I finished several books this week as part of my Unschooled Master of Theology Program. You can check them all out here. During this marathon, I finally finished Philosophy, Pussycats, and Porn, which I had hoped would be an interesting philosophical treatment from the perspective a pornstar, but found instead a trivial diary of what seemed like a twelve year old girl.

There were no real gems of wisdom here. No fascinating philosophical or metaphysical insights, no substantive take on the human condition or even the mind of men (you would think there would at least be that).

But Let’s jump in anyway and take a look at what is supposed to be the wilder side of life. Hint. It doesn’t appear to be.

Made Some Money, Doesn’t Mean Rambling

So, I had high hopes when I picked this book out of the proverbial reading pile, thinking maybe it would be a testament to the overlooked and under-appreciated, the unexpected. I thought maybe Stoya was less of a porn star and more of a philosophical sage. Maybe she was a stoic spirit bundled up in Millennial angst or disillusionment.

Unfortunately, that’s not what I discovered. I did find out Stoya was a homeschooler, and finished her secondary studies by the age of 16.

I have to admit, I’m quite envious. Back when I was suffering through school, I was so close to homeschooling (and better, unschooling) I could taste it. But, of course, I had no idea with either really were. I knew I didn’t want to stay at home and be taught by my parents. But I did have one classmate who was pulled out of school to be homeschooled. They were overtly religious and I remember thinking how strange that would be.

I had no idea there was unschooling or that I could take my education into my own hands. I think life would have been much different for me, vastly different, if the adults in my life had leveled with me and told the truth. But, instead, I was saddled with all their lies and betrayals and scams and rackets to enrich themselves at my expense. I remember going to my school counselor after finishing my first independent study, asking with great excitement to sign me up for independent studies in math and science and english and….well….everything!

But, my counselor would have none of it. In fact, she laughed at me and explained in painstaking detail that the school received a certain amount of money for me to be in the classroom, so I would just have to go back to class.

At that point, I pretty much stopped trying in school. I already had my path set. I was going in the military as soon as I possibly could so I could get out of that hell. Out of school and away from my family. I wouldn’t learn that the military (and more specifically, the US Government) is just as much of a racket and a scam on the poor as public education is. I wouldn’t learn that lessen until last year.

I do often wonder, though, what would or could have been if that counselor had been honest with me. I guess I’ll never know.

I also wonder what Stoya must have thought leaving her home to study at college for the summer at just sixteen? What transpired in her life to move her toward abruptly withdrawing from school and moving to Hollywood to become a pornstar? Was it a conscious decision? Was it by accident?

Who knows. It wasn’t covered in the book.

When I first picked up the title, I was a little surprised that a pornstar had written a book. Especially a book about philosophy! This was before I knew her history, of course. I first thought maybe she had more to her than what’s seen on the surface. You know the trope. Hidden genius who goes to grad school, gets her degree, then enters the porn industry anyway.

It happens. What about the girl that put herself through college by porn? The article I read about her said she retired after just a few years and is now in graduate school, working toward her law degree, debt free.

Imagine getting her as a study partner in class.

But, this book in particular doesn’t provide such tantalizing motivations. In fact, she doesn’t really provide motivations at all. She doesn’t talk much about her childhood, the reasons she got involved in the porn industry, or what her ultimate goal is.

She does talk about her grandmother a little. And she talks, of course, about the business and having sex.

But, what does any of that have to do with philosophy?

Is Sex Really an Excuse for Literature?

There were a lot of meandering intimate encounters. Several business trips where she starts out in the middle of the story without any background or explanation of why she’s in Paris or in Serbia or some other far flung, often exotic location. She just happens to be there and there always seems to be a strange guy not too far away, taking a picture of her for her blog, or he’s a performer and their about to have sex, or he’s a “friend.” Attractive people always have it the hardest, don’t they?

There was a long narrative through the middle of the book about a move she did across country with her cats. There was a man there, of course, but there was not much in the way of explanation of who he was or why he was moving with her.

The cats were prominent in the storyline, so I assume that’s the reason for the reference in the title. Yet, there was still no mention of philosophy anywhere.

What Could She Have Talked About?

Not sure how I could have discovered the bait and switch with this one. I suppose maybe I need to start reading more Amazon reviews before I take on a book. Book covers and titles are quite deceptive these days. Not sure why that is.

Of the things Stoya could have talked about, at least to bring in a little contemplative spirit to go with the sex and the cats, would be a philosophical discussion of how porn affects the human psychological condition. There’s really not a whole lot of that these days. Porn has become so pervasive, so readily available to anyone with an internet connection that it’s seldom even brought up.

Stoya does bring up in the book an account of prostitutes in the ancient world carving certain symbols into the bottoms of their sandals, so their gentlemen callers would know how to find them from their visible footprints in the dirt. (I guess that was an ancient form of SEO).

But, she could have addressed how porn impacts the healthy development of relationships, or how it changes societal norms.

She also didn’t really discuss the nature of porn and its hazards for those who work in the industry. As Joe Rogan commented on one of his podcasts, “Those young women are being churned through that industry and spit out the other side.” That can’t be a positive, could it?

Yes, maybe Stoya has made her money. Even to the degree where she makes the comment in her book that she was cutting a check for one of the men who was “performing” as they took in a movie and dinner and then went back to her hotel room to do some filming.

She’s what, one out of how many women to actually establish herself in pornography and not be completely victimized by it?

Not long ago, there was a highly publicized suicide of a porn actress. I wonder how many others have followed the same route or languish at the bottom rungs of the industry?

But, she doesn’t talk about that. In fact, this book doesn’t really address any kind of philosophical topic at all, and doesn’t address any topic philosophically. It really felt rather childish, like a pre-teen diary, wandering about from scene to scene, without much detail, without context. They really should have left the word philosophy off the title altogether. Just Pussycat and Porn would have been more accurate.

But, of course, that probably wouldn’t have sold as many books, now would it?

Conclusion

As far as I can see, I have a terrible knack for picking books to read.

To be honest, this book, along with the handful of others I’ve recently reviewed, have all been on my reading list for literally years. They’ve languished in my text-to-speech reader and have even undergone at least two moves between laptops as my cheap laptops quit, one after the other.

But, hey, what are you going to do when you make less money in a year than most middle class make in a month (personally, I would say shout for joy that I don’t have those kinds of middle class headaches, but that’s just my opinion)?

It’s not an exaggeration, though, to say this book was a waste of time. I did finish it, one, because I don’t like starting something without finishing it. I’ve done that way too often in my life and I really don’t care for it. Second, well, there isn’t a second. I just like to make a habit of finishing what I’ve started.

For now, I would really like to spend the next year, as I settle in at the Eden Property and find out for certain if I can (or even want to) make a life there, I want to focus my uThM efforts on reading more intellectually honest, more insightful, or in-depth books available to me. Hopefully my choice of reading material will improve.

Until my next review….

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Excerpt from Sacred the Circle:

There was a knock at the door.

Campbell got up from the chair and crossed the small distance so he could open it.

Buy my book Sacred the Circle to find out what these men are hearing from the supernatural realm. Will they answer the questions tugging at them? What are the visions saying? Who are the Multitude? Why are all these men being brought together? By whom? And why, above all else, are they being convicted….to pray?

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