Author Archives: Dana Brown Smith

Amateur Porn: The New Currency for Hot (Young) Girls

Hot Girls Wanted is a compelling look at how young women are recruited to perform amateur porn. Lured by a simple Craig’s list ad, the documentary follows the experiences and struggles of several young women who embark on an unknown and misguided journey to break into the adult entertainment industry.

As the girls converge in Miami, we follow them throughout a typical day shooting porn scenes and living together in a sorority house for sex workers. Hussie Models founder Riley Reynolds doubles as booking agent/dorm mom and gleefully proclaims that there is an unlimited supply of talent because every day, some girl somewhere turns 18 and can legally shoot porn. While his statements are reminiscent of what a pimp might say, in the film he comes off as, well, nice. In fact, all of the young women in Hot Girls Wanted seem very nice, far from the stereotypical, drugged out runaway who will do anything on camera for money. They appear to enjoy the fellowship of living together in the house more than doing porn.

However, I found myself looking for some deeper motive to explain why these girls would leave their families, friends, and possible college futures and run to the arms of porn. Perhaps a hint of some sexual or physical abuse? Overly domineering parents? An abusive boyfriend? There was nothing. It’s all about the Benjamins.

The do-it-for-the-money theme is a continuous thread in Hot Girls Wanted. These fresh-faced high school grads give their bodies away for the chance to make $800 per scene, 3-5 times per week, yet they fail to count the true financial cost of their decisions until it’s too late (after all, they’re still teenagers). Expenses for travel, personal grooming, cosmetic surgeries and the like, all eat into their profits. Tressa, one of the film’s leads, ultimately leaves the business to return to her family and boyfriend sharing that she made $25,000 during the four months she filmed porn but ended up with $2,000 in her account when she left the industry.

Despite the appearance of lucrative financial gains, the turnover rate in amateur porn is high. One of the most compelling statements in the film comes when a male sex worker describes the trajectory of a typical 18 year old entering the adult entertainment industry. The shelf life for a new girl, worst case scenario is 1-3 months, an “all right” scenario is 3-6 months, and “the best case scenario, if she doesn’t catch on to the game, a year tops.”

Here’s where the film gets dark. As the girls acquiesce to perform more risqué sex scenes, doubts begin to surface. Gigs that seemed fairly straight forward have now become uncomfortable and degrading. Some girls are shooting extreme scenes. At one point I actually turned away from my computer screen as one young woman is chocked, spat on, and abused for entertainment while tears welled in her eyes.

The directors and producers of Hot Girls Wanted have successfully presented a gritty, non-judgmental documentary that still has heart. I grew to care about the girls of Hussie Models and found myself rooting for them to quit the business and move on with their lives in a more fulfilling way. Some did, some did not. Over all, Hot Girls Wanted serves as a sobering warning to young women who mistakenly equate sex work as sexual independence and who underestimate the painful toll that pornography production takes on a woman’s body, mind, and soul.

Dana Brown Smith is the author of Girls Watch Too! Female Fascination with Porn: Why You Should Care and What You Can Do About It.

Hot Girls Wanted can be viewed on Netflix.

The Dark Web: Home to Revenge Porn Websites

Revenge porn occurs when a cyberbully steals compromising images of a woman, without her consent, and posts them, along with personal identifying information, on the black market (aka Dark Web).

How does one end up on a revenge porn website? Usually an accomplished hacker is commissioned by a cyber-thug to break into a computer system and abscond with a woman’s intimate photos. In extreme cases, the hacker infects a woman’s computer with a Trojan program that secretly activates her webcam allowing said hacker to capture naked images. Some revenge porn criminals are graphic design experts with the ability to Photoshop a woman’s head on to another woman’s body.

Computer espionage is not the only way to debut on a revenge porn website. Women who take risqué selfies to share with a new love interest, their significant other, and in some cases, their spouse, risk digital exposure if the images fall into the wrong hands. Just as the name implies, if the relationship goes south, suddenly, these photos can quickly become a woman’s worst nightmare.

Revenge porn sites are generally found on the Dark Web. This shadowy underworld isn’t accessible through traditional browsers or indexed by Google. Instead, many sites are accessed via Tor and include some pretty nefarious activities such as selling weapons and child pornography. Tor provides anonymity — it’s the Internet’s electronic black market.

For a woman who finds herself exploited on a revenge porn website, regaining her identity and demanding the removal of the pictures is no easy task. Because the major premise of the Dark Web is anonymity, it’s difficult to determine the owner of a revenge porn website. Even if that information is attainable, a woman may fall victim to extortion as she is commanded to pay a fee if she wants the pictures taken down. In many cases copyright infringement is the only way to legally cease the display of nude images.

How can a woman protect herself from acts of revenge porn?

#1 – Don’t take nude photos of yourself. Period.

#2 – Don’t text naked pictures of yourself. It’s a mistake to assume the recipient won’t ever share your image with someone else, even if you tell them not to.

#3 — If you currently maintain compromising selfies and are unwilling to delete them, understand you bare some risk of exposure. Even if those photos are not shared with anyone else, revenge porn hackers have the ability to pluck photos right off of your cell phone or online picture depository. If the IRS and Sony can get hacked, so can you.

 It’s not just adult women who are at risk when it comes to revenge porn, our teenage girls are vulnerable as well. To protect the young women in your life, talk to them about sexting and even the risk of revenge porn. Admonish them not to send sexually charged text messages or nude images of themselves to anyone – not their besties or their boyfriend. Unfortunately (or fortunately), relationships change and someone who you thought was trust worthy when you first met them could turn out to betray you with pictures you took during the “good times.”

The Student, the Professor, and the Helicopter

The University of California San Diego (UCSD) has gotten much press recently when it was revealed by an irate mother that her daughter, a student at the college, would be required to take her final exam in her birthday suit.

Well, let me clarify. According to a CNN interview, the course in question calls for students to act out “gestures” in class. One particular assignment called the “Erotic Self,” requires nude participation in a dim, candle lit classroom (let that sink in for a minute). Twenty somethings + college life + naked bodies = well you can do the math on that. Once upon a time, I was a college kid and would be willing to bet my class ring and coveted student parking pass that someone in that class will be aroused by what is seen. The University has since gone on the record saying there is no requirement to perform nude to pass the course.

How has all this come to light? It turns out it wasn’t a student who complained, but rather her “helicopter mom” has lead this charge of indecency.

Copter mom critics have emphasized that her daughter was made aware of the nude testing requirement at the start of class and most likely would have also heard hushed whispers of this performance art standard from college campus lore. But, even if she knew, or should have known, that doesn’t negate her right to change her mind and exercise her personal choice to say “no.”

When your fresh off age 18 and even into your early 20’s you’ve often been conditioned to go with the status quo and move right along with the group, even if the group is marching off the proverbial cliff. We need more young people who are willing to speak up for injustice, disparity, and unfair treatment. As parents (and people who’ve experienced adulthood for more than two seconds) we have an obligation to encourage our kids to stand up for what they believe in, even if its unpopular, so that they don’t develop a dangerous pattern of acquiescing to situations and events that continuously compromise their values and beliefs.

So, to the young woman who finds herself in this moral dilemma of shall I or shall I not, I say unto you, “just don’t.” If your grade is impacted – all will be well. You’ll find that in life you will experience many more situations that will require you to abstain, even at the risk of some negative consequence.

To the professor who has taught this course for a decade, please find another way for your students to demonstrate their academic effort with their clothes on. I’m just sayin’.

And finally, to helicopter mom, kudos to you for advocating for your daughter because even when they get to college, they still need our help; however, just try to increase your altitude a bit more and hover at an acceptable height that still allows your daughter to grow, develop, and experience life on her own.

Does God’s Call Equal a Boring Social Life?

Have you ever had that feeling while watching a presenter that they’ve somehow gotten access to your thoughts and are speaking directly to your life circumstance?

This was my experience for most of the three days at the CWIMA annual conference. From the keynote address that categorized internet pornography attraction at an epidemic level, to the graceful and wise counsel given by renowned bible scholar KayArthur who challenged every woman in attendance to monitor her dress and guard her heart against forbidden desire, it was as if the messages presented had been personally earmarked just for me (God has a way of doing that).

On my plane ride back, I mentally sifted through all of the great moments from the weekend, but one connection stands out as truly inspiring.

I met a woman who had also authored a book. As we spoke about my book’s theme of female pornography consumption, her tone changed as she winced and took a sharp breath in as if she had been suddenly chilled to the bone. “This is going to come quickly,” she said as her eyes intently held mine, “you’ve got to get prepared and get anchored becaugod's calling picse the topic of pornography is seductive.”

God was attempting to get my attention as I listened fiercely doing my best to memorize all that I felt He was revealing to me through this woman. Sometimes the plan God has for your life will require a life-change and you may not feel prepared for it, What things must I stop doing? Can I still have a fun social life? Am I “holy” enough to meet God’s calling? 

In the Bible, when Jesus was preparing for the end of his life on earth, He began to pray and emphasized the importance of being “one” with Him so that God’s love could be shown to the world (John 17:20-23).

I believe this is the “anchoring” God revealed through the words of that kind woman. As we draw closer to the Son, it anchors us to Him and will ultimately shift our thoughts, behaviors, and actions towards those things that are pleasing to God. Those “fun” things that we cherished so much, which tend to draw us away from God, no longer hold priority in our lives. Most importantly, anchoring to the Son allows God’s love to manifest openly and brilliantly to others who may or may not know Him.

Anchoring, is a lofty assignment we’re all tasked with – the question becomes, will we accept the challenge?

7 Common Themes Pornography Teaches

Last week I had the great pleasure of speaking to a psych class at California Baptist University. We spent quite some time talking about pornography and its many themes including porn’s unrealistic portrayal of the average man or woman’s body. When a person views sexually explicit materials, they’re often consuming images of actors and actresses who have surgically enhanced their bodies.

One student in class shared a story of a married man who became so connected to pornography that he asked his wife to surgically augment her breasts. Although she protested vigorously at first, the wife eventually acquiesced, had the procedure, and has regretted her decision ever since – worse yet, the marriage didn’t last and she’s left with large breasts that she never wanted. Pornography teaches us that all men and women have amazing bodies and overly developed (ahem) “features” when in reality, that isn’t the case.

Seven common themes that people ingest when consuming pornography includes:nueter meme

1. Unrealistic sex: generally, no one gets STDs or gets pregnant in porn
2. Relationships: de-emphasis on commitment – marriage considered sexually restrictive
3. Promiscuity: indiscriminate sexual activity is the norm – anything goes!
4. Deviant sexual behavior: misconception that kinky sex is gratifying to everyone
5. Abstinence: sexual inactivity is considered abnormal
6. Violence: glorification of BDSM
7. Unusual couplings: promotion of sexual encounters with non-traditional partners

For more information about common themes found in pornography, checkout Girls Watch Too! Female Fascination with Porn: Why You Should Care and What You Can Do About It. At Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble, or available upon request from your local bookstore.

From Daydream to Reality – Three Principles You Must Practice to Launch Your Next Big Goal, Project, or Vision

Principle #1 – Get Prepared

Zig Ziglar says, “Success occurs when opportunity meets preparation.” That’s so true. To be able to leverage and fully benefit from opportunities that come your way, you’ve goopportunitiest to be prepared.

Many successful authors agree that the time to begin marketing your book is long before its release date. As I began the publishing process for my book it occurred to me that launching my book prior to the theatrical release of 50 Shades of Grey would generate buzz because of the movie’s theme and the frenzy of women lining up to view porn. However, I wasn’t prepared to launch at that time and alas, that opportunity was missed. The good thing about life, it deals out multiple hands of fresh opportunities so if you missed your “big break” or “dream job/promotion”, more opportunities will come, but learn the lesson — get prepared.

Principle #2 – Just DO It.

Any time we face something that’s new and scary, the natural response is to retreat — and even worse, we sometimes stop mid-course, where we neither move forward or backwards.

One component of book marketing involves engaging with others via social media. While I’m comfortable with Facebook, Twitter represented a new and foreign landscape that I did not know how to maneuver. I did all the right things to get started. I researched best practices, read up on what to tweet and when to tweet it, and installed Tweet deck on my computer, but when it came time to start communicating with the world, my fingers simply wouldn’t type anything I felt was compelling enough to share. Who’s going to read my tweets? Who’s going to care? If those discouraging voices distract you too, or if you keep telling yourself “I’ll start next week,” push through the fear. Just Do It.

Principle #3 – Pace yourself

Anything worth having takes a little time. It’s so easy to look at others successes and think it happened overnight. In many instances that simply isn’t the case. KFC’s Colonel Sanders was living off of a $105 monthly social security check, sometimes sleeping in his car as he traveled selling KFC franchises – all at the age of 65! Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hanson pitched Chicken Soup for the Soul to 144 publishers before they got their first deal. Now KFC boasts over 18,000 outlets in 115 countries and territories and Chicken Soup went on to sell 167 million copies worldwide. What if they had given up simply because they lacked the stamina to see it through?

Marketing a Long_Distance_Runningbook isn’t a sprint, but rather, a long distance run that requires great effort, discipline, and quite frankly, patience. So what have I learned to do? I take my time. For me, I purpose to do something to move the marketing of my book forward – daily. Whether it’s connecting with a potential new partner who might purchase large quantities of my book, speaking publicly to a group of stakeholders/influencers about my topic, or pitching the media, I patiently and diligently keep moving forward, step by step.

So settle in for the journey and enjoy it. Plan your work and work your plan. Just last week someone “favorited” one of my tweets. Finally, confirmation that I can have an impact, albeit a tiny one, in the Twittersphere. One step at a time.

Government employee cites “boredom” as reason for watching porn at work. Wait…what?

Have you ever peaked at porn while on the clock?

One EPA government employee did. In fact, the employee did so 2-6 hours, per day. That’s up to 75% of the work day. The controversy has even sparked new legislation to ban government employees from watching porn at work (as if you need to legislate that one).

While I think the case of this government worker is extreme, it made me wonder, why do employees watch porn at work? Is it because they don’t have internet access at home? Highly unlikely. When we look back on history and how adult content was accessed in the olden days you either had to go to an adult movie theater (think dark and seedy) or settle for still images iold vcrn a magazine.

With the advent of paid television subscription services such as “On TV” things changed. Now pornography could be watched safely and secretly from the privacy of one’s bedroom. Next, enter the VCR. Access to sexually explicit materials expanded even further as producers scrambled to create adult content to fit this new viewing medium.

But by far, the Internet has ushered in an explosive jump in porn’s accessibility. In what can easily be called an unexpected occurrence, the Internet created a new entry point for amateur producers of porn who could, for the first time, compete shoulder to shoulder with large studios. More producers = more porn on the web. When you add in the proliferation of smartphone users (there are more folks with access to smporn on keyboardart phones in Africa then to clean drinking water) and the technological advancements in streaming mobile content, now access to sexually explicit material is simpler, faster, and cheaper than in years past.

So back to the original question. Why would someone risk embarrassment, diminished reputation, discipline, and even termination by watching porn at work? I don’t think it’s due to boredom as reported (Lord help us because we’d have an epidemic on our hands). It could be because they can’t stop. When a person views pornography, the dopamine chemical is produced in the brain at dramatic levels, inducing a drug-like sensation similar to crack cocaine. Additional “feel-good” chemicals are also formed, which reduce the body’s ability to furnish quantities at normal levels in ordinary circumstances, therefore causing the porn-addicted psyche to demand more and more sexually explicit materials.

Have you looked or are you hooked?

Join the conversation. Girl Watch Too! Available 4.25.15 at Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com

In the Beginning . . .

There was something mysterious about the black box that balanced precariously from our old television set.  I remember the day my parents brought it home and to the sheer delight of me and my siblings, we were one of the first families in the neighborhood to have what was called “ON TV.”  With ON TV, we could watch great movies without commercial interruption. These weren’t the old movies that were shown on the major networks, oh no, this was the good stuff – the movies that had recently been shown in the drive-in theatre.
But there was a peculiar aspect of our newly converted television that our parents didn’t tell us about. Certain channels were blocked. After continued investigation, we soon realized that late at night one of those channels had images of men and women involved in a bizarre wrestling match. Even though there was no sound, through the fuzz, snow, and big squiggly line, we could make out the body parts of men and women playing a strange game of Twister with no clothes on. This was my first exposure to pornographic material.

48 Hours and Counting

It’s almost 3:00am and I should be asleep.  In less than 48 hours I will join other courageous women to discuss the issue of pornography consumption before a live studio audience (the show will air nationally and I’ll be sure to share the details with you). An incredible opportunity, yes; however, apprehension and doubt (mixed with a little bit of fear) have begun to creep in.  Time for me to face these fears head-on, but it’s worth it if even one woman finds comfort in knowing that she’s not alone in her struggle with combating pornography use.