Happy International Women’s Day to all the badass babes who make up our wondaful community! Join us in celebrating women's achievements with this year's theme #BreakTheBias. This year, we asked some of the amazing women in our Model Program what breaking the bias means to them.
Codi Vore is as smart as she is sexy, and we’re thrilled to feature her in our IWD series. Codi is constantly working to challenge the perception of sex workers by approaching the subject with shame-free honesty. Codi’s dedication to improving the lives of fellow sex workers through the SWAID initiative is just one of the reasons Codi is a badass woman #BreakingTheBias.
What misconceptions do you think people still have about female adult performers? How do you personally challenge that?
The biggest misconception people have about adult performers is that pornography is inherently abusive to us. Getting railed on camera has not harmed my body, my self-esteem, or my enjoyment of sex. Becoming a sex worker genuinely changed my life in some profound and wonderful ways, and I did it entirely out of my own will. While abuse absolutely happens and there are special challenges associated with doing this work, this misconception has a lot of negative consequences for us and does not come from a place of respect or understanding. Perpetuating this belief takes away our autonomy and almost always pushes for actions that make it harder for us to do this work safely. If there's one thing I want people to know, it's that you should *always* be skeptical of people claiming to "help" or "save" sex workers and see what actual people in the industry have to say!
This year’s theme is #BreakTheBias – How do you contribute to Breaking the Biases people have about women and the industry?
Existing everyday as a sex worker means that I am constantly challenging people's stereotypes about us. I'm particularly open with my fans about my interests outside of my job, and I'm open about my job with people in my personal life. I have been told countless times that I am the first porn performer that someone saw as a "person", and while I hope that those people really stop and ask themselves why it took meeting me to see us that way, or why we need to prove our personhood at all, I think interactions like this are a huge part of breaking the stigma about us.
Who are some women you look up to and why?
I look up to a lot of people in the industry, but my friend Summer Hart comes to mind first. For as long as I've known her, she's worked hard at helping our community in big ways and small, whether its working on legislation to keep sex workers safe or hosting holiday dinners for those of us who maybe don't have families to eat with. She has a compassionate and radical approach to community service that is lacking in a lot of traditional charity work.
Can you tell us more about SWAID? How did you get involved/what gave you the idea?
Summer approached me and a few other performers about creating SWAID Vegas, a mutual aid fund for sex workers, in 2020 because sex workers were unable to receive unemployment during the pandemic. It was originally intended for our local Las Vegas community, but we very quickly began serving sex workers across the entire United States. We are not a charity, and we are not here to "save" people. We operate under the principle that the best support comes from within the community, and that people know how to help themselves if they are given the means to do so. This is why we are run entirely by sex workers and 100% of funds contributed go directly back to the community in the form of fast cash microgrants. Sex workers don't need police stings and motivational speeches. They need money to secure housing and feed their kids. Financial independence makes us safer than anything else, and when we create structures like SWAID, we are creating infrastructure that can respond to future problems for our community when banks, companies, and governments fail us.
Where would you like to see SWAID in 5 years from now?
I hope SWAID continues operating as usual, but with bigger cash grants and to more people. I would also love to have a space we can use to provide emergency housing. In order to accomplish this, we really need to start seeing financial support from the companies in the industry which profit from us!
If you want to help support our fund, you can learn more and contribute at swaidvegas.org! We are also on Twitter @swaidvegas and Instagram @swaid_vegas.
Keep up with Codi Vore on Twitter: @codie_vore and Instagram: @officialcodivore
Collectively, we can all speak up, support, inspire, and #BreakTheBias to help create a world free of stereotypes and discrimination. So join in, comment, and tell us what it means to you!
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