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Many people contact Fight the New Drug to share their personal stories about how porn has affected their life or the life of a loved one. We consider these personal accounts very valuable because, while the science and research is powerful within its own right, personal accounts from real people seem to really hit home about the damage that pornography does to real lives.
We received this story from a Fighter who shows what it's like to be affected by a close relative's involvement with the industry. Her experience shines a light on the realities of what performing in porn can do to someone's .
Just as every little girl dreams of having a sister, big or little, I was no different. I was lucky enough to be born into a family with three older sisters and one younger sister. I had the best of situations in the sister department.
One of my sisters, in particular, wished for a baby sister (me) on her 8th birthday when blowing out her candles. How great of a story to be told your whole childhood. She wished for me was always the thought in my mind. Because of this thought, it was always my goal to live up to that wish, to be cool enough to be around my big sister.
I can’t even count how many times I would lay outside her bedroom door, hoping to hear something exciting going on in her life. Or the nights I snuck into her room to crawl into her bed because I was too scared to be alone. I remember every date she went on, every job she had, every car she drove, and every sports team she played on.
I was 11 years old when she went away to college. How devastated I was, no matter how tough I tried to act, that she moved thousands of miles and states away from me to go to school. Now I was the big sister, the one who had to be everything to my little sister that my big sister was to me.
I remember the last time I saw her before everything changed forever. She was doing sisterly duties of teaching me the correct way to deal with pimples and take care of my skin. That is the last solid memory I have of my sister—at least, the sister that I grew up knowing.
The call that changed everything
My younger sister and I were on a family trip with our parents when they received a phone call late at night that woke them up. They thought I was sleeping, but in fact, I was wide awake.
I remember the person on the other line explaining to my parents that my big sister had been seen in the adult film industry. I remember them crying, and I remember trying to make sense of all of it in my young mind. I remember that word sticking out so clearly:
Porn.
It was the first time I had heard that word and realized it was real life. It wasn’t just some fancy word people used, it wasn’t just some scary thing in a far-off place. It was now a word that would change my entire life. In more ways than my mind even knew at that point.
Now, my parents were being told that my sister was number one in the nation. That’s something that sounds great, right? Something everyone would want to be and every parent would want to hear. Number one. That was my sister, except in this case she had been named the porn industry’s number one “newcomer of the year.”
Money. Fame. Beauty. It all came at a cost to become number one. In that top spot, my big sister lost herself.
At just 19 years old, she went to a party where someone told her she was beautiful and could make a lot of money. Every day in my current profession I work with teenagers, kids whose minds are not completely formed, especially in the area of decision-making.
To teens, all that matters is beauty, popularity, and money. Those three things are what teenagers thrive on. My sister was no different. She wanted to be pretty, wanted to be rich, and wanted to be popular.
But she didn’t realize the cost of it all.
The real costs of porn
It was fun and games for a little while, but something most people do not realize is why many of these performers are capable of doing what they do on film. My sister was constantly drugged and drinking. She truly was numb to everything going on around her.
Addiction plays a prominent role in my family. Many have had issues with alcohol, tobacco, drugs, or all of the above. Addiction is a terrible beast that controls many individuals. Now add that problem to being a part of the adult film industry, and it becomes a giant beast beyond measure. Some can recover, and some, like my big sister, never truly come back.
She made more films than I even care to begin counting. She was so well-known in the adult film industry we can’t even walk the streets of a public place without someone knowing exactly who she was.
To anyone who might think that what my sister was doing was worth the money… Do you think it’s worth it that my sister, now the mother of some beautiful children, is in a mental hospital because she cannot deal with day-to-day life without fighting the traumatic moments that you saw on camera? Do you think it’s sexy that my big sister has tried to take her life numerous times because of the belief she will never be herself again?
I always believed my sister’s choices and her profession would never come around to affecting my life. Yet again, it was something my brain couldn’t fully comprehend.
Little did I know my own marriage would dissolve because of my sister’s profession. Little did I know my parents would age quickly because of the strain put on them to raise my nephews by themselves. Little did I know my heart would sink every time she didn’t answer my calls, for fear that she wasn’t alive anymore.
Little did I know my heart was capable of breaking as many times as it has since the night of that heartbreaking phone call.
Porn is more than the moments you see on screen
You see, pornography isn’t just a little thing. It isn’t just a picture on your screen or a video you watch when you’re alone.
Pornography has become an unwanted part of my life. Of her life. Even without me taking any part in it, it has overtaken me. Like cancer, pornography took my big sister. Pornography took my belief in marriage away. Pornography permanently created a disconnect in my family relationships.
Pornography is much more than a word. It is someone’s daughter or son, someone’s sister or brother, someone’s friend, someone. More importantly, it truly can become the destruction of someone else’s life. The porn industry took away who my big sister used to be.
You can be the change. You can make the industry grow weaker. You can choose to stop the demand. You can be the difference.
Every day, we have a choice to help or to further the harm. I couldn’t save my big sister, but I believe I can help save someone else’s.
Porn is the new drug in society, and hopefully one day we can encourage our kids to be free of it all. Take it seriously. Save a life. Make a difference.
– S.
Real people in porn
The fact is that the adult entertainment and commercial sex industries wouldn’t be what they are today without human trafficking, sexual exploitation, drug addictions, and sexual violence.
While those in adult entertainment rarely speak out about the abuse and exploitation they experience due to fear of being blacklisted in the industry, they’ve turned to for survival; in many cases, many survivors of these industries do have the opportunity to share their unfiltered experiences once they leave the industry.
Unfortunately, these personal stories shine a light on what the world of commercial sex is truly like, and they’re often heartbreaking. Hear a few survivors’ personal stories for yourself here, from this panel hosted by Fight the New Drug.
The harms of porn aren’t just confined to the ones in front of the camera or behind the screen. There is a growing body of research that shows how consumers, relationships, and society are all harmed by porn. This isn’t a moral argument; it’s simply something to consider, given the facts.
Click here to read more about the harmful effects of porn and make a decision for yourself.
Consider before consuming, and fight for real love.
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