I normally save my questions for the #dailysexquestion, but with the news of Robin Williams’ passing, I wonder about celebrity, sex and death. Fans are currently mourning the loss of a comedy icon and gifted actor. Robin Williams entertained the world for decades. He performed for us, and if the popular press is to be believed (in this time of significant attention), his performances were his own lifeblood.
But this makes me wonder. Will there ever be a time when porn and sex-related performers will be as revered? Will they be mourned as publicly, lauded and loved? Will the popular press write obituaries? Will people flood social media with #RIP?
If you want to look at numbers and economy of celebrity, then yes, it would be logical to that that stars are stars are stars. Porn is a significant industry. Porn stars have lots of fans. They sign autographs at conventions, some can make decent coin. There are multiple streams to view their product, all of which produce revenue. I once went to strip club and was given a poster of the featured performer. While not my taste is home decor, I could see that other fellas were already pondering which wall their new treasure would hang.
Despite the adoration given, despite the industry stimulated, I fear we will never mourn porn performers. We’ll take what they give us, we’ll watch, we’ll enjoy, we’ll masturbate and we’ll pay.
But our sex negative, sex shaming culture just won’t acknowledge the people who perform on camera with sex. We’re fine with pratfalls, racism, violence, and that same sexual negative shaming…but we won’t see sex performer memorials.
And as much as losing a mainstream performer saddens me, this breaks my spirit.
