Monday, November 14, 2011

Once a Porn Star, Always a Porn Star?

Over at BlogHer, avflox has a post about Sasha Grey's volunteer experiences reading to children: "Would You Let a Former Porn Star Read to Your Kids?"

Sasha Grey is a retired porn actress who is reportedly looking for more mainstream acting roles. She is also volunteering with Read Across America to read to children in order to promote literacy, and some parents aren't happy with it. 

I agree with avflox, who says in her post that there's something wrong with denying this woman the opportunity to volunteer for a cause she thinks is important. Grey doesn't identify herself to the children as a former porn actress. She doesn't dress inappropriately or talk about sexually-charged topics. She comes in, she sits down, she reads. 

Grey's own response to the controversy illuminates the part that I find most interesting in all of this: the limits of labeling:
I am an actor. I am an artist. I am a daughter. I am a sister. I am a partner. I have a past that some people may not agree with, but it does not define who I am.
Grey points out just a few of the labels that she wears. She officially retired from porn in April, and yet that label--"porn star"--is the one that sticks. Looking up news stories on the subject, most of the headlines identify her that way:
Chicago Sun Times: Sasha Grey, the porn star who read at school, yearns to go mainstream
New York Daily News: Porn star Sasha Grey reads to first-graders in elementary school classroom
Reuters: Porn Star Sasha Grey: I'll Read to Your Kids if I Want!
Business Insider: Porn Star Sasha Grey Defends Reading to Elementary School Kids
Several other articles refer to her as "former porn star" or "ex-porn star," which--while still limiting her to that role--is at least accurate (and understandable since that former role is the source of the news story in the first place.)

I once sold knives door-to-door for a summer. What if every thing I did from here on out began with "Knife-saleswoman"? "Knife-saleswoman Teaches College Students Composition," "Knife-saleswoman Questions Gender in Disney Princesses."

While, yes, the things we do have an impact on who we are, no one aspect of our lives should become our entire identity. And, acting in porn is a legal activity. If Grey were still an active porn actress who wanted to read to children, I would be fine with it as long as her actions as a volunteer conform to the standards set for that role. But, for the sake of argument, let's say that being a porn actress is so morally reprehensible that--when you are acting in that role--the depravity makes you unfit for any other activities. If you truly believe that, wouldn't you want to see someone stop doing it (as Grey has) and inhabit a new primary identity (as Grey seems to be doing)? Wouldn't forcing her forever into a box that you think is morally repugnant be just about the most counteractive thing you could do?

2 comments:

  1. "But, for the sake of argument, let's say that being a porn actress is so morally reprehensible that--when you are acting in that role--the depravity makes you unfit for any other activities. If you truly believe that, wouldn't you want to see someone stop doing it (as Grey has) and inhabit a new primary identity (as Grey seems to be doing)? Wouldn't forcing her forever into a box that you think is morally repugnant be just about the most counteractive thing you could do?" YES, thank you! If one applies a paradigm of logic when it supposedly benefits, one must also apply the same paradigm of logic when it supposedly doesn't benefit.

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