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A Portrait of Porn Star: Mia Malkova

Research · January 2022

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.33258.64960

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 A Portrait of Porn Star: Mia Malkova
Written By Berra Un

This paper aims to dissect how a pornstar comes about. The adult film industry is faces
backlash for causing immorality in society. The expression of female sexuality is frowned
upon and stigmatized. Such inhibitory mechanisms constrain woman's power in society. Mia
Malkova is the subject of this paper because her rise to fame correlates with deviation to
patriarchal constraints of female sexuality and emancipation of female sexuality. Mia
Malkova was born on July 1, 1992. Her real name is Mellissa Ann Hevner her entry into the
adult industry was in 2012. She currently holds an acting credit 170 and started in an Indian
documentary titled God, Sex and Truth (2018) revolves around the liberation of a woman's
sexuality. Mia Malkova has a net worth of $800k primarily earned from her work in the adult
industry. In 2015, she was ranked one of the most popular porn stars in the world. (Tremblay
2021)

Cultural Suppression of Female Sexuality

The cultural suppression of female sexuality dates back historically. Culture restricts female
sexuality into two components which are shame and ignorance. Hegemonic sexual codes
reside in social norms that create confusion and degradation around what it means to be
sexual, in accordance female sexual experience and expressions encompass contempt.
Furthermore, the reinforcement of the body and pleasure is immoral begins at an early age
women grow up disconnected and alienated from their bodies. (Tiefer 2018) Pornstars like
Mia Markova counteract such shame by willingly and comfortably exhibiting their bodies.
Shame around diverse sexual experiences and fantasies depicted in pornography can
debilitate sexual satisfaction. Similarly, labeling a sexual fantasy as immoral limits women,
Mia Malkova encourages debunking myths of morality around sexual fantasies and sexual
acts considered taboo.
Culture restricts woman’s sexuality through pornography women can develop and explore
the depths of their sexuality. Pornography can act as an instrument to change this historic
sexual repression on the woman. Stigmatizing and demonizing pornstars who defy sexual
hegemony is counterproductive because it reinforces shame and restriction on sexuality.
Destigmatizing adult content and consumption can transmute a woman’s sexual expression
capabilities. Pornstars freely express their enthusiasm around sex and their liking for it,
dueling traditional gender roles. The suppression and stigmatization of female sexuality are
culturally constructed and can be reversed.
Different standards of sexual morality adhere to genders for acting uninhibited women are
shunned by the same token society rewards men. The Male Control Theory(Baumeister &
Twenge 2002) asserts men regulate and repress female sexuality for the sake of keeping
possession. For example, Mia Malkova creates disillusionment and a threat to men's need to
possess a woman's sexuality because her sexuality is fluid and dynamic.

The Mainstream Porn Industry

The pornography industry is a multi-dollar annual enterprise as content is vulgar, the act of
sex is the main focus. Sex turned into a spectacle body is presented in an aesthetically
pleasing way. The USA is the country with the highest number of pornstars. Porn stars in the
industry hold the prerogative and liberty to choose which acts they are willing to do on their
modeling pages coercion to do certain scenes do not exist. The adult film industry accords the
creative industry inhere large corporations that manufacture and distribute commercial
pornography coupled with emerging manufacturers such as feminist and amateur
pornography. A small number of performers attain star status in the industry. The internet
revolution and piracy have also transformed the porn industry traditional forms of media have
become obsolete internet pornography has become popularized. Reputing beliefs about
pornstars (Griffith 2014) the assessment of the damaged goods analysis shows that pornstars
have higher levels of self-esteem in comparison to the matched sample.

Why Become A Pornstar?

(Griffith et al. 2012) conducted a qualitative study interviewing 176 pornstars to uncover
their motives for joining the industry. Results accredit the primary motives attention, money,
and the act of sex itself. Out of the sample, only one pornstar expressed coercion to start a
career in the adult industry. The respondents utter their love for sex candidly in the interview
samples. In the category of "attention" interviewees admitted their exhibitionist tendencies
and the pleasure they receive from being watched by an audience. There were also categories
of creative expression and personal growth, performers confessed they viewed porn as a
creative medium for the transmittance of self-sexuality and exhibitionism. Some participants
expressed that they're helping sexual gratification helping woman express their sexuality
without restraint. Findings reveal that because pornstars face ostracism by society, performers
in the industry constitute a close-knit community serving as a family. Most pornstars admit
their exhibitionist nature and link it to the pursuit in the adult film industry "Exhibitionism
comprehensively refers to subverting gaze into oneself correlates with scopophilia" (Balsam
2008). Exhibitionism by large fulfills the feeling of being watched supplements self-esteem,
women who identify themselves as exhibitionists show higher levels of assuredness and
positive body image. Similarly, exhibitionism evokes autoeroticism and can arouse both
parties. An argument made by female exhibitionists is transfiguring the power dynamics that
propel women as passive objects.

Comparison of the Adult Industry with other Creative Industries

Creative industries have transformed with recent societal developments." Men act and
woman appear" (Berger 1972: p. 45-64)., mainstream pornography challenges such belief as
most pornstars tend to be female and have solo scenes. Especially in p.o.v scenes, female
performers address the spectator directly and express their sexual prowess without restraint.
Autoreroticsm and self-sexuality displayed without hindrance pornstars begin the industry
with solo scenes. Mainstream cinema functions as a political weapon to serve the patriarchy.
(Mulvey 1975: p. 833-844). In contrast to narrative cinema, many political lobbies have
condemned the existence of mainstream pornography and petitioned for the closure of the
adult industry. Unlike narrative film, mainstream pornography poses no castration threat as
the performers appear nude. The pleasure in looking and fascination with the human form
constitutes the basis of pornography.
As the findings show, attention is a motivator for pornstars through porn exhibitionist
tendencies along with auto-eroticism is satisfied. Pornography also adheres to the pleasure of
looking at others' scopophilia is also satisfied without causing perversion. Watching
pornography can lead to temporary loss of ego spectators may submerge themselves in the
sexual experience. Such a feature of porn explains why pornstars are idealized because they
satisfy sexual needs while reinforcing their ego. The vulgar aesthetic of pornography evokes
fetishistic scopophilia.

Countering the Anti-pornography stance

A central argument put forth by antipornography advocates is that consumption of
pornography induces an increase in sexual violence, findings conclude there is no correlation
between pornography consumption and sex crimes. Furthermore, studies conducted illustrate
in countries where pornography is unrestricted and unregulated, sex crimes are low (Milton
Diamond 2010). "Sexuality does not imply sexism" many women who enjoy sex enjoyment
should not be associated with repression or serving the patriarchy. Partaking in the
consumption of manufacturing of porn is not an example of profiteering the patriarchal
society. Strossen calls attention to the individual choice women should be allowed to
participate and consume pornography without being stigmatized by society. (Strossen 1995)
Indisputably the rationale behind mainstream pornography is driven to evoke sexual arousal
for the masses' prevalence of sexual hegemony creates mass appeal. (woman as submissive
male as the aggressor), pornography also serves a transformative and expansionary function
of female sexuality. There is a multitude of categories that appeal to different fetishes and
niches. Antiporn advocates indirectly back up hegemonic constructions that are fortified by
stigmatizing women for being expressive in the realm of sex. Sex-positive feminists desert
prejudice revolving around pornography as a medium that serves male sexuality to discover
its expression and expansive functions.

The emergence of Feminist Pornography

Feminist pornography (Potter 2022) came to exitance in 1984 "Femme Productions" was
founded by adult actress Candice Vadala to remodel porn creating pornographic content that
depicts woman's sexuality. Starting from her first film Femme (1984), challenged hegemonic
constructs of sexuality. After Vadala's success, many producers followed in her footsteps.
(Potter, 2022) Feminist porn is not a part of the mainstream pornography industry it caters to
a niche audience but offers a counter-culture challenging the mainstream porn culture. In
accord, Mia Malkova assembled her standing and following in the adult industry she
manufactures and stars in her videos through subscription to her website fans have direct
access to full HD videos, daily posts, and other exclusive content. 1

Excerpts of Mia Malkova Interviews

Excerpts of Mia Malkova's interviews include confessions (The Mia Malkova Interview:
Being Newly Single, Buying a Castle, Preferences in Bed, 2022) : she's an exhibitionist, she's
a hopeless romantic that finds herself in long-term relationships. Such statements made by
Malkova contradict the stereotype that pornstars are damaged goods who are inept at
sustaining healthy long-term partnerships. She also discloses her interaction with an actor

1
Anon, Mia Malkova. MIA MALKOVA. Available at: https://miamalkova.tv/ [Accessed January 11,
2022].
who showed sexual incompetence in their meeting because of her pornstar status, revealing
that porn consumption can induce male insecurity along with sexual incompetence. Malkova
reflects on her experience in the adult industry as boisterous and hedonistic little concern on
the business side of things. To be a successful pornstar with the following personality also
plays a part Mia Malkova broke away from her oversexualized image and showcased herself
as a person making her endearing. For the last couple of years, Malkova discloses she has not
worked under a porn company content is self-made and amateur. With developments in the
porn industry, shooting mainstream pornography has become optional. Mia Malkova utilizes
her mainstream videos to advertise her self-made content. At the beginning of her career, she
discloses she shot ten scenes a month declares a return to shooting for mainstream companies
if she has creative control over the content. Today's market has changed the demands for a
high-budget production has decreased amateur content is high in demand.
In another interview, (How Mia Malkova Got Into the Porn Industry, 2020) Mia Malkova
recounts how she entered the adult industry: "I was promiscuous as a teenager, it was less
about the money more about the idea of being a sex symbol because I was so fascinated with
sex as a teenager...I didn't have a business mentality, I didn't think of it as an industry like
that", she was working at Sizzler at the time she got recruited by a porn company. When
asked about her first porn scene, she speaks with enthusiasm mentions the experience was
liberating. The rise of direct fan content has shifted the power dynamics in the mainstream
adult industry creators now hold creative and distributive power, granting them the freedom
to stars such as Mia Malkova to do what they want. Content no longer has to adhere to sexual
constructs of hegemony creators can use their platform to express and explore different
realms of sexual expression. She states pornstars' inaugural process performers experience
the dark sides of the industry early on when working for smaller companies later
transcendence to larger companies via such move performers gain star status attaining
leverage and respect. Furthermore, Mia Malkova believes the adult industry is evolving the
stigmatization of performers is diminishing with sex positivity. Internet as a medium creates
inclusive discussion pornography and sex work.

In conclusion, pornstars such as Mia Malkova counterpoint the accepted prevalence of male
sexuality resisting male dominance in sexual relations. Restrictions and stigmatizing of the
woman in porn reflect the contempt of female sexuality. Viewing pornstars as taken
advantage of takes their power away woman who owes their sexuality should not be
categorized as oppressed. This paper accounts for a sex-positive perspective on female
sexuality and pornstars. Female desire cannot be bound to the boundaries of the hegemonic
standards of sexuality freedom of expression should be celebrated. The liberty to consume or
participate in adult content should be open for discussion. In an excerpt from God Sex and
Truth (2018) Mia Malkova delivers a monologue on her journey to sexual liberation:
"I guiltlessly have pursued sexual pleasure and I truly believe that sex for me is the
most important part of me feeling alive. I just hope and pray that someday will come,
a true liberation in the whole world. A Liberation leading to the ultimate sexual
celebration. Until then it's only the world of porn which offered me that ultimate
heaven. Ever since I was sexually awakened".
(God Sex and Truth Movie Script 2022)

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