Interview with Dr. Chauntelle Tibbals

Hello Chauntelle, for those who might not know you, please describe yourself.

Hi there Christina and all you sexy AIP readers. My name is Chauntelle or Dr. Chauntelle to some. I have a PhD in Sociology from the University of Texas at Austin, and my scholarly work revolves around all aspects of the adult film industry. From law to labor to content to history, you name it!

You recently started your blog Porn Valley Vantage. What will you be covering in this blog?

Well, the mission of Porn Valley Vantage is to provide critical, nuanced, rigorous, and accessible perspective on the adult film industry. Because porn is far more complex than just good or bad, I hope to provide my readers with a different take on the industry, one that shows it as a significant component of our culture’s past, present, and future.

So, to that end, the blog has three regular features: PVV, which offers critical commentary on anything and everything happening in and to the industry; Uncovered, which explains the truth about some of the more epically misunderstood aspects of the business; and Back Stories, wherein people who actually work in the business share a little about their lives. This is my favorite feature. There are so many crazy misconceptions out there about people who work in porn. Sometimes is seems like people think the business is nothing but a bunch of smarmy fat cats filming not-so-bright talent fucking on photocopiers but this couldn’t possibly be further from the truth. With Back Stories, people who work in porn get to tell the world a little about themselves and hopefully dispel some of this nonsense. I think this feature is really empowering!

What prompted you to get involved with the adult industry?

That’s a long story, but in a nutshell: back when I was working on my master’s degree in the early 2000s, I started learning about scholarly perspectives on sex work and porn specifically. I was so appalled and fascinated by what was presented as a horrible, exploitative and massive industry that I started to do a little research on my own. It didn’t take long for me to figure out that 99.9% of the scholarly work supposedly on the industry was really just about the industry. No one talked to the insiders, at least not in a systematic way, and no one investigated the history or the structure of the business. This struck me as both inaccurate and grossly irresponsible, so I decided to find out what was actually going on.

Seeing that you know more about the industry then most outsiders, what would you consider the biggest misconception people have about the industry?

Oh gosh there are so many. That all talent are disease infested morons that have been tricked into porn by some evil manipulative producer, which is not true; that the industry is run completely by men, so not true; that there are fluffers on set, which is an urban legend! My boyfriend still gets sad about that one.

Considering that you are a bit of a fan, what movies would you say you enjoy watching?

I’m not sure “fan” is the right word for me. Maybe “historian” with a little bit of “connoisseur” mixed in? I honestly can’t say I find any particular genre more compelling than others but there are some notable films in my mind for sure. I really loved both Café Flesh and The Fashionistas for their incredible stories about gender and power and the whole Manuel Ferrara thing in the latter didn’t hurt either. Super hot! I also really truly loved Sleeping Around, which was directed by Stormy Daniels. It may be odd to describe porn as “charming,” but that film was damn charming!

In terms of talent, I really love the raw raunchiness of Tory Lane and Kimberly Kane. Both are incredible performers. I also just love Kirsten Price. That girl is the whole package: incredibly beautiful, hot and sexy and just great at her job. And honestly I really love Eric Masterson. That guy is absolutely hilarious!

Do you have any plans to write a book on the industry?

Most definitely. I’m actually developing two separate projects right now, one history of the industry’s overall development and another on talent. I can’t tell you how many times someone has asked me “why would someone be in porn?!” or said something along the lines of “I read this awful story about what porn is like from (fill in the name of any number of ex-talent who have turned to hating the industry)!” I really want to create a platform wherein talent who are currently in the industry and/or have just moved on to other things and don’t hate their porn pasts, can tell their stories. That “side” of adult needs a place for their voices too.

What advice would you give someone that is thinking about joining the adult industry?

Unless you’re speaking to someone who is currently and actually in the business, put everything you’ve ever heard about porn aside. Just like any other industry that is made up of a wide variety of occupations, there are certain things you need to be successful in this business. For porn, common sense is definitely one of them.

Are there any projects or special events coming up that you would like to promote?

You know, right now I am really focused on developing my blog. For those of you who haven’t checked it out, I would really appreciate you taking a glance at www.pornvalleyvantage.com. Any comments, suggestions, or requests would be wonderful. I’d really love to hear from you! Email me at chauntelle@pornvalleyvantage.com. Thanks so much Christina, and thank you AIP!