Portal:Sex work

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Introduction

Sex work is "the exchange of sexual services, performances, or products for material compensation. It includes activities of direct physical contact between buyers and sellers as well as indirect sexual stimulation". Sex work only refers to voluntary sexual transactions; thus, the term does not refer to human trafficking and other coerced or nonconsensual sexual transactions such as child prostitution. The transaction must take place between consenting adults of the legal age and mental capacity to consent and must take place without any methods of coercion, other than payment. The term emphasizes the labor and economic implications of this type of work. Furthermore, some prefer the use of the term because it grants more agency to the sellers of these services. (Full article...)

Selected article - show another

Pornographic actresses for the studio Digital Playground. From left to right: Jesse Jane, Céline Tran, Raven Alexis, Riley Steele, Janie Summers, Kayden Kross, at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo (2010)

A pornographic film actor or actress, pornographic performer, adult entertainer, or porn star is a person who performs sex acts on video that is usually characterized as a pornographic movie. Such videos tend to be made in a number of distinct pornographic subgenres and attempt to present a sexual fantasy; the actors selected for a particular role are primarily selected on their ability to create or fit that fantasy. Pornographic videos are characterized as either softcore, which does not contain depictions of sexual penetration or extreme fetishism, and hardcore, which can contain depictions of penetration or extreme fetishism, or both. The genres and sexual intensity of videos is mainly determined by demand. Depending on the genre of the film, the on-screen appearance, age, and physical features of the actors and their ability to create the sexual mood of the video is of critical importance. Most actors specialize in certain genres, such as straight, bisexual, gay, lesbian, bondage, strap-on, anal, double penetration, semen swallowing, teenage, orgy, age roleplay, fauxcest, interracial or MILFs and more.

The pornography industry in the United States was the first to develop its own movie star system, primarily for commercial reasons. In other countries, the "star" system is not common, with most actors being amateurs. Most performers use a pseudonym and strive to maintain off-screen anonymity. A number of pornographic actors and actresses have written autobiographies. It is very rare for pornographic actors and actresses to successfully cross over to the mainstream film industry. Certain pornographic actors have leveraged their success to branch into different entrepreneurial endeavours, such as Jenna Jameson's ClubJenna.

Leaked patient database of Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation in 2011 contained details of over 12,000 pornographic actors that it had tested since 1998, providing estimates of the number of pornographic film actors who have worked in the United States. , it was reported that roughly 1,200–1,500 performers were working in California's "Porn Valley".^{[needs update]} (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Selected images

Image 1News report about three brothels operating in Albuquerque, New Mexico that were raided by police in 1922 (from Prostitution)
Image 2The red light district in Amsterdam (from Sex work)
Image 3
  Legalization – prostitution legal and regulated
  Decriminalization – No criminal penalties for prostitution
  Abolitionism – prostitution is legal, but organized activities such as brothels and pimping are illegal; prostitution is not regulated
  Neo-abolitionism – illegal to buy sex and for 3rd party involvement, legal to sell sex
  Prohibitionism – prostitution illegal
  Legality varies with local laws
(from Prostitution)
Image 4Stickers affixed to a payphone in São Paulo, 2006 (from Prostitution)
Image 5A liberated Chinese girl who had been forced in to sexual slavery by the Japanese military sits on a stretcher and speaks to a British military serviceman. (from Prostitution)
Image 6World map of pornography (18+) laws
  Pornography legal
  Pornography legal under some restrictions
  Pornography illegal
  Data unavailable
(from Sex work)
Image 7An oiran preparing herself for a client, ukiyo-e print by Suzuki Haronubu (1765) (from Prostitution)
Image 8Statue to honor the sex workers of the world. Installed March 2007 in Amsterdam, Oudekerksplein, in front of the Oude Kerk, in Amsterdam's red-light district De Wallen. Titled Belle, the inscription to the piece says "Respect sex workers all over the world." (from Prostitution)
Image 9The Procuress by Dirck van Baburen (1622) (from Prostitution)
Image 10A detail from plate 1 of William Hogarth's (1697–1764) The Harlot's Progress, showing brothel-keeper Elizabeth Needham, on the right, procuring a young woman who has just arrived in London (from Prostitution)
Image 11Prostitutes on display in Yoshiwara during the Meiji Period, Japan (from Prostitution)
Image 12Prostitute c. 1890. (from Prostitution)
Image 13An Ancient Greek urn depicts a prostitute and her client. (from Sex work)
Image 14Fresco from the Pompeii brothel (from Prostitution)
Image 15Kisaeng women from outcast or slave families. (from Prostitution)
Image 16Tart cards in a British phone box advertising the services of call girls (from Prostitution)
Image 17A prostitute in Amsterdam's red-light district talks with a potential customer. (from Prostitution)
Image 18A sex worker in Berlin in 2001 (from Sex work)
Image 19Sex workers demonstrating for better working conditions at the 2009 Marcha Gay in Mexico City (from Sex work)
Image 20A street prostitute talking to a potential customer in Turin, Italy, 2005 (from Prostitution)
Image 21World map of prostitution laws
  Decriminalization – No criminal penalties for prostitution
  Legalization (regulation) – Prostitution legal and regulated
  Abolitionism – Prostitution is legal, but organized activities such as brothels and pimping are illegal; prostitution is not regulated
  Neo-abolitionism (Nordic model) – Illegal to buy sex and for 3rd party involvement, legal to sell sex
  Prohibitionism – Prostitution illegal in all aspects (selling and buying)
  Legality varies with local laws
(from Sex work)
Image 22Brothel scene; Brunswick Monogrammist, 1537; Gemäldegalerie, Berlin (from Prostitution)
Image 23Prostitution Information Centre in Amsterdam (from Prostitution)
Image 24De Wallen red-light district in Amsterdam (from Prostitution)
Image 25A prostitute and her customer illustrated on an ancient Greek wine cup; the act of prostitution is indicated by the coin purse above the figures. (from Prostitution)
Image 26Women in an early San Francisco bordello in 1870 (from Prostitution)
Image 27A political cartoon from 1787 jesting about the notion of taxation affecting prostitutes (from Prostitution)

Related portals

Selected general sex worker

Image 1
Carol Leigh (January 11, 1951 – November 16, 2022), also known as The Scarlot Harlot, was an American artist, author, filmmaker, sex worker, and sex workers' rights activist. She is credited with coining the term sex work and founded the Sex Worker Film and Arts Festival and was the co-founder of BAYSWAN, the Bay Area Sex Worker Advocacy Network. (Full article...)
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Alvin Tan Jye Yee (Chinese: 陳杰毅; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tân Kia̍t-gē) is a Malaysian pornographic film performer. He gained prominence for a blog publicising his sexual activities with his girlfriend, and later became controversial for his criticism of Islam, leading him to flee Malaysia and seek political asylum in the United States. He calls himself a "free speech activist". (Full article...)
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Jerry Butler (May 13, 1959 – January 27, 2018) was an American pornographic film actor. His career lasted from 1981 to 1993, and included more than 500 films. (Full article...)
Image 4

Juliet Anderson, at the Free Speech Coalition's "Night of the Stars", July 12, 2001.

Juliet Anderson (born Judith Carr), also known as Aunt Peg (July 23, 1938 – January 11, 2010), was an American pornographic actress and adult movie producer, relationship counselor and author. Entering the adult movie business relatively late in life (at age 39), she quickly built a reputation as one of the premier performers in the so-called "Golden Age of Porn", appearing in over seventy films—often as "Aunt Peg", a role portrayed as a giddy, insatiable woman determined to enjoy life and sex to the maximum extent possible. In 1987, she started a new career as a relationship counselor and massage therapist, before returning to adult entertainment in the mid-1990s. (Full article...)
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Karter in 2010

Kagney Linn Karter (March 28, 1987 – February 15, 2024) was an American pornographic film actress and singer. After becoming an exotic dancer, she entered the pornography industry in 2008. (Full article...)
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Taylor on MTV Real World Tour at Chicago Vision Nightclub

Brianna Taylor (born May 30, 1987) is a reality show personality, singer and songwriter, having appeared on both the fifth season of American Idol and The Real World: Hollywood, the twentieth season of MTV's long-running reality television series, The Real World. In 2008, she released her debut, self-titled EP, Brianna Taylor, on Chamberlain Records; according to that label's website, she was later signed to Universal Music. (Full article...)
Image 7

Portrait by Simon Pietersz Verelst

Eleanor Gwyn (2 February 1650 – 14 November 1687; also spelled Gwynn, Gwynne) was an English stage actress and celebrity figure of the Restoration period. Praised by Samuel Pepys for her comic performances as one of the first actresses on the English stage, she became best known for being a long-time mistress of King Charles II of England (c. April 1668 – 6 February 1685).

Called "pretty, witty Nell" by Pepys, she has been regarded as a living embodiment of the spirit of Restoration England, and has come to be considered a folk heroine, with a story echoing the rags-to-royalty tale of Cinderella. Gwyn had two sons by King Charles: Charles Beauclerk (1670–1726) and James Beauclerk (1671–1680). Charles Beauclerk was created Earl of Burford and Duke of St. Albans; Murray de Vere Beauclerk, 14th Duke of St. Albans is her descendant, and the current holder of the duchy. (Full article...)
Image 8

Drake in 2011

Jessica Drake is an American pornographic actress and sex educator. (Full article...)
Image 9
Long Dong Silver is a British retired porn star known for his large penis. He was born in 1960 in London, England, as Daniel Arthur Mead. His stage name is a reference to the fictional Treasure Island character Long John Silver. (Full article...)
Image 10

Siouxsie Q in Hollywood in October 2019

Siouxsie Q is an American journalist, pornographic actress, and sex workers’ rights activist who identifies herself as a feminist and sex worker. She is a podcaster, singer/songwriter and playwright as well as a widely read columnist with SF Weekly in San Francisco. (Full article...)
Image 11
Debi Diamond (born May 1, 1965 in San Fernando Valley, California) is an American adult actress and nude model. (Full article...)
Image 12
Vednita Carter is an American anti-sex trafficking activist, author, and executive director of the "Breaking Free" organization which helps women escape prostitution. (Full article...)
Image 13

Johnny Hazzard (born Frankie Valenti) is an American former pornographic actor, model, and recording artist who performs in gay and bisexual pornographic films for a number of studios, mainly Rascal Video, and has appeared in mainstream film and television productions under his own name.^{[better source needed]}
He began his career in porn in 2003. Most of his porn videos were directed by Chi Chi LaRue. In August 2008, he worked on a controversial bisexual film directed by LaRue titled Shifting Gears, although he only performed in an all-male scene. He was also a music reviewer for the now defunct Frontiers magazine. (Full article...)
Image 14
Fiona Richmond (born 2 March 1945) is an English former glamour model and actress who appeared in numerous risqué plays, comedy revues, magazines and films during the 1970s. She became Britain’s best-known sex symbol and she has been described as one of the "two hottest British sex film stars of the seventies", the other being Mary Millington. (Full article...)
Image 15

Vespoli at the 2014 AVN Awards

Dana Vespoli is an American pornographic actress and film director. (Full article...)
Image 16

Ozawa in 2007
Maria Ozawa (Japanese: 小澤マリア, Hepburn: Ozawa Maria, born January 8, 1986) is a Japanese model and a former pornographic film actress of Canadian and Japanese ancestry. Early in her career as a model, she also used the name Miyabi (Japanese: みやび). (Full article...)
Image 17
Shigeo Tokuda (徳田重男, Tokuda Shigeo, born August 18, 1934) is the stage name of a Japanese adult video actor. Described as "the undisputed king of Japanese mature porn", Tokuda has inspired many adult industry actors to extend their retirement to a later age. Tokuda has gained international recognition after being profiled by CNN, The Guardian, Vice, and Yahoo. (Full article...)
Image 18
Wilde Oscar (born 8 April 1967 in Burnham, Buckinghamshire, England) is an English retired pornographic film actor. He is noted for being married to, and frequently performing with, the English pornographic film actress, Nici Sterling. (Full article...)
Image 19

Seymore Butts, January 2007

Adam Glasser (born March 18, 1964), known professionally as Seymore Butts, is an American pornographic film director, producer, and occasional performer who has produced hundreds of films in the gonzo genre of pornography (faux reality-based adult material). (Full article...)
Image 20

Jeannie Pepper in 2000

Jeannie Pepper (born July 9, 1958) is an American pornographic actress. She began in the business in 1982 at age 24 and has appeared in over 200 adult films. She was still an active actress as recently as 2011, participating in the mature adult genre.

Pepper was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame in 1997, the first African American woman to be recognized with that honor. She won XRCO Award Erotic Video Award in 1987 and was inducted into the XRCO and Urban X Halls of Fame in 2008. (Full article...)
Image 21

Lynn at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 2002

Porsche Lynn (born February 14, 1962) is an American exotic dancer and pornographic actress. (Full article...)
Image 22

Hay attending the "This Is Our Industry" A.I.M. Fundraiser Party at Les Deux, Hollywood, California, November 2009

Derek Andrew Hay (born 12 August 1964), also known by his stage name Ben English, is a British pornographic actor and the founder and owner of the adult talent agencies LA Direct Models and Miamp Direct Models. He semi-retired from performing in the late 2000s after appearing in nearly 800 movies. However, he has since then appeared in several movies. He appeared most recently in Digital Playground's Trading Mothers for Daughters, released on 10 August 2014.

Before founding LA Direct Models in 2000, Hay worked as a stage manager in London for acts including The Rolling Stones, Queen, and Metallica. (Full article...)
Image 23

Serenity at the 2001 AVN Adult Entertainment Expo

Serenity (born October 29, 1969) is an American former pornographic actress who worked with Wicked Pictures and Hollywood Video. In 2002, she was ranked one of "The Top 50 Porn Stars of All Time" by Adult Video News. She also worked as a reporter for various news channels and is an outspoken advocate for animal rights. (Full article...)
Image 24
Adriana Molinari (born 26 November 1967), known professionally as Alex Taylor, is a former beauty pageant winner, model, exotic dancer, and pornographic actress who mainly worked for Vivid Entertainment from around 1998 to 2000. (Full article...)
Image 25
William M. "Sonny" Landham III (February 11, 1941 – August 17, 2017) was an American actor. He portrayed Billy Bear in 48 Hrs. (1982) and tracker Billy Sole in Predator (1987). (Full article...)

Did you know...

... that the posthumously released documentary Clean centered on the life of Sandra Pankhurst, a former sex worker, drag queen, and crime scene cleaner?
... that a Harvey's franchise known for being a hub for sex work was described by one artist as a "legendary Toronto icon"?
... that Lea Ackermann, a German nun of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa, fought against forced prostitution and sex tourism in East Africa?