Belle Knox “came out,” so to speak, as a porn performer in a less than enviable way: a fellow student found her on FacialAbuse.com (“I was just reading it for the articles”). She deserved better than that, though the “DUKE STUDENT PORN SEX” revelation and subsequent scandal have certainly helped her popularity, at least at Fox News. Most other porn stars don’t have such a headline-blaring “coming out” story, but they have stories nonetheless, and many of them were shared in an article on Vox.
Some are funny, some are sad, some involve pervert neighbors.
Lisa Daniels: I wasn’t sure how long I was going to stay in the industry, so I decided not to say anything to my family at first, thinking I would do a few scenes and that would be that. Never once did I think a relative would see me in such a short time in the industry.
Stoya: I tip-toed into it. It was like, “Oh I posed nude, and then there’s this offer for this shoot and they want to see spread shots [shots where the labia are pulled apart – ed]. Well how do I feel about spread shots? I’m cool with spread shots. How do I feel about putting things inside of myself on camera? Then it turned into a very softcore scene on video with a girl, and there was pussy eating and maybe a finger or two, but nothing aggressive.
Because of the process, it was less jarring than suddenly announcing, “Hey, guess what I’m doing for a living now! In the butt!”
Farell Timlake: When I began performing I knew I would have to have a conversation with my mother. My father had already passed so he wasn’t an issue. I prepared myself for what I would say but not when I would say it. However, one day my mother mentioned that her neighbor thought he saw me on TV when he was staying at a hotel on a trip. I knew what that meant. I spent the next 24 hours preparing for The Speech.
Jessica Drake: I wasn’t close to my mother at all, and she took it upon herself to tell my father in the worst way imaginable: she sent him pictures of me having sex. When I managed to talk to him about it, he didn’t want to discuss the particulars of my job for obvious reasons (and neither did I), but he told me as long as I was happy and being safe, he loved me and supported me.
Tasha Reign: I told my mom I was going to do more Penthouse-type stuff, which was a nice way of saying porn. My mom goes back and forth about whether or not it’s something she supports. I think she tries her best, and that’s all I can ask anyone to do: attempt to understand. My little sister was furious and still is; my older sister is really supportive and cool about it. One of my brothers was really ashamed and the other was all about accepting me for me. It’s all over the place with their reactions. (Via)
There’s a whole lot more where that came from at Vox.