There have been a few performers lately who got some ink because they penned well intentioned bits on why the condom law should fail. They claim that its a first amendment issue, a freedom of choice issue but what Rebecca Bardoux, James Deen, Steven St Croix and Alia Janine are pushing is THEIR wishes. You see they aren’t talking at all about the freedom of performers to choose to shoot WITH a condom. And according the the only industry poll done that is 1/3 of the performers.
Its easy to pimp choice when your are pimping YOUR choice, it’s a much different thing to pimp a choice that isn’t yours.
So what is this about really?
Should performers be able to shoot without a condom if they want to? Yes
Should a performer be able to shoot with a condom if they want to? Yes
So whats the problem really?
The problem is that some of the companies making porn don’t want performers to have that choice. They claim that it hurts sales. Should they be able to dictate that you can’t use a condom if you shoot for their company?
When a business doesn’t regulate itself, when it runs rough shod over the rights of employees, when it places them in danger that business is inviting the government to intervene on behalf of the employees. It isn’t a referendum on whether employees want the government to intervene or not because the government rightly knows that the business can coerce the employees, and one need look no further than porn to see that happening now. I get a decent amount of email from performers, mostly female who want the condom law to pass but either keep quiet or give lip service to defeating the measure because they know it will cost them work.
Should a business have the right to say no to condom porn? This one doesn’t really matter because this is an area of law that is well documented. The government can absolutely intervene and force regulations on companies in the name of public health and or workers rights.
The law requires people handling food to do all sorts of things, laws require the use of helmets while riding as motorcycle, seat belts while driving a car and hard hats on construction sites, there’s tons more but if you can’t figure it out from here ten pages of examples won’t help.
On its face the condom law, “measure B” is little more than window dressing anyway, there are already laws that could be enforced BUT what the condom law does is adds TEETH to the laws, whereas before there was little or no way to enforce the workplace safety laws Measure B will give the county the ability to enforce, at the expense of the companies.
While I can appreciate a performer standing up for their rights on either side of this issue it really isn’t even about the rights of the majority, it is about protecting the right of the minority, or a least it should be. Of course what its really about is does a company have the right to dictate to a performer without regard to that performers rights. If so then Steven, Alia, Rebecca and and James might want to re-think their whole choice argument…they won’t have a choice either way.
3 Responses
I think this is a case where when a shoot is going to happen, the performers are told in writing the work conditions (with or without condom, and a list of acts expected), and the performers can either agree and show up to do the work, or decline and not have to work.
Nobody should ever be forced to do a scene in what the consider an unsafe manner. But that choice should be made before they present to the set, not after everyone is working and getting paid and suddenly “I won’t work without (or with) a condom).
They have the right to choose to work or not. Unless the working conditions are deemed illegal by law, legal action, or departmental decree, then there is nothing here to bind the companies to have to work with or without.
Hey guys; I had a girl ask me this question the other day and wanted to see if anybody knows. If this Measure B goes through will we see James Deen and Jules Jordan and other male talent,doing DP shoots with condoms? Think that will still work?
Ricco, I think the answer to your friend’s question is no. They will be doing DP scenes without a condom but the location of that shoot will change. James and Jules will be shooting in San Francisco, Novato or San Rafael along with most of porn.