This is not to say that we don’t whisper about our rates – about who pays what for which sorts of scenes, what working conditions are like on their sets and what non-monetary compensation we’ve been offered or have deemed acceptable. Which makes us a lot like many other workers. In stark contrast to all this discussion of bodies and sexuality, one thing we rarely talk about openly is pay. And whether we’re at a public appearance or have just disclosed our job to a new acquaintance on a train, strangers often react to our documented physical and sexual openness as though it gives them a rare safe space to confess to ask their unanswered questions about sex and to air their secrets and shames. Adult performers share sexual tastes and boundaries with each other in extreme detail before performing a scene, sometimes mere moments after initially meeting. Working in pornography means talking about – and doing, filming, distributing and marketing – things that frequently go undiscussed in public.
