Look at the reality behind condoms in pornographic films

Editor’s Note: This article contains content that may make younger readers uncomfortable. Additionally, a reminder that opinion pieces do not represent the views of the Editorial Board. 

This November, the ballot will feature Proposition 60 — the Condoms in Pornographic Films Initiative. If passed, the proposition would require not only the use of condoms and other types of protection while filming pornography, but also requires producers to pay for the actors’ regular health checkups, straight out of the pockets of the filmmakers.

melanie

Sounds a little strange, I know. But before you shy away from what I’ve got to say, let’s talk about why this measure would have a pretty large effect on California.

In case you weren’t already aware, our state has quite the large pornographic industry in America. Specifically, the San Fernando Valley — or the “San Pornando Valley,” whatever you want to call it — is responsible for creating thousands of pornographic films every year.

At first glance, this proposition seems to be perfectly reasonable. Taking the appropriate safety precautions by equipping actors with condoms and other contraceptives sounds pretty good. And providing them with some necessary health care services makes sense, right?

According to the LA Times, 55 percent of voters currently support the proposition. I, myself, was a supporter — until I did some research.

A similar bill was passed in Los Angeles County about a year ago. It sounded fine in theory, but in reality, many producers of pornographic films ended up relocating to other counties. The higher production costs that came with the new government regulations were quite the turn off: now that the producers were responsible for the health of their actors and actresses, they were no longer profiting from filming in LA County.

There simply aren’t enough government workers willing to check for contraceptive use by each porn star.

Now, Proposition 60 calls for regulations that apply not only to Los Angeles, but the entire state of California. If it receives enough “yes” votes, then what happened before will only repeat itself. These regulations won’t actually benefit the actors, but will instead drive the whole industry out of California and into states that don’t require protection for their sex workers.

Not only could this measure take a toll on the multimillion dollar industry — including the tax revenue it provides and the estimated 2,000 jobs it creates — but it may also be difficult to enforce. There simply aren’t enough government workers willing to check for contraceptive use by each porn star — not to mention the difficulty that’ll come with tracking and inspecting so many filming locations.

Both the porn stars and the producers feel that a proposition like this would hurt their viewership, too. For example, the required contraceptives would differ case by case. So by law, if a scene involved any bodily fluids getting on someone’s face, he or she would be required to wear safety goggles; of course, this isn’t a fantasy for a lot of people.

At the end of the day, passing this proposition will only drive the porn industry out of our state, leaving the workers in worse financial and physical shape than before.

Don’t get me wrong, the porn industry is definitely flawed, and we should pay attention to the pressing issues it presents us. While pornography can be harmless, it also contributes to the normalization of sexual violence and can taint its viewers’ perception of sex. So it’s clear to me that Proposition 60 is a well-intentioned measure.

But when the end result isn’t ideal, it’d be a waste of time to back a measure like this. It’s easy to support it when you don’t know the facts, but at the end of the day, passing this proposition will only drive the porn industry out of our state, leaving the workers in worse financial and physical shape than before.

Use this as a reminder to take responsibility and check your facts. You need to be well-versed on something before you take a stance on it. And you should always examine all the sides to an argument, and consider how the outcome of any proposed solution would affect the lives of others. So if you’re voting this November, please don’t waste your vote by being uninformed. You have the power to enact change — so please, put down the memes and start doing some research.