Today's Daily Telegraph

[James]

I read an article in the Daily Telegraph today (Saturday 9th) entitled 'When Fashion Met Porn'. In it Richard Benson writes "Fashion magazines are one thing; the hardcore videos bought in brown paper bags for ?20 over chipped formica counters are still quite another, with women squinting in pain, or taking drugs and drinking beforehand to dull their senses."
"People in the industry will admit , for all the self-possession of Alisha Klass or former page 3 pin-up Joanne Guest, most of those women in most of those videos would rather have earned fame and fortune of a different order, in a different way."
Bizzarly the writer also describes Maxim magazine as soft porn!

Is this journalist an oddball throwback to the 19th century, or just another Mary Whitehouse/Anne Widecombe extremeist preventing Britain from comming into line with Europe and the USA with its attitude towards porn? Presumably he's visited the sex shops in Britain and watched some videos to come to his conclusions? Of course not, he's just used his preconceived prejudiced ideas to write an article on something he knows nothing about.
Perhaps some people in the industry, especially actresses would like to comment?

[Ned]

We've been here before methinks. What you have is a journalist for an "upmarket" but fading paper doing the usual hatchet job on an industry he has no knowledge of. Unless it's the same knowledge 99% of the users of this forum have - consumer knowledge.

Over to you Wendy/Layla...

[Wendy]

Well I have to say it doesn't sound as though this guy has even watched much porn let alone met any of the actresses involved. I certainly don't take drugs or drink to "dull my senses". For goodness sake, why do people persist in this idea that women have no will of their own, unable to make any informed choices? I will say (as I have said numerous times before!) I enjoy being in porn,OK?!!

Wendy xxx

[Izzit]

Which video in a brown paper bag for ?20 over a chipped formica counter, with women squinting in pain, or taking drugs and drinking beforehand to dull their senses, did he buy?

[woodgnome]

if you didn't enjoy it, we wouldnt' enjoy it!

[woodgnome]

the telegraph is one of the rags that exhorted us to vote tory this week!

nuff said!

[joe king]

'with women squinting in pain' - I wonder if it can be confused with ecstasy - women squinting in ecstasy? But is it a good sort of 'pain'?