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Erica Campbell, for anyone who isn’t familiar, is a gorgeous Playboy Playmate (and Penthouse Pet and Danni’s Hot Box Model, etc.) who announced recently that she is done with porn for good.
Erica was clearly in a lot of pain: “For a long time I have been very lost. So lost in myself and in the world that I didn’t even REALIZE that I was lost. [...] For a long time I THOUGHT that I was doing the right thing…..and doing my personal best……well…I was wrong…dead wrong.” She chose to leave the business when she found religion: “I have decided to leave the world of adult and porn behind me….and follow the lord. I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and am devoting my life to HIS WILL. I have found the one thing that can, will and DOES fill that void…and that’s GOD.”
She goes on to talk about other women in the industry: “SO many lost girls get into this business just for some extra money….to help pay for school….to help support themselves or even their children as single moms. [...] Almost ALL of the time It doesn’t end where you think it will…..the path goes on……the hole gets deeper….and the road gets darker. MOST of the time the girls don’t even realize it.”
It appears that Ms. Campbell very much regrets her choice to pose nude and has decided to stop. I completely respect that. It’s not a life everyone can live. On the other hand, I think that calling women who do choose that life “lost girls” is more than a little bit judgmental and condescending. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: women who choose to make money by taking off their clothes/having sex are not all the same and they aren’t necessarily damaged by it. Clearly, Erica Campbell was not happy with this career. That doesn’t give her the right to speak for everyone else.
If you’re interested in Erica’s body of work, you can check out her galleries on Freeones.
Update: Nina Hartley made a very interesting presentation to NOW in LA about working in porn and how it “can be empowering for some women, and utterly disastrous for many women; utterly disastrous.” You can read the transcript on AVN.
