Unlikely bedfellows: How platform companies shortchange porn performers and ride-hailing drivers alike

By Hannah Wohl, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara
Lindsey Cameron, Assistant Professor of Management, University of Pennsylvania

On a porn set in California’s San Fernando Valley, a performer we’ll call Jake explains why he joined the industry after dabbling in escorting. He says he was drawn to porn work because of the freedom he finds as an independent contractor.

He works 10 to 15 hours a week on average and spends the rest of his time home with his wife and son. The best thing about his job, he says, is that he can leave any time he wants: “I have nobody in charge of me.”

Jake – in keeping with standard research practice in our field, we’ve referred to everyone in this article by pseudonyms –…

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