Porn & Politics

Can the adult industry save democracy?

While we are collectively glued to the telenovela of American politics, I’d like to share my theory on how the adult industry might unite our divided nation.

We need to be able to engage critically with pornography, as it exists at the nexus of media, entertainment and technology. Pornography is ingrained in all these aspects of our lives whether we like it or not. Porn literacy is the first step to having the skills to process and understand our own and collective relationship with adult content.

My hot take: I believe that pornography might be the unifying media/marketing source our divided nation needs. The adult industry has a truly bipartisan audience— liberal Democrats, far right conservative Republicans, vehement pro-lifers and equally ardent pro-choice campaigners. In light of all the plot twists this election season, I have a pitch for the Democratic party: capitalize on the immense influence porn stars have to reach across party lines and convert undecided and centrist Republicans to a newly energized ticket.

This was the very first post on my current IG account, after having been kicked off twice for the aforementioned posting of art and vintage (burlesque) pinups.

Before you write off this suggestion as too ridiculous, hear me out. We are at the point where t-shirts with images of Trump’s defiant, fist raised in air are being sold mere hours post-shooting and Charli XCX tweeting “Kamala is BRAT” prompts a rebrand from the Harris campaign’s Twitter account. In the theatre of the absurd of American politics, is any suggestion that outrageous if it helps a candidate go viral?

My personal porn is analytics. Here’s some that get me wet. A streaming adult site like PornHub has 100 million page views a day, and is as recognizable, with a higher “Q score” (and possibly more influential on culture) than a mainstream media or luxury brand like HBO or Chanel. To put it in perspective, the series finale of HBO’s Game of Thrones had around 9.3 million viewers. Let me repeat PornHub’s numbers— 100 million page views A DAY. 

I am friends and colleagues with, and regularly feature adult stars on The Sex Ed. Out of all our podcast episodes— even ones where a guest has received critical acclaim, award nominations/wins, write ups in The New York Times and The New Yorker—a porn star will always beat their download numbers by at least 10 x if not more. You may not know the names of the most searched adult stars, but they have fans across the globe who set Google alerts for them. Their fame and fortunes do not rely on what mainstream media deems worthy of coverage. If adult performers advertised luxury products (or endorsed a candidate,) they’d receive millions more eyeballs than a Vogue cover. Because porn is so intimate—it’s literally in your bedroom—the parasocial relationship people have with their favorite adult stars is on a whole other level. And it is profitable. 

My friend, the adult superstar Riley Reid, whose videos have been viewed over a billion times on PornHub, has made bank charging for dick pics. On her OnlyFans account, she charges subscribers to rate their dicks. It’s only a few bucks per message, but when you consider that she receives hundreds to thousands of photo requests per week, it adds up. She employs a team of professional assistants to communicate with fans as part of a “girlfriend experience.” With her profits, she’s bought a gorgeous house and started her own social agency to manage other adult stars. Mainstream YouTubers (Jake & Logan Paul, David Dobrik, etc) know that having Riley on as a guest will increase their numbers exponentially. These guys are not (as) stupid (as they may come off)—they have energy drinks and branded perfume to sell.

Trading biz tips with Ash aka Riley Reid.

Meanwhile the Democratic party has thus far, been hell bent on preaching to their own choirs. It’s almost as though the Dems haven’t realized news sources have long been decentralized and legacy media doesn’t hold the power it did in 2012. Do any media strategists truly believe a Vogue cover or an appearance on the Smartless podcast will convert voters across the aisle? BarStool Sports would make a much better platform to reach undecided Mid American voters.

Say what you will about Trump, he’s got the internet in a chokehold. While the New York Times jokes about his branded merch—gold sneakers and the like—they are selling like hotcakes. All press is good press if we are counting column inches, so the viral tactic would be to hitch your wagon to those who know who to stir up a little controversy. Case in point— the Charli XCX endorsement of Harris was a good start. I think we need to take it a step futher.

Although I would be labeled by most as an “Coastal elite woke liberal,” I find that existing inside a bubble of other people who think like me is boring. It also makes one out of touch with the temperature of the rest of the country. I try to remain in dialogue with people I may not always agree with, if only to widen my own perspective. I shudder at 99% of what Trump spews, yet there is truth to his painting of the Democratic party as stuck up their own ass and labeling certain media outlets as “liberal elite.”  

Here’s where I think porn is useful in the above context. If my own algorithm is mostly other accounts who are protesting the same issues, what is the point of my self-righteous shouting into the echo chamber? My personal and professional relationships within the adult industry have vastly expanded my (and The Sex Ed) following. I’ve been on the PornHub podcast a couple of times and also directed a series of educational PSA’s for the site about safety and consent. People who are not familiar with my work or world see my name/ image in that context, and whatever their original impetus, come check me out and find sex positive content, information about reproductive justice, etc. Often this makes me a target for trolls but as I’ve said previously, if you don’t have haters, you haven’t “made it.”  During the 2020 election cycle, whenever an adult star friend or PornHub would post me on their social media accounts, I’d receive a barrage of angry comments. Usually these were from pro-life or Trump supporters who were expecting thirst traps and instead got content about my political views. But at least they were watching/listening. And some of them —about 28%—converted to becoming members of The Sex Ed community. To me, that’s a huge win.

Below, a clip from an IG live on PH’s now deleted IG account with PornHub “avatar” Aria talking about unsolicited dick pics and consent. During this live, there were several hundred thousand viewers.

In 2022, prior to the midterm elections and in the wake of Roe vs. Wade falling, I directed a viral video, #BigReformEnergy. The video received over 20 million views on IG in the first day—in large part due to a cast made up of professionals from the porn industry. I cast adult stars Emily Willis, Alexis Fawx, Dredd, and Jet Setting Jasmine, as well as renowned adult director Jacky St. James to convey the message that the United States is not as divided as red and blue may want you to think. 

Produced in conjunction with The Sex Ed, we wanted to cut through the noise by humanizing the person behind the pornstar and speak to those who may not consider themselves politically active. Again, I believe that adult performers have the ability to have their message heard across party lines and effect change. If Amber Rose is schilling for Trump…. the Dems should be hiring Riley Reid, Abella Danger and Lana Rhoades to make Tik Toks.

Is it our own moral high ground that stops us from seeing porn as a way to market ideology to the masses? The relationship between sex and politics is not a new concept. If you’re American, chances are you’re familiar with Monica Lewinsky, or John F. Kennedy and his many, many women (Marilyn Monroe among them.) I grew up thinking that all male politicians took advantage of their position of power to proposition hotties. My dad, who was also a playboy, once told me about being at a Hollywood party with JFK prior to his presidential campaign. “I was sitting in my black tie with JFK on the diving board of the swimming pool. Everywhere there were beautiful women—in evening gowns around the grounds, in the pool.” “We sat there and watched. After a while I turned to Jack and said, ‘So they say you’re going to run for President, is it true?’ He replied, ‘What, and give up all this?’ ” 

During my years documenting burlesque, a number of my burlesque queen friends told me about the politicians they were propositioned by. As Zorita put it, “When I think of all the Senators I’ve had affairs with and never made a big deal out of, I could throw up." One Congressman from West Virginia gave her a red fox jacket to keep her warm at night when he couldn’t.

Christine Keeler in 1963, the woman at the center of the political scandal with married British Secretary of State for War, John Profumo.

In the 1960s in the UK there was the infamous “Profumo affair,” since made into books, films and TV series. In early 2020, the French President Emmanuel Macron’s candidate to become mayor of Paris, Benjamin Griveaux, stepped down because a video he sent to a younger woman of him masturbating circulated online. Don’t get me started on former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s sex scandals. 

All this to say, clearly sex and politics give good ratings, copy and keep those advertising dollars coming in.

So here’s my proposal to the Democratic party:

You’ve got less than three months to turn this election around. Form your alliances now with the next Gen adult stars, lord knows you need their help.