In “Slavery: not 'out there'” [News, Oct. 3], Brandeis scholar Mei Mei Ellerman says “an estimated 90 percent of porn “actors” are victims of human trafficking.”
Say what?
According to sociologist Sharon Abbott, in the book Sex for Sale, porn actresses typically earn middle-class incomes. After interviewing 31 of them, she found five primary motivations for entering the porn industry: money, fame and glamour, freedom and independence, opportunity and sociability, and being naughty and having sex.
Sometimes new actresses earn hundreds of thousands of dollars a year - more than many engineers, lawyers, doctors, and university scholars like Dr. Ellerman. Anyone who is interested can go to the annual Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas and see for themselves.
Yet we are supposed to believe that 90 percent of these women are slaves? It boggles the mind.
And what can we make of the bizarre assertion that “Eventually, regular consumers of porn want the real thing”? Men who abstain from porn don't want sex?
Can we have a reality check, please?