There's Still One Thing That Many Porn Stars Refuse To Do...
Porn stars will do most anything, it seems, except for one act that is still taboo within the industry: interracial sex.
Adult film star Aurora Snow wrote a thoughtful article this week for The Daily Beast, in which she reveals one of the first questions she was asked upon entering the 'biz: "Do you do black guys?” [For the record, she does.]
It's not a requirement within the industry to sleep with people of other races; in fact, it can even be seen as a career breaker — not maker.
“Racism exists, and it exists in porn,” award-winning porn star Kristina Rose confirmed to The Beast.
Texas refused to comment for the Beast's article, but she isn't alone with her preferences.
"According to LA Direct Models’ online listings, only about 20 percent of its performers are willing to film interracial scenes," reports the Beast. "Another agency, Spiegler Girls, is more typical of top agents: 75 percent to 80 percent of its performers say they shoot interracial material."
Why is interracial sex on tape still taboo in the industry? Here are a few reasons:
- Size. "One reason for some actresses’ reluctance might be size," says Snow. "The sheer size of these guys can be intimidating."
- Career anxiety. "Most girls in the industry hear at some point from their agent or another performer that an actress can increase the longevity of her career by refusing interracial scenes," adds Snow.
- Pay. A current myth, alluded to in Kanye West’s song “Hell of a Life,” is that directors will pay a girl less once she has shot interracial scenes. As TMZ bluntly states: "More black equals less green."
- Stereotypes. "Consumers are still buying stereotypes. An interracial porn shoot frequently portrays the big black man with the tiny white girl. This remains a popular marketing strategy," says Snow.
- Family. “The No. 1 reason I hear,” adult actor agent Mark Spiegler tells The Beast, "and that doesn’t mean it’s true, is ‘my family wouldn’t like me doing it.’” Snow confirms, "I’ve met a handful of girls who thought their families would be more OK with finding out they did porn than finding out they did interracial porn."
- New territory. “Sometimes the first black guy they have been exposed to is in the industry,” says Tee Reel, a black adult performer-turned-agent. “It’s not as if they have some racist gene. They aren’t anti-black, they just never had the opportunity."
“In the old days, you start out slow and work your way up. But now the more you do the better. Sasha Grey and Katsumi started out doing interracial; it doesn’t seem to have hurt them," he says.
“Some agents will charge a premium for girls who do interracial," says Spiegler. "But we don’t do that: it’s the same rate for noninterracial.”
Instead, Spiegler argues that more work equals higher rates — not the color of skin of the person you're performing with on-screen.
Black performer-turned-agent Tee Reel tells the Beast: “As a black man, I don’t take it personally when a girl says, ‘I don’t want to do interracial.’ In the business, some girls who say they don’t do interracial I’ve actually had sex with off camera."