Pursed Lips

I assume you know not to attribute that quote to me, but I also thought it was aptly suited to the current state of the adult industry. Best of times? It’s still celebrating under a relatively unbridled free enterprise system. Worst of times? Ashcroft looming with, of course, the recent HIV blip giving religious fundies and social prudes reasons to gloat.

In some ways, if an HIV blip had to happen, it’s good it occurred now. With the industry already feeling the hackles rise on its neck with Ashcroft near, it didn’t take much for the industry to reach critical mass and react to the infection in a positive, serious way. Had this happen in the flush, go-go days of the Clinton administration, I bet it would’ve taken way, way more than two infections for the industry to act.

Certainly, I feel for the talent involved — it’s never easy to face devastating news and to wonder what path your life will take now — but my empathy goes only so far. After all, the words “fluid bonded” hasn’t meant a thing to the adult industry before now and, yes, it’s actually an unrealistic expectations given the parameters of professional fucking, but nonetheless, everyone must’ve known they were at some risk for a range of STDs. Welcome to the risks of barebacking, folks.

Now don’t get me wrong. I am not among those who in all likelihood jumping for joy that this infection is God’s sign that he ain’t happy about our modern-day Gomorrha and that pornographers are getting exactly what they deserve and that rapture can’t be all that far away if God’s smiting southern California. I never thought the equivalent in the early days (then years) of AIDS among gay men and I don’t think that now. But the industry is going to have to rethink how it’ll reduce the risk of disease infection among its talent.

I hope it’ll lead to innovations. Like a see-through condom. If, as some in the industry claim, a condom ruins the fantasy, then find a way to make it invisible. Or think about how to eroticize them and fluid bonding, and risk-reduced sexual activities as well. Hell, the queer community’s been doing it for decades now. And for fuck’s sake, don’t complain about how the money shot’s going to go down from now on, folks. Cripes, you’ve got writers — think something up. Re-invent it.

Of course, today’s emerging topic is how condom mandates will go down within the industry. Right now, I think it’s hard to say. Certainly, the industry adjusted when it came to shoring up the paperwork proving the talent was of legal age, but in this day and age of outsourcing, I wouldn’t be surprised if it comes down to whether pulling up stakes and leave southern Cal is the real determining factor. What, with Ashcroft and HIV staring the industry down, off-shoring might be growing more and more attractive all the time.

Word to the wise, though: If you think off-shoring is the answer, beware. Any place that’s sex-tourist friendly that opens its arm to you will also have a indigenous rate of HIV infection far, far higher than your current home shores. Don’t delude yourself into thinking it won’t find its way into your talent. And in sex-friendly countries that are have successfully lowered rates of infection — like Brazil, where Darren James’s infection is rumored to have occurred — don’t expect them to be openly friendly towards a condom-less industry because they’ve made condoms a civic duty among the general population.

I don’t know where this porn flap is headed any better than the next average Joe or Jane. But I am glad the industry responded swiftly and seriously. It’s a good first step. And I’ll be watching to see what follows.

A P.S. to my readers: My apologies for days of silence. The planned family weekend away to visit relatives took more preparation than expected. I’m home now and the post-trip laundry’s half completed, so the normal pace of blogging and journaling should now resume. And — oh yeah! The new template design. Been thinking about it for some time. Hope you like it.