A “Prurient” Industry Helps Fight a Pandemic

Even though sexually “prurient” businesses aren’t eligible to take full advantage of the government’s $2 trillion coronavirus relief package, the sex industry is still giving back by helping out as much as possible during the pandemic.

For instance, porn star, author, and general adult industry titan Asa Akira announced on an Instagram post last week, “Part of my @pornhub income this month will be donated to NYC hospitals.” Given that she has almost 2 million Instagram followers and 598 million video views (NSFW link) on Pornhub, even if the “part” of the income she donates is a small percentage, it may well add up to a large donation. And her promise—“As an incentive to help, right now if u join, I’ll send u a personalized thank-you video”—definitely won’t hurt!

Meanwhile, porn-streaming giant Pornhub, while providing hundreds of millions of daily users with free porn to help them shelter in place comfortably, also reached out to help front-line workers. Pornhub promised monetary donations to Germany, Italy, and Spain so that medical professionals there could buy more protective gear, and also donated 50,000 masks to New York’s first responders and other medical professionals, according to the New York Post.

“When a global human crisis happens, it is up to everyone to work together to help support the community,” the company’s VP, Corey Price, said in a statement. “We stand by our performers and models and we will continue working on other projects to assist the community during this challenging time.” 

But the outpouring of help doesn’t stop with big-name stars and companies. Last weekend, the Daily Beast reported that a small sex shop in Missouri is ordering and giving away thousands of N95 surgical masks. James Gruender, the manager of Passions Adult Boutique in central Missouri, said, “As an adult store I’m able to use my connections with Chinese distributors to order surgical N95 masks. I wanted to put something in the hands of people who didn’t have the connections or know-how. Everybody deserves to be safe.”

And Brooklyn-based dominatrix Domina Dia Dynasty, together with her metal-fabrication-artist boyfriend, are making heavy-duty “face shields” for front-line workers in their city. “Dynasty has donated over 200 carefully crafted shields to hospital workers on the frontlines,” made of “chemical resistant, clear 0.12-inch-thick PVC film, which is a heavy-duty material that can be sterilized and cleaned and reused,” foam bands for comfort and ventilation, and adjustable Velcro closures, reported the Daily Beast. 

And then there’s the medical fetish company in the UK donated its scrubs to a hard-hit hospital in England, which YNOT has already reported on.

The federal government may not see adult businesses as worthy of help, but adult businesses, from stores to porn companies to doms to performers, are stepping up and doing their part to help, anyway. These businesses may be too “prurient” for emergency relief from the government, but given how much they’re contributing, one wonders who’s really unworthy of help—the sex industry or the government that wants to let them suffer during such a terrible time.

Hand sanitizer image by EVG photos from Pexels