"I think the bigger argument, why people are up in arms ... is this the first step?" he says from his office in the hotbed of the debate. "Once you let (officials) into the bedrooms, they'll soon be telling what sheets you should use."
Huh?
The article itself is about the upcoming introduction of condoms into the LA porn industry. As of March 5, adult film actors in LA will be required to use condoms. This measure is being introduced as an effort to promote safety and protect adult film actors from STI infections, such as HIV. (I've written about this before - see "How many HIV infections will it take?").
Opponents of this controversial regulation have expressed concerns equating to the "condoms aren't sexy" argument. Yes, condoms can be pesky ... but how sexy are STIs? I'm not so sure the burn of chlamydia or a lifelong herpes infection are all that sexy, either.Rhodes and most other producers left it up to performers to choose whether or not to sheath -- Maxine shuns prophylactics -- confident in monthly testing of their stars for sexual infections. He can't see that changing.
Monthly testing is great and all, but what about the 3-6 month waiting period in which HIV is NOT detectable? (Learn more: HIV/AIDS: An Overview).
It will be interesting to see what happens in the LA porn scene after these new regulations take effect. Will a sheath of latex be the end of porn production in LA?
Read the entire article below and don't forget to leave a comment!
- Candice
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It's a wrap: New bylaw demands condoms in L.A.'s Porn Valley
By Thane Burnett, QMI Agency
Scott Rhodes and his wife are ready to pack for a March break in Los Angeles.
The Canadians will remember clean socks and underwear.
Toothbrushes. HD camera. Lotions and lubes. A few sex toys.
"Nothing that looks too out of place for a couple on a romantic, sexy vacation," Rhodes assures of awkward questions from border security.
For the Windsor, Ont.-based adult film producer and his porn star wife, known as Maxine X, it'll actually be all business.
Though perhaps not as usual.
As the filmmakers shoot new sex features in L.A. -- heartland for English triple-X films -- they and other explicit movie producers face controversial new rules.
On March 5, health regulations covering carnal Hollywood -- and all of L.A. -- will require porn actors to wear condoms.
Concerned that viewers don't want a latex divide appearing between them and their video fantasies, opponents to the looming city ordinance believe film companies could pack up and move on.
"The industry has threatened to -- hollow threats I believe -- leave L.A. If so, we'll follow them," says Ged Kenslea, spokesman for Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a group that helped champion the new L.A. bylaw and which intends to extend the edict to other cities.
His group says the requirement will protect actors appearing in 50,000 L.A.-made adult films annually -- as many as 90% of which have no permits -- while sending a message of safe sex to viewers.
"People needed to adjust to wearing a seatbelt and learned to stand outside a restaurant to smoke," he reasons. "I'm not saying it will be easy."
However, some predict the cameras -- and bodies -- may still keeping rolling as they have been.
Rhodes and most other producers left it up to performers to choose whether or not to sheath -- Maxine shuns prophylactics -- confident in monthly testing of their stars for sexual infections. He can't see that changing.
"This is a bit like asking NASCAR drivers to only drive at 55 ... or no body checking in the NHL," says Rhodes, adding in frustration: "It's a buzz kill."
He wonders whether it will force productions underground -- ignoring safeguards -- or perhaps move to countries like Canada. But pretty bodies and support staff are abundant in L.A., and one of the only other states where adult film production has been cleared under anti-prostitution laws is New Hampshire.
Jason E. Squire, professor of cinema practice at the University of Southern California, is guarded about the impact.
"The question of what happens after March 5 is a wild card," is as far as he will go.
But Brad Armstrong is sure it shouldn't have gotten this far.
The Toronto-born adult film actor and director works for L.A.-based Wicked Pictures, one of the companies that dominate the industry.
For more than a decade, after early AIDS scares in the industry, Wicked made condoms mandatory.
The city ordinance now levels the playing field, but still, Armstrong's not happy, saying it will bring profit margins down for other producers.
"I think the bigger argument, why people are up in arms ... is this the first step?" he says from his office in the hotbed of the debate. "Once you let (officials) into the bedrooms, they'll soon be telling what sheets you should use."
As for Rhodes, he's not worried about the sheets, scripts or sex toys.
But he's now packing lots of condoms.
Source: Ifpress.com
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To be sure, I don't mind seeing condoms in porn, but I still think the legislation doesn't make sense when you think about it in terms of the greater context.
ReplyDeleteWhy are we so shocked that there are porn actors who contract STDs? Everybody does. What we should be asking ourselves is how their rate of infection compares to that of the general population. Considering the amount of sex porn actors are having, it seems to me that they get infected much less than the normal population. Is there scientific data available about this?
Another thing I'm thinking is that on television, the popularity of crime-based dramas is reaching never seen before heights. There is also an ever increasing emphasis on portraying violent and deadly acts as explicitly as possible. The same thing in movies. Yet, are we lobbying for that to stop because it shows "unsafe behaviors"? And to be sure, these dramas are shown during primetime, every night, and they are advertised and glorified. The exposure that porn has in comparison doesn't even come close.
The point is that what's needed is more education. People need to be educated that not everything in porn is meant to be real. Some is, some isn't, just like there are reality shows and documentaries on TV and there are also fiction and drama shows. Teaching young people that most women don't actually like their face covered in cum shouldn't be much harder than teaching them that most people don't think walking around with a gun is a good idea.
Instead of always making porn be the bad guy, it's time we start recognizing that a lot of healthy folks do watch porn as a normal part of their sex life. Instead of pushing porn to the dark alleys of our life and make people feel bad for watching it, we should embrace it and see it for what it is: a way to entertain your sexual self and get off. It's time we fully legalize it and allow ourselves to use it. Only then can education about it occur.