Belle Knox

Miriam Weeks, known by her stage name of Belle Knox,[1][4][5] is an American former pornographic film actress. She is known for performing in pornography while studying at Duke University.[6][7][8]

Belle Knox
Knox in 2014
Born
Miriam Weeks[1]

San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Other namesLauren,[2] Aurora[3]
OccupationFormer pornographic actress

Knox started doing pornography in 2013 to help pay for her $60,000 per year tuition costs. In late 2013, her career became publicly known on campus, and she faced extensive in-person and online harassment. Knox took a college-sanctioned break from Duke University in early 2014[9] and later returned to continue her studies.[10]

Subsequently, Knox has defended her decision to do the work publicly, as well as explaining her views of feminism and rights for sex workers.[6][7][11] She believes her experiences are indicative of the rising costs of higher education in the United States.[12]

Knox has won a 2014 Fanny Award and a 2015 XBIZ Award.

Career

Knox decided to enter the pornography industry because she enjoyed sex and pornography, and the job offered much better compensation and working hours. In previous work as a waitress, Knox had endured a boss who treated her poorly and a schedule that interfered with her studies, for less than $400 a month (after taxes).[13][14] Pornography would allow her to control her schedule, and she could make about $1,300 per scene.[15] Knox had previously tried to apply for government loans, but was told that she was ineligible; and believed private student loans would "strap her family with debt."[13]

She began working in pornography in November 2013, flying out to Los Angeles while on school breaks to perform in the films.[12] Knox chose the name "Belle", inspired by Belle from Beauty and the Beast and the character of Belle from Secret Diary of a Call Girl; the name "Knox" is after Amanda Knox, exonerated in the murder of Meredith Kercher.[15] In early 2015 Knox declined to comment on whether she was still filming adult movies.[11]

Political activism

Weeks is a College Republican and considers herself a sex-positive feminist and libertarian.[16] She identifies her "favorite figures in liberty" as Ayn Rand, economist Milton Friedman, and two other activists whose careers have included both sex and politics: porn actress Nina Hartley and former call girl Maggie McNeill.[11] She has also shown admiration for both former Representative Ron Paul and his son Senator Rand Paul.[17][18]

She is involved in the organization Students for Liberty, an organization that bills itself as "the largest libertarian student organization in the world", and is the campus coordinator for Students for Liberty at Duke.[11] In addition to her work with Students for Liberty, Weeks said she was recently appointed to the national board of directors for the Sex Workers Outreach Project. Knox has been asked to speak in Duke classes about being a sex worker,[19] and has given speeches at other colleges besides her alma mater.

While her work in porn helped fuel her political beliefs, Weeks says she began developing her ideology earlier in life. "I grew up Catholic, so I grew up in a very, very, conservative background and that, I think, really was kind of the impetus for why I wanted to become a libertarian. I was always being told to cover up my body and I was always being told to wait until marriage to have sex, that my body would go down if I didn't wait till marriage to have sex," Weeks explained, adding, "That really made me become a libertarian and become a feminist."[11]

Outing and harassment

On January 10, 2014, fellow Duke student Thomas Bagley revealed Knox's career to his fraternity brothers. Accounts of how Bagley deduced Knox's identity vary: Bagley claims that Knox revealed her work to him as a secret, whereas Knox claims that Bagley recognized her from watching porn in which she starred. The news quickly spread through the community.[16][20]

After returning to campus from winter break, Knox discovered that her personal Facebook account had received more than 230 friend requests. Fellow students started following her porn persona's Twitter account, at which point she realized that her porn career had been discovered. Shortly thereafter posts began to emerge on the anonymous college discussion board CollegiateACB under the thread title "Freshman Pornstar." Knox began to receive threats of violence and death in person and via social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook.[21] Some posters endorsed raping[2] and beating her;[22] others simply wanted Duke to expel Knox.

Knox believes that the public response exhibited a double standard sex workers face from those who seek their services.[23] In February 2014 Knox gave an interview to the campus newspaper, The Chronicle, in which she used the pseudonym "Lauren A.," and referred to her stage name as "Aurora" to avoid identifying herself. She expressed frustration over her treatment stating, "I feel like girls at Duke have to hide their sexuality. We're caught in this virgin-whore dichotomy."[16] Knox published a similar defense on lifestyle website xoJane, but the storm of harassment continued. Knox's identity, contact information, and location were posted, but when Knox contacted the police over the ongoing threats, the police failed to respect her concerns.[23]

On March 4, 2014, Knox decided to embrace her new reality: she wrote a second post where she revealed her stage name, and reflected on her experiences. She would later summarize her reasoning as: "I think the [sex-work] industry needs a feminist advocate as well."[12][23]

Response

Media outlets covering the story uniformly described the public response as slut-shaming. The Poynter Institute's Kelly McBride commented on the reception for Knox's story, stating that it "[presented] a lesson in crowd behavior," noting that, "While her critics were loud and destructive, advocating that people call her dad to let him know his daughter is a porn star, no one suggested a phone campaign to inform the mother of the frat boy who outed her that her son is watching porn."[24] According to critic and former sex worker Eric Barry, "It's impossible to separate those trying to violate sex workers' right to privacy, from those who believe sex workers somehow deserve to be devalued."[2] Elizabeth Stoker, in The Week, noted the "reprehensible and personal" comments of threats and harassment through social media were "odious and inexcusable," and characterized them as unjustifiable, as well as being "disproportionately aimed at women in the public sphere."[25]

At the same time, not all commentators agreed with Knox on how to interpret her decisions. Stoker found Knox's political agenda uncompelling, because it emphasizes personal freedom over quality of life. The sex industry does not have a trade union, and marketing towards male sexual desire incentivizes unsafe practices in the industry.[25] John Rogove believes that the sex industry actually reduces freedom, by transforming its actors from people into commodities.[26] Eliana Dockterman, writing for TIME, doubted that Knox could truly find her pornography career empowering. According to Dockterman, Knox "doesn't know how to process her newfound fame" and her decision "will likely haunt [her] for the rest of her college and professional career."[27]

A representative for Duke University issued a statement saying that while they would not comment on specific cases, the college's community standard did not have any restrictions concerning off-campus employment.[28] Of Knox's allegations that campus police did not take the threats against her seriously enough, the representative remarked, "We are committed to protecting the privacy, safety and security of our students. Whenever we identify a student in need of support, we reach out to them and offer the many resources that we have available on campus to assist them."[28]

Media appearances and dramatizations

In May 2014, Knox announced that she would be hosting an online show called The Sex Factor along with four other porn performers,[29] where they would oversee 16 contestants that would compete for the right to participate in a sex scene with Knox.[30] In February 2015, Asa Akira replaced Knox as the show's host.

A fictionalized version of Knox's story was featured in "Pornstar's Requiem," an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.[31][32] Knox has also been the focus of the five-part documentary series Becoming Belle Knox, which was produced and released by Stateless Media and Conde Nast Entertainment.[33][34] In 2015, she narrated on a one-hour episode of "One Bad Choice" on MTV, also showing a dramatized version of her life. A TV docudrama based on her life titled From Straight A's to XXX premiered on the Lifetime network in February 2017.[35]

Personal life

Knox is half Canadian and half Punjabi Indian.[36] As of 2014, Knox is pursuing a major in women's studies and sociology and has expressed interest in becoming a women's rights activist, and civil rights lawyer.[13][37] She identifies as bisexual.[16]

Awards and nominations
Year Ceremony Result Category Work
2014 Fanny Award Won New Girl on the Block (Female Newcomer of the Year)[38] N/A
2015 AVN Award Nominated Best New Starlet[39] N/A
Nominated Mainstream Star of the Year[39] N/A
XBIZ Award Nominated Best New Starlet[40] N/A
Nominated Crossover Star of the Year[40] N/A
Nominated Best Scene - All-Girl (with Lisa Ann & Nina Hartley)[40] Lisa Ann's School of MILF 2: The Education of Belle Knox
Won Marketing Campaign of the Year[41] N/A
XRCO Award Nominated Mainstream Adult Media Favorite[42] N/A

References
  1. Jones, Angela (2020). Camming: Money, Power, and Pleasure in the Sex Work Industry. NYU Press. p. 229. ISBN 978-1-4798-7487-3. In 2013, Miriam Weeks, better known as Belle Knox, began shooting pornographic films to pay her exorbitant tuition bill at Duke University.
  2. Selby, Jenn (March 6, 2014). "Belle Knox: How the porn star student from Duke University became bigger than Justin Bieber". The Independent. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  3. "Duke porn star reveals face and film name on Playboy, xojane websites". The Charlotte Observer. March 5, 2014.
  4. Morris, Alex (April 23, 2014). "The Blue Devil in Miss Belle Knox: Meet Duke Porn Star Miriam Weeks". Rolling Stone.
  5. Yahr, Emily (February 10, 2017). "Lifetime's 'Duke student porn star' movie is a scathing commentary on college tuition costs". The Washington Post. [I]t became about more than the scandalous headlines that flew around the world in early 2014 when Miriam Weeks (who performed under the name Belle Knox) was outed by a classmate
  6. Heck, Laura (March 5, 2014). "Duke student reveals porn identity, responds to backlash". KTVU. Archived from the original on March 5, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  7. Kingkade, Tyler (March 4, 2014). "Duke Porn Star Reveals Her Identity". The Huffington Post. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  8. Bielski, zosia (March 6, 2014). "Why death threats won't keep the 'Duke porn star' from doing what she needs to do to pay tuition". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  9. Lawrence-Turner, Jody (March 12, 2014). "Duke University freshman, porn star graduated from Gonzaga Prep". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  10. McGill, Sean. "Adult Film Star Belle Knox Returns to Duke University". RantLifestyle.
  11. "Belle Knox Is Remaking Herself As A Libertarian - Business Insider". Business Insider. January 28, 2015.
  12. Stone, Zak (March 4, 2014). "Meet Belle Knox, the Duke Porn Star (As You Might Have Heard)". Playboy. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  13. Dillon, Nancy (March 6, 2014). "Duke porn star Belle Knox says she wants to help sex workers after bankrolling law degree with sex". New York Daily News. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  14. Rajghatta, Chidanand. "US girl stars in porn flicks to meet college fees". Times of India. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  15. Morgan, Piers. "How I selected my porn name". CNN. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  16. Fernelius, Katie. "Portrait of a porn star". Duke Chronicle. Archived from the original on February 21, 2014. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  17. Golgowski, Nina (January 30, 2015). "Duke porn star Belle Knox is remaking herself a libertarian fighter, with possible eye on political career". New York Daily News.
  18. Gettys, Travis "Duke's Belle Knox trades on porn fame to promote libertarians Ayn Rand and Rand Paul" Raw Story, January 30, 2015
  19. Herbert, Geoff. "Duke University student reveals she's a porn star, stirs drama in college newspaper". Post-Standard. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  20. Moye, David (March 7, 2014). "X-Rated Offer For Duke Student Who Outed Porn Star Classmate Belle Knox". Huffington Post. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  21. Knox, Belle. "I'm The Duke University Freshman Porn Star And For The First Time I'm Telling The Story In My Words". xoJane. Archived from the original on April 26, 2014. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  22. 'Basketball Wives' Star to New Parents -- Kill Your Cats, "And, Duke University's porn star student Belle Knox joins us to discuss the utter hypocrisy behind the death threats she's been receiving since being discovered." TMZ Live, (10:20-15:46 min. At 11:40 mark, "I've had people threatened to kill me, I've had students threaten to throw trash on me, I've had students threaten to "kick me in the face," so it's really really vicious.")
  23. Knox, Belle (March 4, 2014). "I'm Finally Revealing My Name and Face As the Duke Porn Star". xoJane. Archived from the original on March 5, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  24. McBride, Kelly. "Outed Duke student presents lesson in crowd behavior". Poynter Institute. Archived from the original on March 7, 2014. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  25. Stoker, Elizabeth. "Sorry Belle Knox, porn still oppresses women". The Week. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  26. "Of What is Belle Knox the Name? Liberalism and Women". ethikapolitika.org. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  27. Dockterman, Eliana. "The Duke Porn Star Isn't as Empowered as She Claims". TIME. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  28. Willingham, AJ. "Duke reacts to student's 'outing' as porn star". HLN. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  29. Arrouas, Michelle (April 8, 2014). "Duke Porn Star Belle Knox to Host The Sex Factor Reality Show". Time.
  30. Grow, Kory (May 29, 2014). "Duke Porn Star Belle Knox Explains New Reality Show 'The Sex Factor'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  31. Lila Gray (October 22, 2014). "Tonight's 'Law & Order: SVU' Draws on Belle Knox Story". XBIZ. Archived from the original on October 27, 2014. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  32. Anne Easton (October 23, 2014). "'Law & Order: SVU' Recap 16×5: Understanding the Very Definition of Rape". The New York Observer. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  33. Stoeffel, Kat. "Watch the SFW-ish Duke Porn Star Documentary". New York Magazine. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  34. Falzone, Diana. "Duke porn star Belle Knox in Conde Nast docu-series, says line between adult, mainstream entertainment disappearing". Fox News. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  35. "From Straight A's to XXX | Lifetime". Lifetime. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  36. Parihar, Rohit (March 12, 2014). "How the half-Indian porn starlet Belle Knox got her ticket to education". India Today. Retrieved October 5, 2014. News blocks are abuzz with reports of half-Canadian, half-Indian Punjabi girl Belle Knox a.k.a Lauren using a not-so-new and oft-repeated method of getting her ticket to Duke University for a decent education.
  37. Beusman, Callie. "Watch a Fascinating Docuseries on the Duke Porn Star". Jezebel. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  38. Peter Warren (April 13, 2014). "2nd Annual Fannys Presented". AVN. Retrieved November 21, 2014.
  39. "2015 AVN Award Nominees". AVN Awards. Archived from the original on November 25, 2014. Retrieved 2014-11-21.
  40. Lila Gray (November 12, 2014). "XBIZ Announces Movies & Production Nominees for 2015 XBIZ Awards". XBIZ. Retrieved November 21, 2014.
  41. Dan Miller (January 16, 2015). "2015 XBIZ Award Winners Announced". XBIZ. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  42. Dan Miller (March 3, 2015). "2015 XRCO Award Nominees Announced". XBIZ. Retrieved March 4, 2015.

Further reading
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