Adult Performers Say Netflix’s Hot Girls Wanted Docuseries Exploits Their Images Without Consent (Slate.com)

Read the full article by Christina Cauterucci on Slate.com

"An honest, thoughtful response to criticism from porn actors and sex workers producers might have acknowledged the very real threats that adult performers face when their privacy or personas are compromised. Nonfiction depictions of stigmatized labor like sex work demand heightened standards of consent and privacy protections; there is no compelling reason to defy a supporting subject’s request or right to privacy, even on legal grounds, when she may lose work or be victimized by stalkers and abusers as a result. In the clip Gradus says couldn’t have outed Elizabeth and Kay as sex workers, Elizabeth appears in a tiny leotard, waggling her butt cheeks for the camera. She made the clip public on a social-media streaming site, with no idea it might end up in a Netflix docuseries about porn. The producers didn’t have to ask her permission to put that clip in their series; but with so many other willing performers out there and the sensitivity of the subject matter involved, why wouldn't they?”

Christina Cauterucci is a Slate staff writer. Follow her on Twitter.