Today while going through some news across on a The
Times of India website I came across a rather interesting piece of an article.
The story was titled "Porn star doesn't mean prostitute: Sunny
Leone". Personally I don't have any problem with porn industry around the
world and I agree to the statement made by Leone herself. But I do have a
problem with the intent of what she writes. Here it is...
What Sunny states is in the article reflects that prostitutes
are somehow low in what they are doing and that there is some sort of dignity
in what "adult entertainment artists" do after all they are
hardworking people who have to manage their sales. Here is how Sunny is
quoted in the article: "I think India doesn't have an adult entertainment
industry - that's why people have no idea what it is. I ran a company that took
care of the deals I sealed with firms to sell and share my content online and
to other media. Running a company was hard work. I'd work for about 60-70 hours
a week. It wasn't a party. I have only one partner. So that way, I'm very
restrained in the real world."
So does she intend to imply that being a prostitute is
an easy job? I would
like to point out that the comparison of the jobs of a prostitute and a porn
star was not on the practical resemblance of their jobs rather on the
ideological resemblance in what they do. While a prostitute gets paid for
providing pleasure to her client for money her job is discrete and often born
out of genuine need. While what a porn star does is gets involved in sexual act
for the pleasure of the people who watch them over the internet and television.
I also understand how she says that she has to run a
company in order to sell legal rights to her sex videos. It brings me to wonder
how many girls in her industry actually are so fortunate and get treated so
well. At one point the article says that she never intended to be so much into
the industry just that "the money was too good". There you go, greed!
Now we have a real good base for perspective. Is it being greedy that makes her
better than a prostitute? I am not sure.
Many girls who enter the porn industry get into it
because of genuine need for employment and I do not intend to be disrespectful
towards them. It must be real hard on them knowing that what they do cannot be
undone in this lifetime. Anyways while all is said I would like to point out
that I believe what Leone says to be true to the same extent that I believe
that "a prostitute doesn't mean porn star". I would also like to
defend Indian commoners take on porn workers by stating that in India where
prostitution has the same legal status as porn (not punishable if not organized
or public) Indians have a right to cite porn stars and prostitutes under the
same category sex-workers.
Though unrelated to the topic another very interesting
point comes out of this debate that is how easily Bollywood accepted her into itself. I would under normal
circumstances feel happy for a person who has walked out to success in
mainstream media irrespective of their background but in this case I would feel
ashamed of our film industry if it has chosen her because of her background and
not despite it. But that is for another time.
You may choose to read this:
While this is in some conflict with the rest of the
article anybody reading this article should also make themselves aware of the
pitiful state of India when it comes down to prostitution. While talking
hypothetically the perspective above makes sense but I am saddened by to apathy
of prostitutes in our country and do not intend to trivialize the issue. I
believe that steps must be taken by the government to eradicate human
trafficking and child prostitution. I also don't believe that criminalization
of prostitution in general is an option. While this article above fails to
address the problem I would feel privileged if you read from the following
link: A
BBC article on the rise of prostitution in India.
