Violet Blue, SF Gate, Interracial Porn and the Recession

The whole gnarly matrix of sex and ethnicity that comes to the fore when you are talking about African Americans and Latinas/os is one of the root theses of Tex[t]-Mex: Seductive Hallucinations of the "Mexican" in America. Sex worker cum journalist Violet Blue's recent piece in the SF Gate eloquently speaks to this heady mix as the porn industry grapples with the world-wide recession. Here's a taste of the piece:

Locally-based Hapa performer Jiz Lee (jizlee.com, link NSFW) told me, "I think the racial layout of mainstream porn is such a mindf--k. It's like a magnified look at race and power in our economy. And 'interracial' is particularly curious to me because it stands out as the only straight category that isn't defined by the female actor -- i.e., 'Asian' or 'Latina' indicates a white male with an Asian or Latina female; however, 'interracial' indicates black men with white women. It's bizarre to me."

It may be that some porn producers cling to the extremes of the "interracial" umbrella to survive the economic storm. Lee thinks that the exact opposite of marketing "funny" racial slurs is the recipe for success and survival saying, "Personally I see porn as a medium for social change, and diverse casting more adequately reflects my own identity and community. Perhaps this authenticity is one of the reasons indie porn is also 'recession proof.'"

Go here for the full story.