Nina Hartley Interviewed by The Humanist Magazine

A performer for more than 25 years, Nina Hartley has long been a Free Speech advocate. She is intelligent, beautiful, free-spirited, open-minded and outspoken about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This in-depth interview with Hartley reveals her thoughts on ethics, feminism, religion and the industry (and what she thinks would improve the industry).

Long the fantasy of many an adult entertainment fan, Hartley represents the strong women in the industry that are often misjudged or stereotyped. She is as comfortable in front of the camera, as she has been when she used to dance live on-stage, or now - when she addresses an audience of curious college students.

"The widespread notion that legal porn production is a sink hole of abuse and coercion that takes advantage of poor, innocent women, is the biggest smack leveled against the business," she said. "It’s almost entirely a function or projection of people’s fears and discomfort about women, gender relations, sex, sexuality and the graphic depiction of sexual acts. The idea that a woman could choose, on purpose, to perform in pornographic videos for her own reasons still goes deeply against the notion that women are somehow victims of male sexuality, that they’re delicate flowers who need the protection of a good man, or the law."