Some people – protectionist feminists and men with certain
mindsets alike – think that women in porn and stripping must be ‘saved’ from
their exploited lives. These people, while well-intentioned trample roughshod
over the desires and wishes of those they deem to be ‘victims’ and in need of
rescue. While this may be true in certain places, for the most part people who
work in porn or the adult entertainment industry do so for a variety of reasons.
High return on time investment: strippers, escorts, sex
workers and porn stars (especially female porn stars) choose to do sex work as
it tends to pay well for relatively short working hours. For example, several
hundred dollars can be earned in an afternoon or evening, whereas that would
require forty or more laborious hours in a factory or office environment to
equal for most people. Adult entertainment can be a way of escaping menial
drudge work and earning enough to save up for a truly life-changing investment –
a house deposit, college or university education, or even enough savings to
live comfortably later on in life.
Flexible working hours: many sex workers, porn stars and
other adult entertainers can pick and choose the days and hours they want to
work in a way that is unfeasible for office or factory work. While they must
work in order to earn, many entertainers can choose to work non-stop for nine
months, and then take a few months off to enjoy their time and money, or they
can opt for the hours and days that suit them the best – if they are good at
their job, they will find someone who will be happy to pay them for their
efforts no matter what time of day it is.
It may be all they know: not everyone thrives in an academic
environment, and not everyone is inhibited about sex and/ or nudity. For these
people, they may be very happy to find work that they can do, and that they are
able to support themselves doing so.