An author friend of mine, A.B. Gayle, turned me on to a great blog (the whole blog, not just one post) written by adult entertainment star, Conner Habib. One post in particular, The Virtues of Being an Object, was something I couldn't stop reading the moment I started it. I've probably mentioned before how I think we tend to objectify both men and women nowadays...depending on who you talk to. It also gives a first hand impression of adult entertainment, and it's not the hype we often see from people who only sensationalize these things.
Habib is also an author. From what I've read in his various bios, he started out as a writer and then went into adult entertainment. And he doesn't write fluff. The following is from an essay he wrote for a pubbed book titled, Exploring the Edge Realms of Consciousness.
The essay is about all sorts of things; but all relate to the charge that porn “objectifies” people. We’ve all heard that argument, but I wasn’t so sure it made any sense. When I tried to figure out what porn critics were getting at, I figured out that they were even more confused than I thought.
Again, this isn't hearsay. It's coming from someone who works within the industry. The blog post to which I'm linking is a condensed version of his original essay from the book, presented as a post in the form of mini-essays.
The first time I masturbated thinking of a man, I was barely a teenager. I’d masturbated before, but I never really understood why – it was just a feeling contained in myself. I’d push myself into my mattress and consider the strange, warm feeling. Waves up my chest and in my spine, a peaceful feeling afterward. It was unrelated to anything but me.
What I always find interesting, from my own POV, is that we naturally assume that men think differently about porn than women. But in speaking privately with more than one of my female readers about erotic romance, especially gay erotic romance, I've learned that's not always accurate.
You can read the post in full here. I also find it interesting the way so many adult entertainment stars are always so underestimated by the mainstream. It even happens with erotic romance authors.
The Joey Stefano Story
The same author who told me about Conner Habib's blog, A.B. Gayle, also mentioned The Joey Stefano Story to me a couple of months ago and I've had an e-mail with a link sitting in my inbox all this time because I wasn't sure I wanted to post about it. I've posted about Stefano before because I met him and knew him briefly in the early 1990's. And the "Joey" I knew wasn't quite the way I've seen him portrayed all the time. But I haven't seen this play, so I can't comment. And I figured I'd post about it because I think "Joey" would have loved to have seen a play all about him.
“For those unfamiliar with the Stefano legend, Stefano, born Nick Iacona, ran away from his Philadelphia home at the age of 16 and became a gay porn sensation with the aid of adult film director Chi Chi LaRue. Lowe's play is a successfully layered work that begins by focusing on Stefano's boyish charm and limitless libido, even though it concentrates primarily on narrative exposition rather than dramatic tension. Instead of exploring Stefano's psyche. Lowe has opted for a wittier stance, revealing inside tricks of the porn trade and by writing lines such as, "When it comes to bottoms in this industry, I'm the top."
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