Image: 2011 Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas Credit: Elizabeth Hames
Cruising along Nevada’s desert highway last January, I prepared myself for Americana at its most decadent. This would be my first time in Las Vegas, and I had snagged a press pass to the country’s largest porn industry trade show, the Adult Entertainment Expo.
At the very least, I expected an unprecedented level of exhibitionism.
There was certainly no shortage of hot-young-things in thongs and foundation masks, but the show floor was dominated by pot-bellied fans in too-small Ts, with silly smiles on their faces. Even the adult actor Ron Jeremy couldn’t be bothered to swap his sweat pants for trousers.
Apart from the gushing fans, the mood at the convention was business casual.
Each booth showcased an innovative new product with the potential to change the way adult entertainment is delivered and consumed (literally, there were a few phallic food items). VPs bragged about how their new business model would put them one step ahead of online pirates, which have threatened pornographers’ bottom line for decades.
Steps away from the show floor, feminists talked about how to make adult content more appealing and accessible to women. One woman told a room full of entrepreneurs how her sex boutique would benefit marginalized women in the Bay area. An hour later, the room filled with first amendment lawyers, who lectured about an industry under attack. The state health department wanted to limit pornographers’ freedom of speech by making gloves, goggles and dental dams during mandatory gear on shoots, they said, and they called on industry leaders to join them in their fight.
Performers told me about how social media allowed them to become entrepreneurs with complete control over their image, a relatively new phenomenon in the industry.
All the many facets of pornography were on display. But despite all the fodder for great media coverage, only one story came out of the expo: the look-how-ridiculous-these-porn-stars-are! story.
That got me wondering: Can’t we talk about porn without slipping a pun into the headline, or working an innuendo into every paragraph?
Sure we can. And reporting on the industry will be better for it.
This series will look at adult entertainment from all its many angles — its dark side, its bright side and all the stories in between.
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Elizabeth Hames is a Toronto-based freelance journalist who calls the West Coast home. Follow her on Twitter at @elizabethhames.
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