Looking Good for Bad Reasons

There are many of us (myself included) who love seeing pictures of "Stars Without Makeup"!  For some reason seeing celebs their natural state makes them more down-to-earth and similar to the rest of us.  I just ran across a new article about makeup artist Melissa McCarthy titled Porn Stars Without Makeup that puts a new spin on this concept.

It's hard to look at these fresh-faced women being made into something sexual and thinking about what they do for a living.  How did these girls get involved with this trade?  Growing up, in my mind I always thought if someone had good looks they would be given an extra chance in life to become successful, rich, and  happy.  So why go into the porn industry?  Is it that lucrative?  And are these women so damaged they turn to porn due to their low self-esteem?

A 2012 study of 177 porn actresses by the Journal of Sex Research showed the following:

Compared with a control group, the porn actresses were much more likely to be bisexual (67 percent vs. 7 percent). They also started having sex at an earlier age, had more sexual partners in their lifetime (not including partners in their line of work), said they enjoyed sex more and were more concerned about contracting a sexually transmitted disease (STD).

Additionally, porn actresses were more likely to have had a problem with alcohol and to report having used 10 different types of drugs in their lifetime. They also reported more marijuana use during the past six months compared with other women.

But the researchers found key differences between porn actresses and other women that contradict the "damaged goods" stereotype. The porn stars were no more likely to have been victims of childhood sex abuse than the control group, the study found. What's more, the porn actresses reported significantly higher sexual satisfaction, positive feelings, social support and spirituality.

Hmmm...so it appears these porn stars may have higher positive feelings but this may be acquired by their higher than average drug and alcohol use.

In the end, it's hard to look at these before and after makeup photos without thinking of the reason behind their transformations.  They aren't doing it for themselves; they are doing it to earn a dollar in a very degrading manner.  And it's really kind of sad.