When Pornography Pays for College

By Rachel Shteir. My first response to Belle Knox was to be thrown into my past. Knox is "the Duke University porn star," a rising sophomore infamous for entering the sex industry to pay her tuition and then turning into a meme. More than two decades ago, a friend of mine chose to leave graduate school at Yale to become a dominatrix. To me, she represented third-wave feminists’ desire to enjoy sex—even to work in the sex industry—and still be political radicals. She never spoke about her decision publicly and long ago moved on without a trace. More...