Pornographic actor
From Free net encyclopedia
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.
Contents |
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, Ginger Lynn Allen, Christy Canyon, Uschi Digard, Annette Haven, Veronica Hart, Nina Hartley, Seka, and Hyapatia Lee became well known in this era. In the DVD-dominated late 1990s, Jenna Jameson, Tera Patrick, Briana Banks, Ariana Jollee, Stacy Valentine, Asia Carrera and Silvia Saint emerged as megapornstars. Emerging starlets as of 2006 include Jana Cova, Sophie Moone, Renata Daninsky, and Passion. Gay pornstars have also grown more mainstream, with such stars as Michael Lucas garnering media attention.
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 new films 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.
Male performers are generally selected less for their looks than for their sexual prowess. Desirable traits include the ability to maintain an erection for a long period on a crowded movie set, as well as the ability to ejaculate on demand with maximum lateral trajectory. Ron Jeremy and Peter North are probably the most famous male performers. North is known for his ability to launch prodigious loads of semen and Jeremy is known for his 9.75 inch penis and an appearance very unusual for a porn star (he is overweight and balding with copious 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.
On the whole, male performers are paid less than their female counterparts. Because gay male porn generally pays men much more than heterosexual porn, a number of male performers appear in both heterosexual and gay pornography. Many female performers perform in both straight and lesbian porn, which have similar pay rates. The primary audience for lesbian pornography (commonly known as girl-on-girl) is heterosexual men.
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.
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, 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. 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 suggests that pornographic actors have a much higher rate of STDs 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.
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 questionsda:Pornomodel