If Porn Is Not Shameful, Why Doesn’t Miriam Weeks Use Her Real Name?

Posted on | February 25, 2014 | 151 Comments

A Duke University freshman is offering the world a textbook lesson in what not to do if your college classmates find out you’re doing porn. Miriam Weeks attempted to “un-out” herself, giving an interview to the Duke Chronicle, which agreed to protect her anonymity despite the fact that word was out all over campus that she was getting boned on camera as “Belle Knox.” Then she wrote a confessional piece (as “Lauren A.”) for a feminist Web site that included this:

I am not ashamed of porn. On the contrary, doing pornography fulfills me. That said, I vehemently want to have my privacy respected — and I ask that anyone who knows my real name respect the fact that I am only discussing this publicly because it was made a public matter when I was confronted by a fraternity member who chose to tell hundreds of other men in the Greek scene.

Do you want to have your cake or eat it, Ms. Weeks? Because you cannot be “famous” as the Duke University porn star, claiming that you are unashamed to do what you do, and then demand that the world never mention your real name which — as you yourself say — is already known to hundreds of your fellow Duke University students, to say nothing of Google: Miriam Weeks is “Belle Knox.”

One cannot impose amnesia on the Internet by force of will.

The feminist sisterhood, however, has never cared much for facts or logic, and so Emily Shire at the Daily Beast stubbornly pretends that nobody knows who “Lauren” actually is:

Lauren’s challenge against her harassment as a porn actress reveals how pointless and shameful our stigmatization of adult film performers are. It hurts sex workers who love their careers and want to enjoy full lives outside of pornography. Worse, it may further hurt the sex workers who are subjugated and are too afraid to ask for help.
Lauren’s openness with her porn career raises many questions, but I fear people will only think to ask the wrong ones. We shouldn’t be wondering why a smart young woman with her whole life ahead of her would choose a career in porn. Instead, we should be wondering why it should preclude her from doing anything else she so chooses.

You see? It is not pornography which is “shameful,” Emily Shire tells us, rather it is “our stigmatization of adult film performers.” But what would Emily Shire (or, for that matter, Miriam Weeks) say about the “adult film” consumers? Shouldn’t we stigmatize guys who wank to porn? Does Emily Shire have any respect for those on the demand side of the porn industry’s supply-and-demand equation?

What about the commercial producers of pornography, who profit by commodifying sex on a worldwide scale?

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not advocating censorship, but I am advocating honesty about what manner of commerce is being transacted by Miriam Weeks. Legal though it may be, it is shameful from start to finish, and we ought not pretend otherwise.

You don’t see guys publicly declaring that they wank to porn. As shameless as he was, Anthony Weiner never claimed to be waging a courageous fight against the “stigmatization” of wanking. And you didn’t see anyone praise his “openness,” did you?

So, Duke University freshman Miriam Weeks from Spokane, Washington, is unashamed to be a “sex worker,” and evidently expects to be praised for this by her feminist comrades, because getting boned on camera is so empowering, you see:

I am a women’s studies major. I hope to be a lawyer — my dream is to be a women’s rights, civil rights lawyer. I’m really into writing, journalism. I’m kind of a creative person, which is a lot of the reason I like doing porn. I really am a person who values my family and my friends, and I am also really into spirituality. I like astrology, Zen, all of that.

I’m sure her fellow alumni of Gonzaga Prep are proud of how Miriam Weeks is representing her “spirituality.” And how else is a prep school girl supposed to afford $58,00 a year tuition at Duke?

The porn-star-student was outed by fellow freshman Thomas Bagley . . .
Bagley told The Daily Caller that the starlet divulged her secret to him . . .
Bagley said she swore him to secrecy. Naturally, then, he went and told a bunch of people at a fraternity rush event almost immediately.

Stupid is as stupid does. Why are “smart” kids so stupid these days?

“I feel like girls at Duke have to hide their sexuality
. . . We’re caught in this virgin-whore dichotomy.”

Eh, you’re not “caught” anymore. That “dichotomy” is over for you.

Category: Education, Feminism, Sex

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Da Tech Guy On DaRadio Blog » Blog Archive » Field Guide to CPAC 2014 The many facets of Robert Stacy McCain
March 10th, 2014 @ 4:54 am

[…] The first took place in the suite of the National Bloggers Club as Stacy held mini court before the start of an exclusive access event. Surrounded by his fellow bloggers and friends he opined on the subject of cultural issues and norms that he has been writing about lately, particularly Miriam Weeks (you can read his pieces on that subject here here and here) […]