“Porn stars.” “Adult performers.” “Talent.”

Whatever term you use to refer to the people who appear in the videos, photographs and other mediums which comprise pornography, adult entertainment as we know it wouldn’t – and couldn’t – exist without them.

Make no mistake: Being an adult performer is not an easy job. If you think it is, this just means you haven’t walked a mile in a performer’s shoes – or spent an hour on the set of an adult content shoot.

Despite their mission-critical importance to the adult industry, adult performers often aren’t treated with the respect, or given the support, one would expect such crucial workers and human resources to receive.

For many consumers, performers appear to be perceived as mere collections of attractive body parts, rather than full human beings. Sadly (and shockingly, considering their central importance to the production of the content which sustains so many adult businesses), there are many within the adult industry who don’t show performers much more respect than such consumers.

While the importance of performers to the production of adult content hasn’t changed or diminished over the years, many things about the industry and the consumer market have shifted radically over the same period. To cite just one example, in the social media age, adult performers have more of a voice than they did in years past. Now they can communicate directly with their viewers and fans in a way that simply wasn’t available for most of the commercial porn industry’s history.

Of course, there’s also a downside to the direct communication modern technology has enabled. After all, where there’s an online platform for communication, there’s also certain to be trolls, cyber-stalkers and other internet miscreants – along with all the assorted threats and irritants which serve as tools of their miserable, insipid trade.

How do adult performers go about navigating this evolving modern market, where every opportunity seems to be wrapped around a pitfall? How do they take advantage of the good and avoid being bogged down by the bad?

In the weeks ahead, YNOT will publish a small series of profiles and interviews focused on adult performers. Rather than being selected for their fame, popularity, or perceived status within the adult industry, these performers have been chosen for their compelling personalities, their crafty use of social media and for the passion they display, not just for the work they do in the adult industry, but for a variety of life’s little pleasures – and its big challenges.

You’ll hear from performers who have mastered the art of self-promotion via social media, others who are on the cutting edge of the emerging cryptocurrency market and others who offer specific suggestions and constructive criticism on how the adult industry can improve its support for performing talent.

Obviously, no small set of articles can do more than scratch the surface of the enormous variety of personalities, perspectives and passions embodied in the large and ever-changing population of adult performers. But for this upcoming series, YNOT has endeavored to assemble a representative sample which speaks to the intelligence, savvy and determination embodied by many performers – traits which all too often go unappreciated, or even unnoticed.

We hope these features help readers obtain a fuller understanding of those profiled and contribute to a greater appreciation for all adult performers. Respect, support and appreciation is no less than they deserve… And no less than they’ve earned.

The reason I have a job and you have a job, whether you're a director, producer or agent is because of one thing: the girls. Without the girls we'd just be douchebags with nice cameras hoping that someone we know needs their kid's bar mitzvah filmed. I thank you all.

— Mike Quasar (@mikequasar) April 30, 2019