Gina

So I re-posted the SF Weekly article about Kink.com with a one-line comment, and then I wrote more commentary, and I wanted to make sure those comments didn’t lost in the re-blog shuffle.

I’ve personally heard a LOT of horror stories from other sex workers about working for kink.com. I’m glad these folks are so bravely speaking out. This is a long time coming.

And this doesn’t get mentioned in the article, but I feel like it bears saying here: I have personally always thought that it is ridiculous that kink.com is held up as some kind of awesome ethical paragon of what the porn industry can be when a) so many stories are out there about models being treated badly, and b) their size diversity, racial diversity, and treatment and fetishization of trans models (esp. trans women models) all, frankly, REALLY SUCK!

I say this as someone who has been in the sex industry for about a decade, and who has mostly worked in porn (never “full time” or as my main bread & butter, for the record — “making it” as a fat porn star is very, very hard, and most porn workers I know, fat or not, also do other kinds of work, whether in the sex industry or elsewhere).

I have personally posed for some ridiculous sites to make a buck over the years. I want to make it clear here that I pretty much never blame porn models for posing for cheezy or fetishize-y or offensive/distasteful or whatever else kindsa sites. As an old friend jokes “we are in the business of being dirty, after all!” More importantly, we are doing what we need to do to make a living.

That said: As a queer feminist and a fat person who works in porn, I really value having a) available work options at all (like, take a look, there are no fat people on any kink.com site — NONE), and b) work where I can be as close to my actual sexual self as possible, and not just cast in some chaser’s ridiculous Fat Girl Fantasy (as is the case with regards to a lot of the work that is available for plus-size porn models).

I want better options, basically, and Kink.com has never been one of the better options, for me or for many others. I’m glad this is finally getting talked about.