychology is a soft science, interview subjects provide their own answers and are thus able to manipulate them, and this is a relatively small sample, but it is still encouraging. Read the full study by following the above link. 

The second study was not for a peer reviewed journal, but was undertaken and recently completed by Jon Millward, who went through the entire Internet Adult Film Database and looked at 10,000 porn stars to find out “what the average performer looks like, what they do on film, and how their role has evolved over the last forty years.” Working with the premise that the average American female porn star is blonde and busty, Millward learned that she is, in fact, a brunette B-cup. He also examined other factors, like whether these ladies on average have piercings or tattoos, how tall they are, how much they weigh, skin color/race, age, what type of sex acts they perform, how long they stay in the business, common names, and more, in order to come up with a demographic profile. Though he focuses more on women, men are also included in the study.

Visit his site to view a number of graphs and visuals and to read the full, fascinating report. It would be interesting to see how this could be further developed. Studies like these two help to dispel common myths about the porn industry. The Journal of Sex Research, which I mentioned above, is another great place to read more studies like these. 

And here’s some more food for thought: an article about the 20 richest porn stars, both men and women.