Porn star study turns stereotypes on their head

Adult actresses confound expectations, but further investigation is merited, says Stephanie Pappas

Porn stars aren’t particularly keen on being studied, despite spending a lot of time in front of the camera. But they are the focus of great public interest and moral debate, which may explain why one man’s in-depth analysis of adult film performers has gone viral.

The average adult film actress is a brunette with a B-cup named Nikki — at least according to blogger Jon Millward, who spent six months analysing the demographics of 10,000 porn stars drawn from the Internet Adult Film Database. But what’s known about porn stars beyond their breast size? Remarkably little, thanks to practically zero research funding and a community wary of researchers.