I'm new here and wanted to introduce myself - I think I've posted this in the right area - sorry if not! I'm a psychologist and sex therapist, big porn fan, pro porn activist and sex worker ally from the UK. I'm wondering if members of this community might be able to help with something very important to me (big ask as a newbie I know!).

I've had the privilege to be able to move forward with an awesome research topic for my doctorate. I have a great research supervisor and some very supportive contacts in the industry that are doing what they can to help me but I still need to branch out and approach this head on on my own - like most grown up PhD candidates :-P

My thesis is looking into exploring how female porn actors who have worked in ethical porn experience their relationships. It is a massively under researched area (as in, really huge gap and one that needs filling via academic channels). That's where I opted to take it on. The study aims to highlight how porn actors relational worlds are formed, challenged, and sustained alongside their unconventional line of work, offering insights that may help improve mental health, wellbeing, emotional support systems and industry practices. This would expand outwards to the wider public and accurately inform rhetoric around porn which is in contrast to a lot of the incorrect, misinformed, stigmatising messages that exist currently. Very few academics who have written about porn have actually gone to the people involved in the work and ask about their experiences.

So what do I want? I'm currently looking for participants who are willing to chat with me voluntarily for an informal 45 minute interview (over Zoom). Is this something anyone here might be happy to help with? I will do all the organising, I just need a handful of porn actors that would be happy to help. It really is for a great cause.

My participant sample has to fit a somewhat tight eligibility criteria so I am looking for people who are: cisgender female porn actors, have experience working in ethical porn production (to their perception of it), aged between 25-35 and willing to talk to me about their relationships (interviews are anonymised for the study and all personal data and information remains protected) I will not include any identifiable content in the study. I then take the experiences and code them to understand themes alongside the other answers I have. That's it!

The conversations are informal, like any other relaxed interview really. I'll lead with some questions and I try to be very time sensitive - I am already so grateful that participants have volunteered to be there. For ethical reasons I cannot pay. I am not paid to do the study and fund it fully myself.

I hope that all makes sense, and it's not too forward or considered like 'cold blooded advertising'. I am very genuinely interested in producing a great piece of work that will contribute to a needed researched area that will ultimately in the long run improve life for porn stars.

Happy to answer any questions or just chat about it here. Any help or advice welcome.

Big, big thanks!
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Edited by - Eccba9 on Oct 17 2024

Topic Moved by - killbillvol69 on Oct 17 2024

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