It is a public secret that everybody watches porn. Since these sexy and attractive performers do the public service of making other people climax, it is no wonder they have become special kinds of celebrities. Porn stars have their own followers and enthusiasts, while their media profiles show a glamorous lifestyle filled with fun and adventure.
As enticing as it may sound, the career of a porn performer is tightly tied to their youth. The fact of the matter is that many sex workers need to think of early retirement. This begs the question — what does the life of a retired porn star look like? Let’s find out!
The Life Before Quitting
It’s important to note that the worldwide porn industry is a behemoth. With so many small and large filming companies and sex-worker jobs, you should note that the career experience in porn varies significantly. Some present it as liberating, fun, and glamorous, while others found it exploitative and abusive. Regardless of the testimonies and presentations at the end of the day working in porn is just that — work.
Like other actors, pornstars usually have agents who promote them and search for filming opportunities for their clients. Depending on their stardom, actors also sign exclusive contracts with larger adult entertainment companies. To top it up, there are awards that celebrate their work. Basically, if you want to make a good buck from porn, you’ll get deeply rooted in it.
Like any job, porn becomes a run-of-the-mill mundane practice at some point. Sex becomes a physical performance highly orchestrated by the director and filming crew. Of course, as in most work environments, people create friendships, bonds, and relationships. Porn actor Seth Gamble explained porn is like joining an army — you’re part of the community for life.
Because of that, porn performers tend to stay and live in their own bubble. They meet and hang around with people from the porn industry. They understand each other, and they go through similar experiences. That’s why it’s sort of a shock to leave this system.
Career Journey
As many porn actors quit filming early in their lives, a logical question arises: How will they make a living next? There are three things to consider. First, how much were they planning ahead and have they thought about retirement? Secondly, are they leaving the industry for good? Lastly, do they want to use their experience and take a role behind the camera?
Sex professionals who have decided to play it smart start thinking in advance. They start saving up for their nest egg and then wait for the opportunity to pop up so they can invest in the future. It’s not uncommon that porn stars become realtors, restaurant owners, or entrepreneurs. Some of them start investing in their hobbies and end up developing their own companies. It can go from arts and crafts to vehicle servicing.
However, there are difficulties if they’re not managing your own business. Many job positions are out of reach as employers often do a background check of potential employees, and usually, they don’t want to have an ex porn performer. There’s also the question of lacking qualifications or explaining the 5-year gap in your CV.
The easiest transition would be staying in the industry but at a new position. Prominent sex actresses opened their own production companies, and some actors start directing or acting in non-sex roles. This way porn stars continue earning with what they know best.
Family Relationships
A very prudish thought regarding porn performs comes with a gasp: What would their parents say?! It used to be a thing that being a sex actor can be a secretive profession. However, with all the accessibility of the internet and social media, porn professionals can’t hide it as easily anymore. What’s more, it’s profitable that they promote their stardom as it will generate more lucrative contracts.
When it comes to the family’s reactions to one’s sex-worker profession, there’s no universal response. As always, some end up being judgemental assholes and shun their porn-doing child. Other parents stay supportive and help out! .
Actors who have had a good relationship with their parents will continue having contact with their family after porn. There are pornstars that post pictures of their phat asses on their social media, and then they post a photo with their mom, declaring that they are their biggest support. On the other side, some people enter porn, since they didn’t have much choice as their parents never gave them support. It’s safe to say that quitting porn doesn’t revitalize that relationship.
Society’s Impression
Perception of sex work and consequently porn professions vary from country to country. When discovering their acquaintance is a porn professional, many people in LA wouldn’t bat an eye. While this news would be unthinkable in the Bible belt. The same shifts in attitude exist worldwide. In patriarchal societies porn is deemed shameful, and in liberal ones it’s acceptable.
There has been a significant change in how society perceives sex actors thanks to social media. Nowadays porn professionals can promote themselves on Instagram, Youtube, and other platforms. They can share their thoughts, dreams, hobbies, and even political ideas. Using these networks to promote themselves, porn stars also get a chance to present themselves as people with lives. This takes off the masks of salacious sex gods and in return humanizes them.
Still, if a porn star retires even in the most progressive environment, they do usually encounter problems. Having any sort of public life will quickly make their past catch up. So being a teacher, spokesperson, representative, etc. is out of the question. That’s why many decide to keep their past a secret and choose to build a new identity.
Personal and Private Life
Production companies tend to glamourize the life of a porn star. They get to sleep with gorgeous and attractive people, they get to experience the wildest erotic fantasies, there are opportunities to travel, and, of course, many people idolize them. Who wouldn’t want that?! Well, a large group of ex-performers and even active stars tend to speak vocally about the underbelly of the behemoth that is the porn industry.
Although working in porn doesn’t provide a uniform experience, there have been complaints about the exploitative nature of the business. Many performers testified to the abusive and hurtful nature of many filming sessions that had damaging psychological consequences. Often these are the reasons why people quit porn, as they get fed up with it.
Even in well-developed and prestigious porn careers, actors have talked about developing substance abuse problems, and generally, they felt that porn has led them to depression. Furthermore, porn acting is sex work, and ultimately sex becomes just that — work. Shooting porn can be physically demanding, mechanical, and can have an emotional toll. Not all performers are resilient to this, and they carry consequences throughout life.
Intimate and Close Relationships
Even though porn has led to an unimaginable number of sex videos, people rarely equate the industry with babymaking and family environment. Be that as it may, many sex performers eventually become parents or they form families. Surprisingly enough, it’s not unheard of that porn stars do that while still being in the industry.
Of course, male performers get to be fathers and continue working in front of cameras, while actresses take a break and they eventually return. However, actresses usually quit filming scenes after becoming mothers. Still many of them return as directors, producers, or founders of their own production companies. These people are open about their careers, and it’s up to them how they inform their children about their past.
On the other hand, it is common practice that retired porn stars completely burn bridges with their past life. They do find a loving partner and ultimately raise families. In these cases, ex-performers settle with partners who have nothing to do with porn. In the end, they try their hardest to keep their families in the dark, and they tend to move to more conservative environments, where it is less likely someone will recognise them.
Facts about retired porn stars are as diverse as they are numerous. All those sexy goddesses or beefy hunks retire eventually, but their life goes on. And like you and me, they try their best to pursue happiness with the cards that they have.