Belle Knox, the Duke University student who has been outed as a porn star at prestigious Duke University, has revealed a pair of growing problems. While there are definitely those who would not support a young woman’s decision to become a porn star as a way to pay for college, Knox has actually shed light on a problem that has been ballooning for the last few years, and she is not shying away from it. The thing is, there are two issues she has brought into the glaring spotlight: how North American society views sexuality and how society is buckling under crippling student debt.
Sexuality has always been a sticky point for North American society. Pornography and nudity in general continues to be discussed in whispers, and this has, in turn, caused our discussions with teenagers – particularly teenage girls – about being comfortable in their bodies to be filled with more questions than answers. Society continues to say that women must be held to a particular standard of beauty, and that “normal” sexuality is that which occurs in the comfort of homes rather than something that should be discussed openly.
Belle Knox has blown the doors off the comfortable notions of sexuality that North American society has held for centuries. Her views are almost more aligned with European views where men and women alike are allowed to frolic on nude beaches, kiss each other openly on the streets regardless of sexual orientation and where sex, if discussed, is not something that is discussed as though it is bad or unclean.
While some may question and even deride Knox’s choice of profession, her boldness in taking on traditional views sexuality should be applauded. She is a rarity indeed; she is a woman who is unafraid of who she is, and virtually dares those who might question her and her views to rethink their own positions. She encourages her detractors to openly question her without threat and encourages those who are equally comfortable with their bodies and their sexuality to enjoy and be open with who they are, right down to her admission that she enjoys sex. Even the simple admission of enjoying sex is one that is not frequently discussed in North American society, and Knox demonstrates to those old enough to understand what she does and what she is talking about in her recent media campaigns that sexuality is not something to be spoken about in whispers.
If some members of society are going to deride this Duke University student who has been outed as a porn star, these members are ignoring the problems that Knox actually reveals are in society. North American society is almost repressed when it comes to sexuality, as issues regarding sexuality continue to be discussed in the shadows, and sex itself continues to be a largely taboo subject across many circles although pornography continues to be a hot industry, notching some $13.3 billion in sales. Knox being outed and being open about the reasons why she joined the industry has put sex back on the table as a topic of discussion.
Knox has also shed new light on the crippling student debt that many students face. With her annual student tuition hitting $47,000, which boils down to over $20,000 a semester, many students are simply unable to cover the costs of postsecondary education. In addition, Knox’s situation is not unique. Students everywhere are struggling to make ends meet and 40 million Americans are crippled by over $1.2 trillion in student debt, so it is almost impossible for students graduating from colleges across the nation to begin their careers feeling as though they can start their lives without the burden of financial debt. In fact, there are thousands of students who are not able to pay back their loans, which might be the reason why that Knox says student loans are not a viable solution for those interested in postsecondary education.
She turned to the sex industry as a way of paying for the education she wants at a prestigious school so she would not spend a good lot of her life after university paying back debt. It is pretty clear that the porn industry can be reasonably lucrative, particularly given scenes between two women can make $800 for the performers, while a scene between a man and a woman earns the worker $1,000. Those sorts of salaries can make performing in the industry quite lucrative, so it’s small wonder that Knox would have considered a career in porn as a way of paying for college.
Knox, the Duke University student outed as a porn star, has brought national attention once more to issues revolving around student debt problems. In addition, she has also brought renewed focus onto North American views of sexuality. Her openness has perhaps dismayed some, but in reality, she has once again sparked a dialogue about what sexuality is and how North Americans can be comfortable with it. While no one would encourage the career path that is allowing her to pay for her education, she has shown those who have learned about her as a person rather than as a sex symbol that she is more than who she appears.
By Christina St-Jean
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3 Responses
Your daughters and your sons are at risk in this new educational system. The risk is financial. They are told that they will never be successful with their careers unless they have a degree. Unless the cost of education is decreased, you will see your daughters and your sons debase themselves, and become prostitutes for animals that are much bigger than themselves.
They will be exploited. The universities will exploit them, then all the other industries will follow. The porn industry will exploit them. The food industry will exploit them. The legal industry will exploit them. This is not the “capitalism” that Adam Smith had in mind when he wrote the Wealth of Nations. The correct term for what we are experiencing is feudalism. In the face of the super monopolies, watch as the top 0.05% make the rest of us dance like marionettes on a string.
Ben Miller, you miss the point. If a young adult cannot afford an education, how will they ever find a career and afford a family in this day and age? It’s not just the women that are in danger here, it is your children and your grandchildren. The rich and the powerful CEOs of the most powerful corporations are not what we call “Kings”, a board of trustees is not what we call “Lords”, but the power they wield is not that different.
The richest members of our population have Billions of dollars of wealth. Typical funds for political campaign financing is amounts like $12 Million. If that is all it takes to raise the money to run for office, then use a little bit of imagination to see how the votes of the poor really have no power in the politics of today. It wasn’t always like this. Our representative democracy that our veterans have fought, bled, and died for no longer functions to serve the people.
We need to fix this. Our education is by far the most valuable thing we can have. We can fix this peacefully, and we should.
There is a new documentary about the adult film industry that addresses many of these issues. It’s called “Risky Business: A Look Inside America’s Adult Film Industry.” The film’s website is RiskyBusinessTheMovie d0t c0m
So Belle should be applauded, why?, It is one thing to be comfortable with your own body and sexuality, it’s another to sell your body, either male or female, for money. While I agree tuition is way too expensive yet paying tuition is not the same as having to support your family. If I were to download her videos I would be a voyeur to her sex life. Where is that admirable, would anyone teach their children to pursue this.