Your lovely real feminist is back.

Yes, of course I stand up for the right of empowering women and fighting “the man.” We deserve respect, equal pay and anything else women want to stand for. However, what about the men affected? We have men in the LGBTQ community that want equality. Feminists are not supposed to be just women. We should be able to stand up for all genders.

In my philosophy class, we had a discussion on the porn industry and how it should be more regulated. The class was pretty split about the regulation, but it was only because it is abusive to women in the industry.

When I addressed the idea of men also being coerced and abused in porn, people scoffed at the idea. With today’s rape culture people tend to assume that men do not get raped and abused. Especially in the porn industry.

I am sure this is not an issue on the current controversy scale. Yet, it makes a person wonder what other horrors could be behind the fantasy world that we gain pleasure from. Most people watch, or have watched porn. If they deny it, there is a great possibility that they are lying to you.

Many people our age, and even underage, are interested or curious about these videos on the internet. More than half the people ages 13-24 are actively seeking out porn weekly according to anti-pornography non-profit organization Fight The New Drug.

However, have you ever thought about what has happened behind the scenes or even how they have gotten involved?

Many documentaries on Netflix have piqued interest about this forbidden field. “How Porn Ends,” “Hot Girls Wanted” and “Revenge Porn” are just some examples. They take place on how they accidentally become part of porn and the abuse they endure. “Revenge Porn” talks about their significant other secretly filming or with their consent, and submitting it to websites and even sending it to people they know or submitting it to porn sites.

Revenge porn, otherwise known as nonconsensual dissemination of an intimate image.

My high school, Wolcott High School, had a revenge porn incident my freshman year. An individual who attended my high school trusted their significant other and trusted them enough to send explicit videos or pictures.

Leah Juliett is a non-binary individual, whose preferred pronoun is they, graduated from Western Connecticut University and is the founder of #March Against Revenge Porn. They were a victim at Wolcott High School and it changed their life.

As a freshman, I never knew the extent of what had happened.

Juliett came out to the world when starting the campaign about revenge porn, and the story was inspiring.

“People don’t always understand the narrative behind the intimate images they are viewing. Whether that be porn actors being abused behind the scenes, or victims of revenge porn whose photos are utilized without their consent,” Juliett said.

Juliett dealt with bullying and harassment but decided to make something out of it to prevent other young individuals from experiencing this.

I asked them about how they felt about the industry and the effect it had on men and women being coerced in pornography.

I think the differentiation between consensual pornography and revenge porn is really important,” Juliett said. “Revenge porn, otherwise known as nonconsensual image sharing or image abuse, doesn’t involve consent, therefore, victims don’t accidentally end up in the porn industry.

Juliett expressed that revenge porn is never consented, the images are pornographic and causes the intense stigma of victim blaming. 90 percent of revenge porn victims identify as women, and 17 percent of all lesbian, gay, and bisexual Americans have been threatened or victimized by revenge porn.

Watching porn is common between all genders. Individuals join the industry without knowing the full extent of the horrors it may have.

Young scared individuals join for the money or have had traumatic sexual abuse from when they were younger and feel like they should join the industry.

Both men and women can be susceptible to alcohol or drug problems in the industry. Some were forced to take drugs in order for them to be a “star.”.

Many of these stars get a drug-like reaction from putting these videos on.

“I would tell someone thinking of doing porn that it really is like a drug. After the high, comes massive withdrawals that will eventually lead to either depression,” Anonymous contestant on the former show “The Sex Factor” said. “A search for a new drug to fill the hole that porn has cut into you.”

It causes you to have drug-like reactions as well as forcing drug use, or result of the rough industry causing you to turn to drugs. Many men have turned to erectile dysfunction drugs (ED) to keep their hard on or even last longer on camera.

“Studies have shown that regular usage of Cialis and Viagra by young men in the general populace may lead to psychological dependency on EDs along with the thwarting of normal sexual functionality, which itself increases dependency. ED drug usage in the porn industry far exceeds the public average among young men,” according to an article from thefix.com.

Men are encouraged to take ED for a more dramatic and intense scene for the viewers. As women are encouraged, or tricked, to take drugs to relax them and fake the big O.

Women are ready to show up to their scenes, first film or not. Hair, makeup and sexy clothes. For this one anonymous star, that was just the beginning.

“When I returned to the film set, groggy from the pills, the room was filled with people. Sound, lights, cameras, makeup people, yes, even a ‘fluff girl.’ All in all, over 20 people stood behind an imaginary line, all focus was on the couch in the middle of the room,” according to Fight The New Drug.

When the scene began, she felt uncomfortable and immediately wanted to stop, when she begin to cry the actor kept going, continuing to assault her on camera. She looked to the director and producers and they were only getting more and more into it. People may enjoy rough videos, but did you ever think how the stars felt in that moment?

“…what’s really happening: the porn industry is saturated with violence, drugs, coercion, and disease. Many porn actors suffer abuse on and off set.” according to Fight The New Drug.

I never actually thought about what happens behind the scenes of porn, I just thought it was something that causes pleasure. Looking into it, it has definitely changed my views. Maybe this industry is not all about women empowerment and being proud of enjoying sex, but just another job.

Maybe sex should be kept in your mind and in the bedroom. All power to you if you choose to make a tape of your own with someone you genuinely trust with all your heart.

No victim blaming or slut shaming at all, I just wonder what the world might be without the easy access to porn and the way we think of sex with porn.

“There are too many people in our society who think that porn is simply harmless entertainment, and they often believe porn performers really are the insatiable sex gods and goddesses they are marketed to be,” according to Fight The New Drug.