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Thread started 10/24/05 3:18pm

ImLikeTheGooch
Lookin

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Diana Devoe speaks on black women in porn

This is in response to the numerous emails and private messages I have gotten on the "state of black women in porn". The rant below is simply my opinion on the matter based on my experiences. I have a few ideas on the so-called solution, but I want to hear yours.

Here we go...

Now, as far as "black" performers go, just as anywhere else in America, one black person represents ALL black people EVERYWHERE. A "good" black female performer is looked upon as the exception to the rule, and a "bad" one is justification for the state of black women in adult video today. Black males have a different set of issues. Although they are often stereotyped and exploited (as if ANYONE who holds ANY job wasn't exploited in SOME fashion), they benefit from much more exposure (multiple scenes in a movie), and are often paid more than their female counterparts. So I will leave black men aside for a moment, and address black women.

Now (sigh!), speaking as a black woman, a black female performer, and a director of product featuring black females, I can say that my experience dealing with black females in the adult industry has been largely problematic. Generally speaking, black women tend to show up late, unprepared, with less-than-positive attitudes toward what they are about to do. At this point, I will quickly list some of the active Black female talent who do NOT fit into this category. They include:

BabyGirl
Aliyah
Jada Fire
Angel Eyes
Carmen Hayes
Melodee Bliss
Sydney Capri
Candace Von
Capri Styles
Roxy Reynolds
Alana Play
Lady Armani
Jazmine Cashmere
Olivia Winters

This is by all means not a complete list of "good" black female performers. I'm quite sure that there are more girls who are burning up the screen whom I have not had opportunity to shoot, or have not heard of. Which brings me to possible roots to this dichotomy between the "black" experience and "white" experience for females in porn.

Most White women I have met in this business seem to have a purpose and plan when they enter the industry. If they're not looking to be the next Jenna, they are looking to use the money earned in adult to finish school, start businesses, or perhaps start production companies of their own. Again, there are plenty of white women who are drugged-out, belligerent, bitter, and used-up. And since there are much more white, blonde faces in porn than black, the competition is probably much fiercer. You HAVE to be pretty if you are a white girl in this industry. To be in a "black" movie, you only have to be black. Since there are less black girls than white in the industry, often directors throw any old girl in to finish a volume and get it on the street, where you the consumer, having limited choices, will probably pick it up. THIS feeds the notion that Black girls are not as pretty as White girls.

Why aren't the gorgeous Black girls flocking to this industry? Well, pick up the trade magazine of our industry, Adult Video News. Count the white faces, and count the black faces. See the types of product features black performers. Look at how it is presented. If I had little faith in myself as a beautiful, sexual being, I would have taken one look at AVN and concluded that there was no future for me in this industry. So who IS coming in? Often agent/pimps will "recruit" Black girls off the street in Los Angeles, get them tested, and telling them very little about the workings of the industry, thrust them onto porn sets. These same agent/pimps often take a large portion of the girls' money, which discourages the girls from the industry very quickly. Thisis why sometimes you'll watch a scene with a girl who's fine as hell, and then never see her again. The average turnover time for ANY girl in this industry is about four months.

So, why not band together and put the pimp hand down on the "evil white oppressors"? First off, I have learned in this business that black people are just as quick to exploit, cheat and lie to black people as any other race, so it is not just white against black here. As for uniting-- To be united, you have to have a common goal. A person like me, whose goal was to create a name, direct movies, and affect change from within, has little in common with a person who will accept lower rates for scenes because she is trying to work more often, so she can pay a debt or buy a house. Both causes are just as valid, but they work against each other. I would have a vested interest in keeping my rate high, while the other girl is just looking at working as much as possible for a short amount of time. Then you have girls with even shorter-term goals-- i.e., making a car payment, or a phone bill. These girls are not interested in a future in this industry, and so they do not care about their performance, or how they are presented in a product. These are the girls with the horrible, uncovered stretch marks, the knife wounds, the chipped nails, the bad wigs. They just want to get their money and go.

So, this is the state of black women in this industry, as I see it. I invite your comments.

http://sfbayvideos.com/fo...C_ID=12500
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Reply #1 posted 10/24/05 4:40pm

Rhondab

and we should care...why?
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Reply #2 posted 10/24/05 4:52pm

theAudience

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ImLikeTheGoochLookin said:

If they're not looking to be the next Jenna, they are looking to use the money earned in adult to finish school...,


On no...



...not the Porno Myth. disbelief


tA

peace Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431
"Ya see, we're not interested in what you know...but what you are willing to learn. C'mon y'all."
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Reply #3 posted 10/24/05 4:52pm

JasmineFire

i'm glad there aren't lots of beautiful black women in porn. i'd like to think they're taking a better path in life. i wish all women would do so.
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Reply #4 posted 10/24/05 4:59pm

Aftershock

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So you ARE Diana Devoe?
Educate, tolerate, negotiate, communicate
litigate, graduate, appreciate, separate
interrogate, violate, fluctuate, perpetrate
masturbate, stimulate, stimulate, stimulate...
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Reply #5 posted 10/24/05 5:01pm

meltwithu

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there's some whores in this house
there's some whores in this house
if you see them point 'em out lol
you look better on your facebook page than you do in person hmph!
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