In my ongoing effort to get the people of this world to stop acting like babies, man-up, and use protection, here it is…

Crying and Condoms Edition 2: The Porn Industry

The debate continues: should condom use be required in the adult film industry? While it is not technically a law that porn actors have to roll on a rubber when performing onscreen, it has been “highly recommended” by several health associations that they do so.

In California (location of the country’s porn capital, the San Fernando Valley), it is required that all porn actors, male and female, get tested for HIV and other STIs every 30 days. Adult film actors can’t “work” if they haven’t been tested in the last month, or if they test positive for a sexually transmitted disease. There’s even a website set up for porn actors to check out the testing status of their costars before hopping into bed (or pool-house, or dungeon) with them.

Condoms, however, are not mandatory in porn. Sure, they’re highly recommended, and any porn actor that requests condom use is accommodated for. Fantastic. But the bottom line is that porn doesn’t sell as well if a dude is banging a chick with a little raincoat on his dick. The adult film industry wants to make money, first and foremost! If they think that a condom law will hurt their sales, they’re not gonna support it.

Many porn actors are also on board with a condom-optional policy. Some claim that condoms make sex uncomfortable or painful. It is also widely believed that the use of condoms in a video “ruins the fantasy” for us, the porn viewers. I guess they think that somebody enjoying a quiet night in with “Pirates” won’t be able to get off as hard if the Captain of the Ship sheaths his sword in latex before sticking it into the Naughty Siren.

In gay porn, however, condom use is the norm. Most actors in man-on-man anal scenes use condoms, and I don’t get why straight porn actors don’t follow suit. My roommate, Jonathan, claims that it’s because gay guys have better hygiene. Perhaps some people still think of HIV as being more of a “gay issue,” and thus gay porn viewers are more willing to accept condom use in their favorite films. Either way, the fact is that straight porn stars are as likely to contract STIs as their gay counterparts; many actors do gay and straight porn, and most have vaginal and anal sex.

Oral sex is another issue. Semen is often a result or oral sex (if yer doing it right), and semen is a fluid that can transmit STIs. Despite this, condoms are pretty much never used for oral sex in porn, because this sex act is considered “low risk” in comparison to vaginal and anal. According to my research, this is part of the reason that facials are so popular in porn: by busting a nut onto your costar’s face, instead of in her/his mouth, you are actually keeping them safer.

Yes, testing helps prevent the spread of HIV and its other nasty friends, but I don’t think the monthly tests are enough. If a porn actor acquires a disease or infection through sex, they and their costars may not find out about it until weeks later, when it’s too late to prevent or treat it.

If I was watching porn and the dude paused the action to Trojan his Horse, I think I’d be delighted. I’d say to myself: “Well! That’s one health-conscious sex worker!” And then I’d continue watching the film with a contented feeling, knowing that the actors in that film were getting paid to do their job and have fun, while providing entertainment to me, the viewer, AND taking care of themselves in the process.

 Xoxo, Lucy

4 May 12