Has anyone else here read David Foster Wallace’s essay about the 1998 AVNs, “Big Red Son”? It’s fascinating in an awful way. (There’s a PDF here:

Yeah, I’ve held my tongue about this issue for the 10+ years I’ve been on this site but no more. As a second wave feminist, porn isn’t empowering, it isn’t cool and it sucks to me. Yes, it’s my personal opinion and many disagree with me. That’s fine. To those people, tell me how gang bang, choking and bukkake are…

Hell, it’s not even trickle down economics anymore. Apparently, you’re supposed to just be happy to be in the physical vicinity of that kind of money.

I’m very aware of my privilege. Poor circumstances led me to my profession, but my color, citizenship, age, education, and middle class privilege let me build a career out of it. I never had to walk a street or work for a pimp or a madam and I know how lucky I am.

An industry of rapists preying on women under the guise of sex-positive porn. We tried to warn this generation but they wouldn’t listen.

Yep, Kink. You knew something was fishy when this place kept saying no, we’re not like the other studios and look our workers are happy workers as shown by their after shoot interviews.

I don’t think the article is commenting on sex workers any more than articles condemning Walmart are commenting on Walmart employees. If we treat working for a crappy employer as a source of personal shame, then labor’s screwed forever.

I agree with you that the movie had problematic, paternalistic overtones. Still, I don’t think women (or anyone for that matter) have to be weak to be exploited. I didn’t come away from watchings HOT GIRLS WANTED thinking the women in it were weak in any way. I did think they were often being exploited.

So many people were dismissive about that documentary. Shit, Stoya herself was like “the porn industry is amazing!” Even after knowing what she knows. It’s like, what’s amazing about these girls being completely unprotected? These agents are douchebags. Nobody is looking out for them. Here you have another pornstar…

This doesn’t sound like doing a great job to me.

I remarked to my girlfriend after she heard about this story that “if I ever get that kind of brain damage from anything, please, pull the plug. I don’t want to survive that.”

To which she said “if I found out you got brain damage after a night in a whorehouse, I’d gladly pull the plug.”

How ass-backwards do you have to be as a feminists to promote a child rapist and murderer on your site Jezebel?

You guys are trying to force people to believe in things they don’t think are true. Is it really that “weird” to think that surgery doesn't literally make you a woman, just something resembling it? Of course these people should be treated with respect like anyone else, but for some people it's like saying 1 + 1 =3.

It has to be admitted that a trans- person has a different experience, and faces different challenges than, for example, a cis- woman growing up facing sexism and misogyny.

Yes clearly having the opinion that folks born with a Y chromosome and a penis are not actually women even if they choose to have it lopped off...

I’m sure I’m going to be vilified for this, but I can see where she’s coming from. Transwomen are women, don’t get me wrong, but on the whole they have difference experiences than women who were born female. Transwomen who grew up as men didn’t get traditional female socialization, for instance, and didn’t face…

I believe that what she says is basically what any rational human being would agree with. Surgery does not make a man into a woman.

Great. Will you now correct the utter falsehood of what you assert in the article?

really really can’t believe someone as modest and reluctant to act like she knows best as mallory ortberg found some reason to dislike someone, seems crazy

Gulp. Also, Goddess of the Grey, I don’t know how to get the “click to reveal” thing to go over this video, so please put it over. thanks