Porn Workers Please Stand Up

Find Your Shame. Manage Anxiety. Know Your Worth. Reclaim Power. Face Stigma. Stay United.  (And Thanks Pineapple)

Miss Leya Tanit started something that was needed in the adult entertainment industry.

She was a BDSM performer, and producer. Then she stopped for a while. When she came back under the spotlight at 2018 XBiz Awards, she was shocked to learn how many people had passed that year, particularly the devastating number lost to suicide, and felt that someone had to do something.

Having a good knowledge of the industry as performer and entrepreneur, she felt a sense of responsibility, and decided to act. Less than two months after her epiphany, Pineapple support was launched.  18 month later, today, she counts around 400 performers helped with low-cost therapy and support. Furthermore, last October Pineapple organized the first Adult Industry Health Summit, accessible online for free,  spreading precious contents for adult industry workers.

Given her experience in the industry as a performer, producer and entrepreneur, and her present as president of Pineapple Support, she actually can tell us how are performers doing, and what’s the State of the Industry. We asked her some questions.

After a year of hard work you should have a major view of what’s the industry workers situation.
What do you see?

“I see a group of people shunned by society. People who bring joy and entertainment to millions and are not looked at as equals. I see beautiful souls who need the same support as the rest of society, but due to stigma and subsequent isolation, this group of people are not receiving the level of care they deserve.”

What is needed most?

“What is needed the most is for society as a whole, to discuss sex, discuss porn, to normalise the industry and break down the prejudgments and stereotypes.”

Porn is a global market. Pineapple Support is growing fast. Do you receive help request from all over the world?   Do you think a global organisation is needed to support adult industry workers?

“Pineapple Support is a registered 501(c)3 non profit in the US and a registered charity in the UK. Currently we have therapists across the US, Canada, Colombia, the UK and Europe.

Performers across the globe need support and a voice, it is extremely important we all start to look on a global scale and work together to improve resources available to those in the adult industry.”

What about economic exploitation in the industry?

“Economic exploitation is rife in every industry, I think to single out the adult industry is simply adding to the stigma and stereotype already associated.”

The Pineapple Summit

If you missed the Pineapple Summit you can find the professionals’ speech on youtube. Getting the right info can make the difference for you and your peers. The summit was focused on every kind of mental health aspect related to sex work, we’ve just collected some contributions, but the topics were a lot and my advice is to go to Pineapple Support channel on youtube and listen to all of them.

Social Stigma

Jasmine Johnson – Stigma and Sex Work – Pineapplesummit

“Here we are, in this industry, enjoying it, making a great lifestyle and livelihood off of it, but not being able to celebrate or share how one has been in power to make this decision to be in an industry that they may find fulfilling. It can become incredibly isolating if we’re unable to share the type of work that we do, the type of engagement and encounters that we have on a day to day basis in our work. We could spend a lot of time avoiding friends and family or engaging in different activities that may call for us to talk about our day to day lives. And this avoidance can lead to more isolation. And we certainly know that isolation feelings of not being accepted lead to things like depression and anxiety and other stressors both mentally, emotionally and physically.” (full youtube Jasmin Johnson speech here)

 

Shame

Dr Jena Field – Want to feel less anxious? Find your shame – PineappleSummit

“So why do we feel shame? like all negative emotions, shame has an evolutionary purpose, and that’s to keep us safe. For instance, fears job is to protect us from doing dangerous things so we won’t hurt ourselves. Shames job is to send us uncomfortable emotional signals to steer us away from doing anything that would get us kicked out of our support system or our tribe. Basically shame is the fear of disconnection or rejection. There must be something about me that makes me unworthy of connection. When other people find out that I’m unlovable, or I’m not good enough, they will reject me. Our brains have a whole emotional physiological system in place for safety, the threat system. When you try to venture outside your comfort zone, shame says wait you’re not good enough. You can’t do it. Anxiety pops: you’ll be late, you’ll screw it up, they’ll hate it. Don’t go, don’t go, don’t go! The threat system then wakes up and says ‘I’m on it!’ and blast you with cortisol. The sweats shakes and tears start, then the logical part of your brain says: ‘look you can’t go out like this, you’re a wreck. Your bed is right there, Netflix is waiting for you and here… have a muffin!’ So shame thinks it has our best interest at heart, but shame is short-sighted. It doesn’t care about our goals, or our plans to live our best lives. Its only concern is to protect us right now. Shame helps us win the battle to avoid rejection, but as a result we are losing the war. I said shame was your friend, I never said shame was your smart friend.” (full youtube Jena Field speech here)

 

Self Care

Moushumi Ghose – Self Care In The Adult Industry – PineappleSummit

“With all these moving parts there are a lot of things to manage. Now, self-care to me is really about self-worth. It’s about taking care of us knowing what scenes we want to show up, for which directors we’re willing to work with. It’s setting boundaries around time, around people, around finances. It is much deeper than actually just going and getting your nails done, and getting your… elective procedures done. While all of those I think are very important, and really contribute to who we are and what makes us feel good at the end of the day, they’re not the end-all be-all. The real true self care is the ability to say no. And to recognize what is good for you, what it is you want, and what you need to do to get there to preserve your sanity in the industry” (full youtube Moushumi Ghose speech here)

Porn performers, you share a lot of things, especially risks and problems. Face the problems, give it a name. Stand up. Do it together.