Siri

(Please note that I am answering this question from the POV of being a mainstream porn performer, and not a niche performer. There is a fetish for everything, and obviously in certain niches, there is less, or no, pressure for performers to be thin. I am speaking only in the context of the LA-based adult film industry and the large commercial studios based here.)

I'll start by mentioning that I am 5'9" tall, weigh 145 lbs, and wear a women's dress size 8.

The average American woman is a size 14, 5'5" tall, and weighs 164 pounds. Look at this website: What Real Women Look Like (http://www.mybodygallery.com/search.html?gender=female&height=165&weight=73&age=any&pantSize=0&shirtSize=any&bodytype=&p=2) and you can see the variety of ways a 5'5", 160-pound woman can carry her weight. Most of these women look just fine to me, but by porn's ridiculous standards they would be considered fat or obese.

The average porn star is a size 4-6, 5'5" tall, and weighs 117 pounds. (here are some more reference photos from What Real Women Look Like http://www.mybodygallery.com/search.html?gender=female&height=165&age=any&weight=54&pantSize=32&shirtSize=any&bodytype=) -- considerably smaller than the average American woman. (avg. porn star statistics are from Jon Millward's infographic compiling stats from 10,000 male and female porn performers. The entire graphic is linked at the bottom of this post).

The concept of what a normal, healthy woman looks like is warped in the adult film industry. I have seen myself incorrectly labeled a "BBW" (Big Beautiful Woman), which is considered a niche in the porn industry, typically referring to very overweight and obese women. This is a huge red flag to me, because I am well within the healthy weight range for someone my height; at most I would consider myself "thick," because I have a big butt and thick thighs. (Also, my boobs alone account for about 15 pounds of my weight.) In contrast, my bra size is 30H, which means I measure 30" across my back, whereas the average female performer has a smaller cup size but measures 34-36" across the back.

Amazingly, I have never been told directly by a director, producer, agent or other decision-maker in the porn industry that I should lose weight. And if they had told me that, I would have told them to suck it, because I think I look great. On the other hand, some of my female friends in the industry (who are thinner than me) have been told to lose weight and "tone up."

...But, despite not having been told face-to-face that I'm "too big," I have indeed felt a lot of pressure from the adult film industry to be smaller. In my case it seems to manifest by certain companies and producers simply ignoring me because they think I won't "sell." It doesn't take a genius to look around me and see that girls who are 20 pounds lighter than me are considered to be more marketable and less of a "gamble" by producers and directors. There's a handful of "top-tier" companies who have never hired me for this reason, and probably won't ever hire me--unless I magically become a size 4. That's their loss. (And genetically, that is literally not even possible for me - my hipbones are so wide that I will never wear a pants size smaller than an 8. If you see a photo of me naked, the widest part of my hips is already the bone itself). I could starve myself trying to be a more "perfect," marketable porn star, and I would get absolutely nowhere, except hating myself. Besides, I wouldn't ever try that, because one of the many reasons I became a porn performer was to change the image of what a successful, attractive adult film star looks like.)

This is where I see a bit of a chicken-or-egg scenario: There are some porn decision-makers and avid porn fans who are conditioned to think that the only attractive female is a thin one with less than 10% body fat. And because porn is created in order to satisfy fan demand, this is strange to me. Which came first - the director who only hires thin girls, thereby conditioning fans to expect and like that, or fans demanding to see only thin girls, thereby conditioning directors to like that? Either way it's a completely pointless, self-serving concept, which does nothing but limit the profitability of studios and performers.

I have a large, extremely loyal fan base which is very willing to spend money to support me. My fans are also fans of many of my peers who are average-porn-star-size-4. In the fan's mind, there is no difference in desirability between me and my thinner peers; we just have different body types. Each of us is equally valuable to the adult industry; just as marketable as the other. I just wish that more of the decision-makers in the adult film industry could be on board with me on this. It's a change that is definitely going to have to come with time, in baby steps, and with lots of hard work.

Deep Inside Porn Infographic: http://i2.minus.com/iwSAQN5XMtPoM.jpg

In the security line at the airport. And it was a TSA agent.

Yes, he does. We are equal-opportunity non-monogamists!

For the most part, no. But every once in a while, I have a scene which is so hardcore it leaves me too sore to enjoy other sexual activity for a few days, in one case two weeks because I was vaginally torn during the scene. I try to avoid that kind of situation by knowing and explaining my physical limitations to male talent/directors, and by not working with giant cocks.

All the time. And we have sex while we watch it.

Also, I was most surprised to find out that all female performers are expected to work as usual while on their periods. And the industry's incredibly elegant solution to prevent a girl from creating a bloody mess on film? Shove makeup sponges up your vagina to block the flow of blood.

I'd be a makeup artist. It requires a lot of skills I possess and enjoy putting to use: entrepreneurial spirit, creativity, and a steady hand, to name a few.

Depends on the performer and the director. Nobody's going to force a girl to finish a scene if she can't continue, but they sure will judge her and probably tell everyone else about it if she can't at least make it through to the pop shot. Personally, the attitude I've encountered most often is, "If your vagina can't handle the biggest penis the porn industry has to offer, then you're in the wrong business." Which is part of the reason why I'm independent (not with any agency), so that I can have more control over the size of the guys I'm paired with.

It doesn't. It's just a weird factoid about porn.

Well, if a girl got a sponge pushed so far up there that she couldn't retrieve it herself, she'd have to have someone else (a man with larger hands, perhaps?) retrieve it for her. Not a health problem, just awkward.

Hi. :)