4 Reasons I Support Belle Knox, the “Duke Porn Star”

By Anneliese Mahoney | March 21, 2014

The story of Belle Knox, the “Duke Porn Star,” broke a few weeks ago, and for a little while I tried to avoid writing about it, because there were a lot of voices already getting in on the debate. But then I saw that this bright young woman was receiving death threats, and that her classmates were trying to get her kicked out of Duke — and that was enough to push me over the edge.

Before I get into the specifics about why I wholeheartedly support Knox, I want to catch up any of you who have been living under a rock for the last few weeks. Belle Knox is a pornstar. She’s also an 19-year-old freshman at Duke University, majoring in sociology and gender studies. She got into porn because it was something that interested her, and as a way to pay for Duke’s extremely expensive tuition. She was outed by a classmate who recognized her, and quickly became the best worst-kept secret on campus. Then, The Chronicle, Duke’s student newspaper, did a profile on her using the pseudonym “Lauren.” As national news outlets got wind of the story, she wrote a few of her own pieces on xojane.com, including one where she published her porn alter-ego name, “Belle Knox.”

Since then, her face and real name, which I will not publish out of respect for her privacy, have been released. She’s gone on a few shows to defend her decision, despite the death threats and ire she and her family have both received. Knox has shared some of the more brutal ones, including:

• You should slit your wrists and die, you stupid bitch
• We are going to throw garbage at her every fucking day!!! let’s do it GREEK FRAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• The school should either expel her, or we will take matters into our own hands and make this fuck up suffer. cheers!
• FUCK YOU!!!! IF I SEE U WALKING ON CAMPUS I WILL KICK YOU IN THE FACE!

I, on the other hand, respect Knox deeply. And here are four reasons why the people who are making death threats to her need to go to hell themselves.

4. People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

This is actually a point that Knox made herself in one of her XoJane pieces, “I’m Finally Revealing my Name and Face as the Duke Pornstar.” But I think it’s such an excellent point that I feel the need to expand on it. Knox pointed out that porn is a $13.3 billion industry each year in the United States. That’s more than the revenue of ABC, NBC, and CBS combined. While estimates vary due to a lack of desire to self-report, a $13.3 billion industry doesn’t become that way because only a few people are partaking. I’d bet you 50 bucks that at least a few of those people sending death threats to Belle Knox have watched porn at some point in their lives.

There is a huge double standard here, because how in the world do the people who are sending Knox these death threats think that porn is made? They want to watch it, but they don’t want to have a porn star next door. They want to enjoy the industry without actually acknowledging how it’s made. They want to pretend that the women they drool over don’t exist, because that’s easier than acknowledging that they’re someone’s daughter or sister or friend. It’s easier than acknowledging that they’re, god forbid, intelligent, autonomous, real human beings.

 

3. This was Knox’s private decision.

You might argue with me on this one. You might say that because she made the choice to partake in such a public industry, that it was no longer a private decision. But she made an alter ego for a reason. She made an alter ego because she, like anyone else, is still entitled to a private life. And when her real birth name was outed, she lost that ability.

But most importantly, her family also lost their privacy. Her family, at the very least, deserves the ability to live out their lives privately.

Why a woman turns to porn is her own decision. Now Belle Knox has been forthcoming about her reasons because she’s been asked. She explained that she does it because she likes it, because she feels empowered by her work, and because she wanted to pay for her education. She has already shared her reasoning with the public, and that was her choice. But some commenters are telling her that that reasoning isn’t good enough, like the ladies of The View:

It’s one thing to out her and demand that she explain why she wants to a be a porn star, even though that is her private decision. But to tell her that her reasoning isn’t good enough, and demand that she further justify her private decision is ridiculous.

2. There’s a bigger conversation here and that’s the exorbitant price of college tuition. 

Belle Knox is right — $60,000 is ridiculous. Most families cannot afford to send their daughter to school for $60,000. Now critics say that if she couldn’t afford it, then she shouldn’t have gone to Duke. She should have gone to a cheaper state school. But even state schools are getting up there. Average student loan debt is $29,000. About 12 million students each year take out money to finance their college education.

And Duke is an excellent school. She deserves to be there if she got in. We as a society cannot accept the fact that the only people who deserve to go to good schools are the ones who can pay for it.

Belle Knox could have chosen a different way to pay for her education, sure. She could have taken out loans or done other work. And I don’t think she made the right choice, but it was hers to make. And mostly I think the fact that a woman would even turn to porn because her tuition is so high is much more interesting than the porn itself. That should never be a choice that a young woman who wants to get an education has to make.

1. People are saying that Belle Knox is anti-Feminist. 

What’s pissing me off the most is the way that so-called feminists are treating Belle Knox. Now there are a lot of arguments out there about exactly what being a feminist means, and who is a feminist. Now is neither the time nor the place for any of that, but I think we can all agree on the fact that feminism is not and has never been one size fits all.

So to all the people out there who are saying Belle Knox isn’t a feminist…who gave you that right? Who gave you the right to define what feminism means to her. She feels empowered by what she is doing. She is a strong, well-spoken, incredibly intelligent young woman. She can tell you what makes her feel empowered. She can make that judgment call for herself. No one gave you the right to decide what empowers her. 

So carry on, Belle Knox. And be careful. Because there are a lot of people who want to take you out. But I can assure you, they’re all dead wrong.

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Anneliese Mahoney (@AMahoney8672) is Lead Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

Image courtesy of [Alan via Flickr]