Months ago, when Duke University freshman “Belle Knox” was outed as a porn star, my Facebook feed went insane. Everybody, it seemed, had an opinion. While it is important to remember that a person does not need the validation of others, it was great to see the people in my feed who were supportive of her. It’s her body, and she can choose to do whatever she wants sexually (keeping in mind that the porn industry is both interesting and flawed). She saw an opportunity for herself to receive a higher education at a prestigious university and did what many of us have joked about doing but never needed to. And for that, I’d say more power to her. Might as well take advantage of a screwed system and use it to potentially subvert said system (gender inequality) in the future. However, there were a select few who didn’t see it that way.
Enter one of my unnamed family friends. A very well-liked guy in high school, he seemed to be going a little, well, crazy, for lack of a better word, once college started. I had already argued with him once about the fact that he said that the Isla Vista shooter was not a misogynist (hint: I said he certainly was). He posted a Facebook status about Belle Knox, condemning her for her ownership of her own body. When people disagreed, he tagged his two siblings in the comments to go ahead and bully the dissent, like attack dogs. It was actually a pretty disturbing dynamic. He had yet again, incited an all-out Facebook war about something he didn’t necessarily have the right to make judgements about.
Let’s enter the present day. The news has been circulating that Conde Nast Entertainment has released a documentary about Belle Knox, or Miriam Weeks, called “Becoming Belle Knox.” This family friend of mine had posted an article about it that came from a website called “Young Conservatives.” Of course I thought of that as clickbait. So into the article I dove, headfirst. They chose to include only quotes from the documentary that spoke of her negative experiences in the porn industry. The article framed her documentary as being one big remorseful, tear-filled apology. However, anyone who saw the documentary knows that that’s not the case. While she does discuss the darker side of the sex work industry, she still stands by it. She becomes a form of advocate for that line of work, proud and critical. Seeing how my “friend” triumphantly posted an article, untrue in its omissions, about a girl being destroyed and abused makes me sick. Is it worth being right?
I want people to make sure to do their research and educate themselves before making wild claims, especially when linking to notoriously sketchy websites. And I also want people to think of this girl as strong, intelligent, and human. All people have flaws, so why harp on those of one girl? Especially a girl who admits to her own mistakes and is her own biggest critic? I guess society really does have a problem staying out of the private (or public) sex lives of women.