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Although for some porn is morbid, for others controversy and for many others, perversion, we are not going to begin the text either with moans or with heated controversies, but with something very unpornographic: numbers. According to FBI figures from 2022, porn cinema generates between
10,000 and 14,000 million dollars a year
in the United States
, and MBA reports indicate that there are more than 24 million pornographic websites.
Porn is so common that even spaces like OnlyFans have taken it upon themselves to democratize sexual content, with the platform achieving substantial profits last year that have prompted many people to create profiles as another way to earn extra money. But even though porn is on the path to normalization, there is an aspect that is not being considered and that is of utmost importance: that of
mental health
. In 2018, in just three months, three porn actresses took their lives, and as actress Ginger Banks explained to 'Hollywood Life', the stigma that still plagues the industry today is responsible for the mental health of the performers. Always be hanging on by a thread.
Psychological help without stigmas: the pending issue
"The way society views and treats porn stars makes us more depressed. It's hard to feel like we don't belong or that we're second-class citizens. I've suffered from depression because of the way people view my work. That "It's the worst part, the way people
treat me
for what I do for a living," he said. As if that were not enough, therapists tend to point to the porn industry as the cause of the problems, instead of seeing it as just another profession, as Tasha Reign, president of the Adult Performers Defense Committee, has stated.
To learn more about how porn actresses care for their mental health, we contacted an adult film actress, an intimacy coordinator, and the creator of Pineapple Support Society, a free support
and therapy
service for all working people. in the adult industry.
In our conversations with them, one word comes up recurrently: stigma. One would think that by going to a psychologist, the patient enters a safe place, but professionals who do not specialize in patients who are dedicated to adult films or sex work often have stigmas that mean that performers are not they feel safe.
This is what Leya Tanit, founder of Pineapple, tells us, who after the aforementioned wave of
suicides
, convinced that these could have been prevented, launched this psychological counseling service. "I am convinced that the deaths of these actresses would have been avoided if they had had access to affordable, stigma-free psychological care. There is a huge stigma in the world of psychology, and part of it is because some of the teachings are really archaic. Therapists who work with us tell us that they have attended presentations at universities or talks by renowned speakers in which it is openly said that those who work in porn are
addicted to sex
, they work in this because they do not have more options or they are despicable people. that this profession is not chosen, but is the result of necessity or addiction," he explains to YO DONA.
Maria Riot. Photo by Adriana EskenaziThe Wedding
For her part ,
María Riot
, a sex worker, activist for the rights of sex workers, artist and adult film intimacy coordinator, who has been working in the porn industry since 2014 after having practiced other forms of sex work, highlights the importance of have specialized psychology services. "Many mental health professionals are not aware of the
stigma
and when doing therapy, they may question why you decide to do this work. That comment would not be made by someone specialized in mental health for sex workers, who is going to receive you without a prejudiced look, knowing the complexity of living in a world that points. It can help you from a more comprehensive understanding and perspective that is perhaps more difficult with other professionals. I myself have done therapy with a Pinneapple Support professional, and the fact of not having to answer questions that are often asked out of ignorance, allows you to work in greater depth on some topics that may not have to do with your work, but with everything that surrounds it," he explains.
Although working in the adult film industry can exacerbate mental health problems, throughout the conversations held during these days with industry professionals, the sources consulted suggest that in reality, these problems are not so much due to the fact that sex work be conflictive per se, but what is responsible is the existing stigma, which
isolates actresses
, who encounter difficulties in finding help without stigma within mental health.
As if that were not enough, we cannot forget the role of social networks, which, although they have given actresses new opportunities to control their careers, at the same time expose them more frequently to dehumanizing comments from 'haters'
and
to situations of harassment. .
Intimacy coordinators
In the porn film industry, there is a struggle to impose the figure of the intimacy coordinator
on filming
, a relatively new role that, as a result of
#metoo
, is becoming popular and is essential in ethical porn, but not entirely in the 'mainstream'. They are in charge of coordinating sex scenes and ensuring that intimate or sexual scenes are shot with consent and comfort.
Not only do they keep an eye on the actresses during filming, but they also follow up afterwards to ensure that no problems or fears emerge after the recording. "I have not studied psychology, so when I see that interpreters have problems that go beyond my abilities, I stop and recommend that they seek help from specialists. I like to know if they have any type of mental illness so I know how to react. I What I do then is to inform myself, talk to psychologists, know how to help better and in which cases I can pass it on to another professional," explains
Anarella Martinez
, intimacy coordinator in Erika Lust's feminist porn films.
"The figure of intimacy coordinator is vital. You know that this figure is focused on making the filming a safer place
,
and since you have consent talks before a sex scene, you can feel calmer and more vulnerable knowing that that person "It has no other role than being there for you," adds María Riot.
The sexual fingerprint
María Riot and actress Kali Sudhra. Photography of Mónica Figueras on the set of Dirty Martini Sex Party
When attending Erika Lust's headquarters, the director explained how important it is for her to remind the performers that what is on the internet stays there forever. She asks them what they would feel, for example, if their parents found out that they filmed porn (sometimes they feel that since it is not mainstream cinema, what they film for Lust will have a limited scope) or how they would feel about being published in the press, since the director She always does actions with the media, because as she assures, she is "extremely proud" of making porn films.
Given his words, we wonder how it is assumed that everyone can see the existing content. "Sometimes we meet people who want to enter the industry out of morbidity, and we have to be smart and ask them
if they really want
to do it. That's why we ask them how they will feel if their family finds out, for example. We have to have empathy and see, based on their responses, whether they are prepared or not. I have even told some performers that 'they have to wait,'" says Anarella Martinez.
"There are many negative narratives and beliefs full of prejudice and ignorance about porn, and many of them focus on the fact of the sexual act or on the belief that we expose something that is supposed to be private, whether it be sex or nudity
.
I think that in reality, the worst thing about practicing sex work is the stigma and the lack of recognition of both labor and social rights. Stigma is what makes a large part of society see you in a negative way, since you do not You fulfill the role expected of a woman, something very archaic that comes from a long time ago," explains María Riot.
Stop feeling ashamed
She comments that this stigma is precisely the reason why
many lie
to those around them about what they do. "The fact of having to hide who you really are and what you do, for fear of what they might say or that they won't accept you, is something that negatively affects our mental health. In my case, I have a family that supports me. supports and is happy that I do what I decide for my own life, but I know that that is not the experience of many of my colleagues. I have had problems with partners or with people around me who have used stigma to mistreat
me
, threaten me or want to make me feel bad, but from the first moment, I always fought to get rid of that stigma. Although it is a constant fight, by getting involved in the movement of recognition of rights for sex workers, it has made me understand that if there is a part of the society that stigmatizes and discriminates against us for what we do as a job, I do not want to be part of that society. Furthermore, I want to change it precisely so that we do not face the suffering of having to
hide who you are
and being judged for what you do simply out of moral conceptions of how one should live one's sexuality," says Riat, who although he has been going to therapy since he was a teenager, confesses that it was when someone pirated his first porn videos and uploaded them to pornography websites under his real name. when he needed psychological help especially hard.
"He took me out of the closet without me deciding. I had just started and I didn't really understand what stigma was, but I did believe that if my family and some people around me found out, they would stop loving me. That pushed me to have to accelerate the process of telling in the first person who I am and what I do, because I decided that I was going to be the owner of my story, and not others. But it was a moment where I had a very bad time, because although I did not feel ashamed of my work, I did not feel prepared for the
prejudiced and negative view
of society. Finally, with psychological support and by joining the Union of Sex Workers of Argentina, AMMAR, I was able to disarm all that and stop having shame and fear for what I I decide for my life and what others may think," he says.
Kali Sudhra and Bishbop Black. Photography of Mónica Figueras on the set of Dirty Martini Sex Party.
At the beginning of the text we mentioned OnlyFans, and when speaking with Leya Tanit about how actresses accept the idea that their sexual content will forever be on the digital spectrum, the British woman does not want to fail to mention this platform. "This issue especially worried me during confinement, because we saw that there were many people joining OnlyFans daily, and they were not people who had done it on a regular basis. They thought that they needed to make money and that this was a good option, but they did not read the contract, which explains that what you upload will be there forever and that from that moment on,
they own your content
. I know that there are many platforms that have information available for people to read before joining, they even have people who help them to understand it and answer any questions, but the vast majority will always be a group of men who only want to make money. During confinement we saw an increase in younger 'performers' who asked for help, possibly because they found themselves online or their family had told them found," he explains.
In short, the key for adult film actresses to take care of their mental health is to have specialized psychological help that is hot against stigma, although it is undeniable that such stigma is not exclusive to the spectrum of psychology, but to society. The true happy ending can only be achieved with a "stigma-free" world, and therein lies the difficulty that both adult cinema and life can culminate in closures in which partridges are eaten.
Mental health