Nina Hartley

Babes in boyland Women breaking into porn business - and bringing different perspective

Carla Marinucci

05/03/92

San Francisco Examiner

THE FIRST surprise about this movie is the genie, who poofs out of a cloud before a woman working in a bookstore. The second surprise is his present to her - a magical ring that confers total sexual power and confidence.

And the third surprise is that the decidedly pornographic fairy tale which unfolds - as the once-timid heroine finds the ring's true powers, and also bestows them on her friends - is directed by a woman.

No, " Nina Hartley 's Book of Love" is not your typical for-boys-only stag film or cheap bump-and-grind loop favored by guys wearing smarmy raincoats.

"It's a fairy tale with a positive message," says porn star Nina Hartley . And that is exactly the point.

In the more erotic areas of the business world, "what we need are more women's voices," says Hartley, whose first effort at porno film direction will be released this summer. "Right now, we know women are 5-10 percent of the producers (in porno films)," she says. "I'd like to see it more 50-50."

Hartley, a registered nurse and former erotic dancer who describes herself as a "sex-positive feminist," is just one of the vanguard of women entrepreneurs forging a profitable path into a business which, historically and culturally, has been controlled by men.

"Our sexual climate is heating up. From newsrooms to bedrooms, erotica is being discussed, deconstructed and discovered," says Lisa Palac, 28, the San Francisco-based editor of a glossy new national pornographic magazine called Future Sex. "The search is on for something that appeals to the liberated erotic imagination rather than the lowest common denominator."

From Susie Bright, the popular San Francisco author/lecturer and publisher of the lesbian porno magazine "On Our Backs," to Candida Royalle, the New York porn-star-turned-director who has created a lucrative business in "kinder, gentler" porno films for women, the '90s have opened the door for women making waves - and proudly making money - in porn.

"The industry has always produced some porn that was of interest to women," says Laura Miller of Good Vibrations, the San Francisco-based store which specializes in adult videos, erotica and sex toys, particularly for women. But there was a problem: "women were afraid to go to the product. They didn't feel safe going to adult shops."

PORN QUEEN GIVES FANS WHAT THEY WANT TO SEE: AN EYEFUL SHE'S NOT EXACTLY THE GIRL YOU'D BRING HOME TO MEET MOM, BUT SOME MEN TOOK WIVES TO SEE NINA HARTLEY .

Loraine O'Connell, Of The Sentinel Staff

12/17/92

Orlando Sentinel

Inside the Fairvilla Video Superstore, the sign touting porn superstar Nina Hartley was strategically placed.

"You've seen her on 48 Hours and Geraldo. Now see her in the flesh!"

About 4,000 people showed up at the store on Orange Blossom Trail on Saturday to do just that.

Most were guys, of course; but there was a fair number of couples - husbands and wives, fiances and fiancees, steady dating partners.

"The people I draw tend to be married or in relationships," said Hartley, who has spent the last eight of her 31 years cheerfully grinding out 300 sexually explicit movies. "Their wives watch the movies with them. I don't draw a weird kind of crowd."

Weird is in the eye of the beholder, of course. What Hartley definitely draws is a mixed crowd.

Exceedingly mixed.

Guys in leather jackets, long hair and jeans (all of which needed washing) stood next to dapper professional guys with manicured nails.

Forming a line that started outside the door and wound its way upstairs to the second floor and back down again, Hartley's fans were a melting pot of testosterone.

The scene was Dali-esque: tattoos and ties; geeks and grandfathers; preppy 20-somethings behind pot-bellied 40-somethings.

Men who would have nothing to do with each other in real life were thrown together by their common fantasy - a moment with Nina Hartley .

For some, the moment consisted of an auto-graph and some chitchat (free); for others, a suggestive photo with Hartley (one for $15, three for $30); for still others, an autographed copy of one of her videos ($25).

All of the men politely waited their turn; many of them clearly were awed by the blond, blue-eyed, lisping, self-proclaimed "Tinkerbell of Porn."

Many of the guys showed up with pals and split the tab on photos starring the two of them with the accommodating Hartley. Couples took home keepsakes of themselves and Hartley in simulated explicit poses.

"You got a line going in here like Disney World," commented one man, amazed that so many other folks decided to spend their day the same way he had.

In their diversity and drabness, her fans gave credence to the adult-video industry's claim that porn is a mainstream form of recreation.

"Four hundred million (adult) videos were rented in 1991," Hartley said during the limo ride from her hotel to the video store. "Either there's 100 really sick people - or a lot of normal people who like to have a little fun on Saturdays."

"The average wage is about $500 a day for someone who's going to do two sex scenes," said Hartley. "That's minus taxes.

"In the old days, when fewer movies were being made and fewer women were willing to do it, wages were a lot higher."

Nevertheless, Hartley said, her salary has remained pretty stable - "$700 or $800 a day."

However, most of the videos take just a day to make. At approximately 40 movies a year, Hartley earns in the $30,000 range. Not exactly megabucks.

So for her and the other porn faves, personal appearances at adult video stores and bookstores are a great way to boost income. Just how much can she make on the road?

"It's nothing to sneeze at," the ever-candid Hartley said. "The top scale for personal appearances is about $1,000 a day. And the stores pick up the travel expenses." She also gets a cut ("usually 50-50") of the money taken in for photos.

Pornographers Neville Chambers and R.C. Horsch finished shooting in early 1998 a documentary of Nina Hartley.

Nev told the 6/98 AVN: "The film has yet to be named, but it's going to be a rare, honest portrait of a porn actress. We have footage of Nina addressing the student body of California State, which she does every semester, plus footage of her dancing. There are comments from people who've worked with Nina… The movie covers Nina's professional, political and personal life. We have a great interview with her mother, who is a Buddhist monk. It's our answer to anti-porn zealots like Catherine McKinnon. I think it'll surprise everyone."

From the 6/98 AVN:

Is there anything that Nina Hartley doesn't know about sex? If there is, you'd never guess it from looking at her video series for Adam & Eve Productions, Nina Hartley's Guide To…, now in its tenth volume.

Having already covered Foreplay, Private Dancing, Fellatio (the most popular one so far),Cunnilingus, Anal Sex, and Swinging, Nina recently tackled…sex toys.

Toronto Sun on Nina Hartley 5/1/99

by Steve Payne

Nina Hartley, a 15-year veteran of adult movies with no plans to quit, is in Canada until May 9, dancing at clubs and holding "personal instructional seminars" from Toronto to Vancouver, arranged by Adults Only Video.

At the $5 per person seminars -- the money goes to Canadian AIDS research -- she relates her experiences and answers questions.

She wants to talk about sexuality and appeal to teens to refrain from sexual intercourse until they've at least left high school.

Hartley, who's tested monthly for HIV and has never contracted anything more serious than pink eye, says teens must protect themselves against AIDS and unwanted pregnancies.

"I did not lose my virginity until I was 18. Sexual intercourse for high schoolers is inappropriate and foolish. Death and babies are really big deals," she emphasizes.

So when should people have intercourse?

"There is no ideal time," she says, "but it must be when you feel you can handle the emotions and potential consequences. And I'm not telling teenagers not to have sex. There are plenty of ways to be intimate without intercourse."

Her films have not brought riches. She gets $1,000 a film, with no royalties. Her exotic dancing, she says, makes her between US$5, 000 and US$10,000 a week.

Hartley has recently received news that she personally will have to come to terms with. She was told it's unlikely she'll ever be able to have a baby. No blame, just bad luck. A physical problem that may have been found long ago had she thought to be checked out. "It seems to not be possible for me to have a child. It does not look like it can happen," she says softly. An aunt to two neices and five nephews, she says she's upbeat despite her distressing news. "It's sad, yes," she says softly, "but at the moment it's not a big deal in my life. Right now I'm not desperate to have a child, but ask me the same question in 10 years."

5/9/00

Luke Interviews Nina Hartley's Wife Bobby Lilly

While porners prowled the halls of California's capitol last Tuesday, May 9, Israel Independence Day, I sat in the sixth floor cafeteria schmoozing with Bobby Lilly, the wife of porn star Nina Hartley.

Bobby: "The press said that this is one of the annual events they look forward to, and they will see us again next year. That means we have gotten our message across."

Brandy Alexandre: "Oh god. I love Bobby, but does she *really* think they've gotten their message across? Sounds to me more like they look forward to seeing porn stars. It almost sounds like she got a little too pumped in the morning pep rally and is still stuck in the fog of the hype."

Luke: "Kat said you had appointments with most of the legislators?"

Bobby: "Either formal appointments or drop-in ones. There are seven groups [of porners] moving around the capitol.

"The feminist Democratic legislators appreciate women like Kat and I. We're part of early feminism. We're the ones who say that sex is not evil, dirty, nasty, vile. Sex is good and positive and women especially need to own their own sexuality and be in control of it. This was early feminism, before the anger at men rose up...

"For fifteen years, I've been saying sex-positive feminism. At the AVN Awards in January, Inari Vachs coined a new phrase - sexual feminism. So often we're a sex negative culture."

Luke: "Many women in the industry have low self esteem."

Bobby: "But there are many more in the industry since 1984 who have good self esteem, since Nina made her first movie. More and more women are coming in consciously empowered because they want to be here in a positive way. We can't stop people who are going to be on a negative path in their lives. And if they see sexuality negatively, they are going to gravitate towards that arena. All we can do is provide an infrastructure of support and try to encourage the right kind of people to come in."

Luke finishes his second Hansens smoothie.

Luke: "Some of the women look like cattle to the slaughter."

Bobby: "I see that happening to women in a lot of ways in this culture. Women are exploited and abused. Sometimes men are too. All we can do is stand for the right thing. And empower more women in this business so that when they come across someone in a bad situation they can help... They can help guide and mentor them. You know Nina, she talks to everybody. And she just doesn't say, this is a wonderful pool. Jump in. She warns them. If she sees somebody in there and she sees that it is not good for them. She's not going to keep her mouth shut. She's going to talk to them. She's not going to talk about them behind their back.

"But she's going to reach out with a loving hand of concern and say, are you sure that you really want to be here? Is this the right place for you? Why are you doing this? Have you thought it through? Is it just for the money? The money isn't worth it. There are people who've stepped out of the business after she's talked to them. And then a couple of years, when they've got their heads straight and are not having problems, they've come back into the business and had a wonderful time."

Luke: "Shayla LaVeaux for instance."

Bobby: "She has definitely benefitted from Nina's mentoring. Shayla has been the little sister that Nina never had... There's now a network of women who can do this. Shayla is now mentoring new women coming into the business.

"The first time we were up here, nobody would dare to be seen with us. They appreciated us and supported us but they were afraid to be seen in public with us. They were afraid of the stigma. They have now overcome that fear or the climate has changed. Porn is more mainstream than when it was an illegal criminal activity 25 years ago... We now have a generation of people who've grown up with porn.

"We've seen the young people who come up to us are not drooling addicts who abuse people and hate women, but I see groups of guys and gals who appreciate each other... Porn is a part of their world and they are more accepting and tolerant of each other's sexuality, rather than get what they can get and abuse. It's a cultural sea change, an opening up of sexuality."

Luke: "So you see society heading in a positive direction?"

Bobby: "Yes, overall."