Top 5 Scandalous Myths About the Porn Industry

If you’ve watched any highly produced porn, you’ve likely noticed something missing. For the most part, porn stars tend not to use condoms while they’re performing, which seems dangerous considering the number of partners they have in their careers. The thinking has always been that adult film actors go through regular and rigorous STI testing so that the community is entirely safe from sexually transmitted infections. However, according to a study by the AIDS Healthcare foundation, of the 168 patients working in the porn industry that they followed, 47 of them had an STI, 11 of whom wouldn’t have been detected by the industries urine-based tests.

The amount that adult film actors are paid varies greatly depending on a variety of factors, but one thing that stays consistent is that for men, acting in gay rather than straight porn is far more lucrative. This results in straight men making the decision to act in gay porn due to the higher paycheque. In fact, there is even a term that has been coined for the phenomenon: gay for pay. Interestingly enough, the opposite is also sometimes true. Since a common trope in gay porn is the seduction of a straight guy, homosexual actors also end up playing heterosexual roles.

According to the latest figures, the pornography industry makes approximately $10–15 billion a year, which is similar to the amount that the Hollywood film industry brings in. These numbers have become somewhat common knowledge, so it gathers that porn stars must get paid really well - right? While this may have been true a decade ago, the rise of low budget porn has become more widespread with the advent of massive online porn sites, and many actors have taken a pay cut. While actresses in large productions can bring in over $100 000 a year, this is only true for a select few.

While there has been much debate over whether a propensity towards watching excessive amounts of porn can be considered a medical addiction, there’s no question that one can develop a dependency on pornography. Sexual compulsivity hasn’t yet been included in the Diagnostic Statistical Manual for Psychiatric Disorders but many experts agree that the disorder is very real. Unfortunately, this means that treatment for sex addiction is not covered by insurance companies. Porn addiction can cause different types of sexual dysfunction as well as problems forming relationships and can impact other facets of people’s lives.

One of the most problematic concepts, both socially and politically, that people believe about the sex industry is that sex work is not or should not be considered real work. But like workers in every other industry, sex workers deserve to have rules and regulations as well as safety protocols put into place to protect them. Because of the nature of the work they do, sex workers are even more at risk for abuse and exploitation than people working in other fields. But as a result of the stigma against the industry, sex workers aren’t afforded the same protections as others.