The piece was written in reaction to TMZ’s revelation that Alexis Texas had never done an interracial sex scene, even though she is one of the biggest stars in the adult industry and has appeared in over 100 films.
Based on the 10,000 porn star study, we know that only 53% of all performers appear in interracial sex scenes. Why are interracial sex scenes still considered to be taboo in this day and age of porn?
The first reason that Aurora Snow offers for why some actresses’ are reluctant to film interracial sex scenes is because of size. When casting for black male talent, producers select performers that have disproportionately large penises. Trying to work with the sheer size of the members can be intimidating to say the least.
However, more often than size-intimidation, girls refuse to do interracial sex scenes because they’re worried about their careers. Either from agents or other performers, actresses are told that they can increase their longevity by refusing interracial scenes, until she can’t find conventional porn-work.
Withholding from certain sex acts on camera has often thought to be a formula for success. A girl could theoretically extend the audience’s interest in her by incrementally getting more hardcore. An actress would start doing solo work, then move on to shooting with girls, then boy-girl scenes, and then finally do anal or interracial scenes to re-peak interest.
But Snow doesn’t believe that this is the formula for success in the adult industry anymore. Kristina Rose said in her article, “I was told by my agent that girls who did interracial didn’t make as much money. I wish I hadn’t listened to my agent–if I had been doing interracial from the beginning, I probably would have won Performer of the Year.”
Since 2010, every actress who has won Performer of the Year (which is a big deal in the porn world) hasn’t withheld from doing interracial sex scenes.
One of porn’s most powerful agents, Mark Spiegler of Spiegler Girls said that the conventional wisdom that’s been passed on from agents and performers is no longer true. It’s a myth that girls who do interracial sex scenes make less money because they work more and they can charge higher rates.
Snow asked why girls still decline to do interracial scenes even though it can get them more work and he said, “The No. 1 reason I hear, and that doesn’t mean it’s true, is ‘my family wouldn’t like me doing it.” Aurora Snow wrote that she had heard the same excuse on sets throughout her career.
Porn is porn, is it not? I guess not. Why their families would be OK with doing porn just not interracial porn is totally beyond me.
One of the few black agents in the adult business and male performer, Tee Reel, accepted the girls who avoided interracial sex scenes. He told Aurora Snow, “As a black man, I don’t take it personally when a girl says, ‘I don’t want to do interracial.’ In the business, some girls who say they don’t do interracial I’ve actually had sex with off camera.” At least their sexual discrimination is only a business decision (albeit apparently a misinformed one) and they’re not all showing signs of terrible racism.
Reel also explained that some of these girls come from small, rural towns where there isn’t a black population. “Sometimes the first black guy they have been exposed to is in the industry. It’s not as if they have some racist gene. They aren’t anti-black, they just never had the opportunity. Same thing with anal sex–most of them had never had anal sex in their personal life.”
The porn consumer is thought to be a progressive consumer. A recent survey showed that people who watched pornography often were more likely to support same sex marriage because their sexual horizons had been broadened through watching porn. Yet these progressive consumers are still buying into stereotypes, especially when you look at interracial porn. It’s mostly big black men dominating small white girls.
What do you think of race’s portrayal in pornography? Does it matter to you if an actress does an interracial sex scene?
